SUBMITTED BY:SARITA PATELR020209064MBA(OIL AND GAS)

Raw Materials

Although people commonly refer to laundry detergent as "soap," it is actually a synthetic combination that functions much like soap, with certain major improvements. Soap cleans because each soap molecule consists of a hydrocarbon chain and a carboxylic group (fatty acids) that perform two important functions. The carboxylate end of the soap molecule is hydrophilic, meaning that it is attracted to water, while the hydrocarbon end of the molecule is both hydrophobic (repelled by water) and attracted to the oil and grease in dirt. While the hydrophobic end of a soap molecule attaches itself to dirt, the hydrophilic end attaches itself to water. The dirt attached to the carboxylate end of the molecule is chemically dragged away from the clothes being cleaned and into the wash water. Properly agitating and rinsing the clothes furthers the cleansing process.

The major difficulty with using soap to clean laundry shows up when it is used in hard water—water that is rich in natural minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, and manganese. When these chemicals react with soap, they form an insoluble curd called a precipitate. Difficult to rinse out, the precipitate leaves visible deposits on clothing and makes fabric feel stiff. Even water that is not especially hard will eventually produce precipitates over a period of time.

While the hydrocarbons used in soap generally come from plants or animals, those used in detergent can be derived from crude oil. Adding sulfuric acid to the processed hydrocarbon produces a molecule similar to the fatty acids in soap. The addition of an alkali to the mixture creates a surfactant molecule

In the blender method of making powder laundry detergent, the ingredients—surfactant, builders, antiredeposition agents, and perfumes—are simply blended together in a mixer,

released onto a conveyor belt, and packaged accordingly. This method is favored by smaller companies.

In addition to a surfactant, modern detergent contains several other ingredients. Among the most significant are builders, chemicals which serve several purposes. Most importantly, they increase the efficiency of the surfactant. They also sequester minerals in hard water, meaning that they hold them in solution, preventing them from precipitating out. Furthermore, builders can emulsify oil and grease into tiny globules that can be washed away. Some, like sodium silicate, inhibit corrosion and help assure that the detergent will not damage a washing machine. Still other builders contribute to the chemical balance of the wash water, making sure that it conduces to effective washing.

Modern detergents have several other ingredients including antiredeposition agents, chemicals that help prevent soil from settling back on washed clothes. Fluorescent whitening agents are also common. By converting invisible ultraviolet light into visible blue light, these help to maintain brightness or whiteness. Oxygen bleaches such as sodium perborate improve the detergency of the mixture, especially in low-phosphate or no-phosphate products, as well as helping to remove some types of stains. Processing aids such as sodium sulfate are also used to prevent caking and to standardize product density.

Enzymes and perfumes are also found in commercial detergents. Enzymes (a type of protein) break down some stains to make them easier to remove and are an essential ingredient in various pre-soak products used to treat heavily soiled clothes prior to laundering. Perfumes or fragrances cover the odor of the dirt and any chemical smell from the detergent itself. Suds control agents also have a role in detergents—too many suds can cause mechanical problems with a washing machine.

The Manufacturing Process

Although there are three ways of manufacturing dry laundry detergent, only two are commonly used today. In the blender process favored by smaller companies, the ingredients are mixed in large vats before being packaged. The machines used are very large: a common blender holds 4,000 pounds (1,816 kilograms) of mixed material, but the blenders can accommodate loads ranging from 500 to 10,000 pounds (227 to 4,540 kilograms). By industry standards, these are small batches for which the blender process is ideal. While some settling may occur, the resulting detergent is of high quality and can compete with detergents made by other processes.

The second commonly used method of production is called the agglomeration process. Unlike the blender process, it is continuous, which makes it the choice of very large detergent manufacturers. The agglomeration process can produce between 15,000 and 50,000 pounds (6,800 and 22,700 kilograms) of detergent per hour.

In the third method, dry ingredients are blended in water before being dried with hot air. Although the resulting product is of high quality, the fuel costs and engineering problems associated with venting, reheating, and reusing the air have led to this method being largely replaced by agglomeration.

The blender process

First, ingredients are loaded into one of two machines: a tumbling blender or a ribbon blender. The tumbling blender, shaped like a rectangular box, is turned and shaken from outside by a machine, while the ribbon blender is a cylinder fitted with blades to scrape and mix the ingredients. After the ingredients inside the blender have been mixed, a doorway at the bottom of the bowl is opened. With the blender still agitating the ingredients, the mix is allowed to run out onto a conveyor belt or other channeling device. The belt then moves the detergent to another area of the factory where it can be dropped into boxes or cartons for delivery to wholesalers or distributors.

The agglomeration process

In this method, dry ingredients for a detergent are first fed into a large machine known as a Shuggi agglomerator (Shuggi is the manufacturer). Inside the agglomerator, sharp, whirling blades mix the material to a fine consistency; the process resembles food being textured inside a food processor.

After the dry ingredients have been blended, liquid ingredients are sprayed on the dry mix through nozzles fitted into the agglomerator's walls. The blending continues, causing an exothermic (heat-producing) reaction to occur. The resulting mixture is a hot, viscous liquid similar to gelatin that hasn't hardened.

Next, the liquid is allowed to flow out of the agglomerator. As it leaves the machine, it collects on a drying belt where its own heat, exposure to air, and hot air blowers render it friable—easy to crush or crumble. The newly made detergent is then pulverized and pushed through sizing screens that ensure that no large lumps of unmixed product go out to the market. The result of this process is a dry detergent made up of granules of the mixed detergent.

The slurry method

In this process, ingredients are dissolved in water to create a slurry. With a pump, the slurry is blown through nozzles inside the top of a cone shaped container as hot, dry air is simultaneously forced into the bottom of the cone. As the slurry dries, "beads" of dry detergent fall to the bottom of the cone, where they can be collected for packaging.

Liquid detergent

If the detergent is to be liquid rather than powder, it is simply mixed back in—after all ingredients are blended—with a solution consisting of water and various chemicals known as solubilizers. The solubilizers help the water and detergent blend together more fully and evenly.

Quality Control

Manufacturers constantly monitor the quality of their detergents, and they utilize the same testing methods to assess the effectiveness of new products. In one method, light is shined onto a piece of fabric that has been soiled and then washed in the test detergent.

To make liquid detergent, the dry powder is simply mixed back in with a solution consisting of water and chemicals known as "solubilizers." These chemicals help the water and detergent blend together more evenly. Another method involves laboratory burning of a small amount of material that has been soiled and then laundered. The weight of the ashes, plus the weight of the gaseous results of the burning, reveal how much of the dirt remained in the fabric after laundering. A result that is much higher than a clean test sample indicates that a significant amount of dirt was retained in the laundered sample. Naturally, the goal is to come as close to the weight of a clean control sample as possible.

Typical Ingredients

The powder feeder must handle a wide range of ingredients such as:

Sodium carbonate Sodium bicarbonate Sodium perborate Sodium sulphate

Tetrahydrate Sodium tripolyphosphate Sodium silicates Sodium percarbonate Anionics Encapsulated enzymes Colored beads Anti-foaming powder Polymers that release stains Polymers that prevent new stains Sodium silicates

INDIAN DETERGENT MARKET

Washing powders were categorized into four segments - economy (selling at less than Rs.25 per kg), mid-priced (Rs.25 - Rs. 90 per kg), premium (Rs. 90 - Rs. 120 per kg) and compact (selling at over Rs. 120 per kg). The compact, premium and medium priced segments together accounted for 20% of the volume share and 35% of the value share. The economy segment made up the remaining lion's share of the market. The fabric wash industry in India was characterized by low per capita consumption, especially in rural markets. The major players in the Indian detergent market were HLL, P&G, Nirma and Henkel (through its joint venture with SPIC, a leading petrochemical company based in the south Indian city of Chennai).

The Indian fabric wash market consists of synthetic detergents (comprising bars, powder and liquids) and oil-based laundry soaps

Although the per capita consumption of detergents in India (3.2 kg pa) is comparable to some countries like Indonesia, China and Thailand (around 2 kg pa), it is lower than in others such

as Malaysia, Philippines (3.7 kg) and the USA (10 kg). The Indian detergent market is expected to grow at 7-9% pa in volume terms.

The synthetic detergent market can be classified into premium (Surf, Ariel), mid-price (Rin, Wheel) and popular segments (Nirma), which account for 15%, 40% and 45% of the total market, respectively. The product category is fairly mature and is dominated by two players, HLL and Nirma. Nirma created a revolution in the market by pioneering the concept of low-cost detergents. Currently, the market is highly segmented with the differential between the premium and popular segments at almost 7X.

Growth

High consumer awareness and penetration levels will enable the market to grow at an average 8-

10% per annum with slightly higher growth in the rural areas. Higher penetration stems from

popularity of low-cost detergents. Hence, besides increase in per capita consumption, there is

tremendous scope for movement up the value chain. HLL, Nirma and P&G are the major players

in the market with 40%, 30% and 12% share, respectively. While HLL dominates the premium

segment, Nirma is the leader in the popular segment. 

These are consumer products and their quality, price, marketing and distribution network determines the

success of the units in the sector. The industry has developed both in the small scale sector and organized

sector. The manufacture of detergents and toilet soaps has been deli censed 

The Indian personal care market is estimated to be worth US$ 4 Billion (approx. Rs. 20,000 crore) this

includes Bath and Shower products, Hair Care, Skin Care, Cosmetics, Fragrances and Deodorants. Bar

Soaps also has grown at a growth rate of 5% per anum over the last 5 years and stands at market size of

US$ 1.5 billion (approx Rs. 7500 crores).

The overall Indian personal care market has the potential to grow at 15-16% per annum and thereby

double to US$ 8 billion (approx 40,000 crore) by 2012.

India is third largest detergent market. Total detergent market is of Rs.6000 crores. Detergent powder is

Rs.3300 crores (23 lakh tones/ annum).

GLOBAL SCENARIO OF DETERGENT INDUSTRY

According to recent trends, liquid cleansing products are outpacing the traditional bar soap and powder cleaning products. In addition to environmental and health considerations, societal transformation has propelled the changes in the soap and detergent industry. SizeThe industry includes about 700 companies with combined annual revenue of about $17 billion. Major companies in the consumer sector include divisions of P&G, Unilever, and Dial. Major companies in the commercial sector include US Chemical and divisions of Ecolab. The industry is highly concentrated with the top 50 companies holding almost 90 percent of the market.

The market size of global soap and detergent market size was estimated to be around 31M tonne in 2004, which is estimated to grow to 33M tonne by 2008. Toilet soaps account for more than 10% of the total market of soap and detergents. In Asia, even though the countries like China and India are showing rapid growth in the toilet soap section, the Japanese toilet soap industry is showing signs of decline due to the preference of consumers for liquid soaps. This trend is also observed in other developed markets like the US and Europe, which is adversely affecting the toilet soap industry. Market share of body wash was estimated to be around 2% in 2004 and is showing signs of healthy growth in these markets.  Laundry detergents account for 40 % of the overall market, while soaps for 20 % and dishwashing detergent for 15 %.