F-Jgld of the invention

The present invention concerns cleaning compositions, and more specifically cleaning compositions which can be diluted in order to provide cleaning gels.

Background of the invention

For the cleaning of hard surfaces and objects, particularly in industrial, institutional and catering environments, cleaning products in the form of gels, which have a prolonged contact with the target surface to be cleaned, are known.

A problem with known gels is that they comprise amine oxide as a gelling agent, which is environmentally harmful, for example by forming nitrosoamines.

An object of the present invention is to yield a gel cleaner, free of amine oxide.

The inventors have surprisingly found that said object can be achieved by applying an ammonium compound, preferably a quaternay or a ternary ammonium compound instead of amine oxide as a gelling agent, and that said ammonium compound can be used to yield an effective cleaning gel.

Definition of the invention According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaner concentrate composition which can be diluted to form a viscous use solution, the cleaner composition comprising:

- an ammonium compound and/or an amphoteric compound; and - an anionic surfactant, wherein the composition is free of amine oxide.

Since this cleaner composition is free of amine oxide, environmentally harmful effects are reduced.

A second aspect of the present invention provides a cleaning method comprising the steps of diluting a

concentrate composition according to the invention with water to a concentration to yield a desired viscosity and applying the composition thus diluted to a target surface. Further aspects of the present invention provide a cleaning gel obtainable by diluting with water the concentrate composition of the invention, and the use of said cleaning gel for cleaning target surfaces.

Detailed description of the invention When in use for cleaning a surface, the cleaner concentrate composition of the present invention is desirably diluted with water to a concentration of from 1 to 20%, preferably from 2 to 10%, by weight, so as to yield a cleaning gel having a suitable viscosity. Particularly when cleaning verticle surfaces, said cleaning gel should have sufficient viscosity for obtaining effective cleaning performance.

The ammonium compound present in the composition of the invention is effectively a quaternary or a ternary ammonium compound. More preferably, said ammonium compound is selected from the group consisting essentially of benzalkoniu chloride and primary, secondary or tertiary amines (C12-C27) . If a quaternary ammonium compound is used, it has desirably a chain length of C8-C20, preferably C12-C16.

A tertiary amine is effectively present for obtaining viscous use solution having a pH-value of 9.5-10, whereas a secondary amine is suitably used when a viscous use solution having a pH of 3.5-4.0 is needed. The ammonium compound is preferably present at a concentration of from 1 to 25%, more preferably from 1 to 10%, by weight of the concentrate composition of the invention.

Preferably, the anionic surfactant present in the concentrate composition of the invention consists one or

more fatty acids neutralised by an alkaline source, preferably an alkaline metal salt such as a sodium salt, these forming a soap. Effectively, said anionic surfactant includes saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in a weight ratio of 1:5, preferably 1:2. Preferably, the fatty acids are selected from the group consisting essentially of oleic acid, palmitic acid, caprylic acid and isostearic acid. The alkaline source is preferably present in the concentrate composition of the invention at a concentration of 5 to 40% by eight.

Desirably, the concentrate composition of the present invention further comprises a cleaning agent selected from the group consisting of a secondary alkane sulphonate, an alkane sulphate, an ether sulphate, and mixtures thereof. More preferably, the concentrate composition of the invention includes a secondary alkane sulphonate at a concentration of from 1 to 25% by weight.

In order to boost the cleaning performance thereof, the concentrate composition of the invention may effectively further comprise a nonionic surfactant.

A suitable further component of the concentrate composition of the invention is a solvent, which can be effectively used for establishing the desired viscosity of the use solution to be obtained from said concentrate by dilution. Said solvent is preferably selected from the group consisting of isopropanol, ethanol, hexylene glycol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, monoethyl/butyl ether, dioxitol butyl dioxitol, and mixtures thereof.

A further preferred component of the concentrate composition of the invention is a sequestrant, said sequestrant being desirably present therein at a level of 0.1 to 15% by weight. Said sequestrant is preferably selected from the group consisting of ethylene-diamine-

tetraacetic acid, nitrilo-tri-acetic acid, citric acid, methyl-glycine-diacetic acid, serine diacetic acid, alkaline salts thereof, and mixtures thereof.

The concentrate composition of the invention may effectively further include threshold agents such as phosphonates, polyacrylates and hydrotropes, and/or iron binders such as sodium gluconate. These threshold agents and iron binders may be suitably present at a concentration of from 0.1 to 5% by weight.

The concentrate composition preferably has a flash point of between 25-50°C.

The present invention will now be illustrated by way of the following examples.

Field trials have been carried out with the following embodiments of a composition according to the present invention.

Figures 1-3 show the measured ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids of compositions 1 to 3 respectively.

Composition 1: General purpose liquid detergent for foamgel and gel cleaning (low flash point) .

Raw material % i suppli .ed as 100% ( 2) potassium hydroxide (50%) 12.00 6.00 ( 3) ethanol 10.00 10.00 ( 4) palmitic acid 0.75 0.75 ( 5) oleic acid 5.50 5.50 ( 6) caprylic acid 1.50 1.50 ( 7) gluconic acid Na-salt 0.50 0.50 ( 8) alkane suphonic acid

Na-salt (30%) 1.50 0.30

( 9) cumene sulphonic acid

Na-salt (40%) 14.00 4.00 (10) alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (50%) 3.00 1.50

(11) ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid 4 Na-salt (40%) 10.00 4.00

(12) sodium hydroxide (50%) 4.00 2.00

( 1) water (demineralised) up to 100.00 100.0

Production method of composition 1

The raw materials were mixed together in the order given in brackets.

Characteristics of composition 1

Appearance : light yellow coloured clear viscous liquid

Relative density (20°C) : 1.09

Viscosity : Neat product 50-100 mPa.s at 21 s ^"1 (Haake

MV1 25°C)

4% solution >120 mPa.s at 21 s ^"1 (Haake MV1

25°C) pH (1% solution) 12.3 - 12.5

Active alkalinity to pH 8.2 (phenophtalein) 4.2 - 4.6% as Na,0

Total alkalinity to pH 3.6 (methyl orange) 5.4 5.8% as Na ₂ 0

Composition 2: Heavy duty liquid detergent for foamgel and gel cleaning (low flash point) .

Raw material % i supplied as 100%

( 2) potassium hydroxide (50%) 24.00 12.00 ( 3) ethanol 10.00 10.00 ( 4) palmitic acid 0.50 0.50 ( 5) oleic acid 5.25 5.25

( 6) caprylic acid 1.50 1.50

( 7) gluconic acid Na-salt 0.50 0.50

( 8) alkane suphonic acid

Na-salt (30%) 1.50 0.45 ( 9) cumene sulphonic acid

Na-salt (40%) 2.00 0.80

(10) alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (50%) 2.25 1.13

(11) ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid 4 Na-salt (40%) 10.00 4.00

(12) sodium hydroxide (50%) 6.00 3.00

( 1) water (demineralised) to 100.00 100.0

Production method of composition 2

The raw materials were mixed together in the order given in brackets. The plant must be suitable for readily foamable products

Characteristics of composition 2

Appearance light yellow coloured clear viscous liquid

Relative density (20°C) : 1.13

Viscosity : Neat product 50-100 mPa.s at 21 s ^"1 (Haake

MV1 25°C)

4% solution >120 mPa.s at 21 s ^"1 (Haake MV1

25°C) pH (1% solution) 12.5 - 12.7

Active alkalinity to pH 8.2 (phenophtalein) 8.0 8.5% as Na ₂ 0

Total alkalinity to pH 3.6 (methyl orange) 9.2 - 9.6% as Na,0

Composition 3 : Heavy duty liquid detergent for foamgel and gel cleaning of ovens and smoke chambers (low flash point) .

Raw material % i suppli .ed as 100%

( 2) potassium hydroxide (50%) 32.50 16.25

( 3) ethanol 10.00 10.00 ( 4) palmitic acid 0.35 0.35

( 5) oleic acid 5.50 5.50

( 6) caprylic acid 2.75 2.75

( 7) gluconic acid Na-salt 0.50 0.50

( 8) alkane suphonic acid Na-salt (30%) 1.50 0.45

( 9) cumene sulphonic acid

Na-salt (40%) 1.00 0.40

(10) alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (50%) 2.25 1.12 (11) ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid 4 Na-salt (40%) 5.00 2.00

(12) sodium hydroxide (50%) 7.00 3.50

( 1) water (demineralised) to 100.00 100.0

Production method of composition 3

The raw materials were mixed together in the order given in brackets. The plant must be suitable for readily foamable products.

Characteristics of composition 3

Appearance : light yellow coloured clear viscous liquid

Relative density (20°C) : 1.15

Viscosity : Neat product 50-100 mPa.s at 21 s ^"1 (Haake

MV1 25°C)

4% solution >120 mPa.s at 21 s ^"1 (Haake MVl

25°C) pH (1% solution) 12.5 - 12.7

Active alkalinity to pH 8.2 (phenophtalein) 9.7 - 10.1% as Na,0

Total alkalinity to pH 3.6 (methyl orange) 10.7 - 11.1% as Na ₂ 0