Advances in Saponification, Drying and

Soap-Finishing Technology
LUIS SPITZ, G. Mazzoni S.p.A., Chicago, Illinois 60615
Introduction

recorder controller, which in t u r n causes the caustic

proportioning pump to make minute adjustments as
required. A constant pressure valve at the outlet
of the column maintains about 50 psi of working
pressure to prevent external influence on the pressure reading across the recycle pump. Various additives, as required by the producer's specifications,
can be added toward the top of the column, shortly
before the material leaves the unit.
The finished product is completely neutralized;
however it is common practice to introduce it into
an agitated, steam-jacketed pressure vessel with a
20- to 30-rain r e t e n t i o n time. Complete mixing of
the additives and a homogeneous mass are ensured,
together with the added flexibility of preventing
scrap during start-ups and shut-downs. The product
leaving the secondary tank u n d e r pressure and at
approximately 275F i s released to the atmosphere
by spraying over chill rolls. Some d r y i n g by evaporation is accomplished before the material is fed to a
hot-air band dryer. The material fed to the chill rolls
will contain 77% T F A and will normally be 80-82%
anhydrous, depending on the amount of water contained in the additives which are injected into the
top of the neutralizer.
The toilet soap system is similar to the industrial.
The differences are the design of the neutralization
column and the absence of chill rolls. The liquid
soap produced is moved directly into any d r y i n g
system. The column is of a disc and donut design;
there is a reeirculation loop plus an external high
speed agitator fitted into a secondary loop. I t produces a less viscous 63% T F A soap.
The toilet soap column is made of 316 stainless
steel, which is satisfactory for the 28% caustic used
in this process. The electrolyte vs. viscosity curve for
62% T F A soap (Fig. 2) shows how, at low electrolyte
content, the soap mass is extremely viscous; as the
amount of electrolyte increases, the viscosity decreases
to a minimum point. I t rises again as the electrolyte
content keeps increasing. This relationship is used to
control the process.
The industrial soap column is of nickel construction to prevent corrosion from the 47-50% caustic
soda. W i t h this concentration the electrolyte vs.
viscosity curve differs from the other one; no sharp
minimum point can be observed (Fig. 3).

URING THE LAST TWO DECADES the ancient art of

soapmaking has been transformed into a sophisticated chemical industry. Right after the Second
World W a r vacuum spray-drying was introduced,
and its immediate success paved the way for the
development of new, fully continuous, and automated
processes in all phases of soap manufacturing.
The purpose of this paper is to describe the commercially available processes in f a t t y acid neutralization, drying, and finishing with the inclusion of some
developments in 1967.

Neutralization Systems
Since the first fully automated, f a t t y acid neutralization plants started commercial operation in
1960 and 1961, a number of such plants have been
installed. These are simple and compact since the
neutralization reaction is practically instantaneous.
Utility requirements are minimal because of the
exothermic nature of the reaction. Precise control
of the finished product specifications as far as alkalinity, moisture, electrolyte content, and additives are
concerned is assured by complete automation.
Presently there arc two basically different processes: De Laval's Ccntri-Pure system via viscosity
control, and Mazzoni's SC and SCC systems via p H
control.

DeLavars Centri-Pure Process

De Laval's Centri-Pure process for f a t t y acids is
similar to the first section of the Centri-Pure process
for n e u t r a ! fats, w~hich was discussed d u r i n g the last
short course in 1963. There are two De Laval f a t t y
acid systems, one for industrial soaps and another
for toilet soaps. :Both systems have four basic elements; h e a t i n g and proportioning equipment for the
raw ma~erialsl a special mixer or neutralization
column, a n d a method to determine and control the
degree of neutralization. The feedstock for the industrial soap system may range from a mixture of
85% tallow and 15% coconut f a t t y acids to 100%
of either of these components to an assorted mixture
of f a t t y acids from vegetable oil fats.
Fig. 1 shows the Centri-Pure process. The raw
materials are heated and metered into the neutralization column b y a proportioning pump. The f a t t y
acids are injected about midway up the column into
a n alkaline zone, where soap has already formed and
exerts an autocatalytic effect on the neutralization of
the incoming f a t t y acids. The neutralization column
is a special, patented, mixing device with an internal
rotor. The neutralized mass moves toward the top
of the column. Mixing within the column is aided
through the use of a recirculation pump, installed
in a loop which extends over the lower two-thirds
of the neutralizer. The recycle rate is equal to 35
times the rated t h r o u g h p u t of the system.
The degree of neutralization is controlled by measuring the pressure drop across the recycle pump,
which reflects minute changes in viscosity. The pressure readings are fed into a differential pressure-

4" HEATERS

SOAP

ADDITIVE NO.2

0-

LYE PUMP

. . . .

MIXING TANK6 PUMP

FIO. 1. De Laval centri-pure process.

423

THE J O U R N A L OF THE A M E R I C A N OIL CHEMISTS' SOCIETY

424

8O

7O

6O

SO

~0

J0

0./
Excess

a2

0.3

0.,[.

o f H a OH.

Flo...~ Electrolyte content-vis(.osity curve for saponificd mass

[~f 62% fatty acid content.
M a z z o n i ' s SC a n d SCC P r o c e s s e s

The Mazzoni Company offers two processes; one

using only caustic soda as the neutralizing agent and
lhe other using sodium carbonate a n d / o r caustic soda.
In the SC process (Fig. 4) f a t t y acids and caustic
soda are stored respectively in tanks I and 2. Both
streams flow to the proportioning pump 15 through
strainers 4 and 5, preheaters 9 and 10 (fitted with
automatic temperature-controllers 11 and 12), and
the constant level tanks 13 and 14.
F o r each reactant there are two pumps operating
together to obtain accurate dosing. All the pumps
have a comnnm drive with a variable-speed adjustment. The stroke length of each pump is individually
adjustable. The reactants enter the multistage centrifugal reactor 16 and disperse in the preformed soap
(.oming from the first mixer 19 and the recycle
pump 18.
Brine stored in tank 3 passes through strainer 6,
flowmeter 7, constant level tank 8, to one of the
volumetric pumps of the metering group 15. Then
it is proportioned into the caustic soda circuit before

60.

VOL. 45

entering the reactor 16. The recirculated soap passes

through flow chamber 17, where an electrode assembly
is mounted. In mixer 20 neutralization is completed,
and small variations in alkalinity are eliminated.
In the SCC process (Fig. 5) f a t t y acids and soda
ash flow respectively from tanks 1, 2, and 2a to the
metering group 15 and on through the preheaters
9 and 10, fitted with automatic temperature controllers 11 and 12, to the contact apparatus ( f a t t y
acid neutralizer with soda ash) 13. The reaction
mixture passes through a patented film reactorseparator 14, where the reaction is completed and
the carbon dioxide is removed. The resulting acid
soap of 68% T F A passes to the neutralizing section,
which is identical to that described in the SC process.
The neutralization is completed by adding caustic
soda and brine from tanks 2 and 3 respectively.
Both systems are capable of processing, besides
100% f a t t y acid blends, admixtures of f a t t y acids
and neutral fats in ally proportion, also 100% neutral fats. The automatic control of the SC and SCC
plants is based on the continuous potentiometric
measurement of neat soap alkalinity. The electrode
potential, measured in millivolts, is directly related
to the free. NaOH content of the soap. The measured
i)otential is amplified, and the signal is used for
recording and controlling the alkalinity by the automatic adjustment of the stroke length of the caustic
soda pump.
Neutralization of f a t t y acids with caustic soda is
an exothermie reaction, with about !).5 calories of
heat evolving pet' nmle of f a t t y acid mixture. Soda
ash neutralization, however, is endothermic with an
absorption of about 4 calories per mole of f a t t y acid
mixture. Water is also flashed off from the reaction
mixture, adding the removal of carbon dioxide. The
extra heat input required for neutralization is obtained by preheating the soda ash solution to about
248F and the f a t t y acids to 210F.
Since the soda ash neutralization reaction is reversible, a number of conditions have to be assured
to drive the reaction in the proper direction. At
low temperatures, carbon dioxide can react with the
diluted soap solution to form sodium bicarbonate and
liberate free f a t t y acids. The proper conditions to
be met are: temperature close to 212F, low partial
pressure of carbon dioxide for its easy removal, and
high T F A content of the acid soap formed (about
68%).
Meccaniche Moderne made available, about two
years ago, a system similar to Mazzoni's SC process.

Drying Systems

30.

-aS

'

.
0

I
+~S

+/.0

Defici/ in IVaOtt % I Excess of IVaOtt Y,

I

FIG. 3. Electrolyte content-viscosity curve for saponified

mass of 73% f a t t y acid content.

Hot-air band dryers, also referred to as conveyor

or flake dryers, dominated soap d r y i n g until they
were challenged by vacuum spray-dryers, which made
their appearance after W o r l d W a r II. Today there
are approximately 800 vacuum spray-dryers in operation. This large number is the best proof of their
rapid, world-wide acceptance.
A vacuum spray-dryer is capable of producing d r y
toilet-soap base, soap-synthetic base, industrial soap,
filled and unfilled l a u n d r y soap in bar form by merely
changing operating conditions. This versatility combined with favorable utility, manpower, and space
requirements plus proper crystallization characteristics of the base or finished product account for the
p o p u l a r i t y of vacuum spray-dryers.
The following companies offer vacuum spray-dryers
of similar designs: Miag, and Weber and Seelander

SPITZ:

ADYANCES

IN

SOAP-FINISHING

........:,

It II tl " ,i ,D i' ll

L] 71 II

I
2
3
#r
~"
5
7
8

TECHNOLOGY

-,

FATTY ACID FEED TANK

CAUSTIC SODA FEED TANK
BRINE FEED TANK
FATTY ACID STRAINERS
GAUST/C SODA STRAINERS
BRINE STRAINERS
BRINE FLOWMETER
BRINE CONSTANT LEVEL TANK

II

II

9
10
ff
12
f3
f4
15
f6

II;i

11 II 1"

9 I,
"

,,~

1 4
'

II

17
fS
f9
20
2f
22
23
~-f

FATTY ACID PRE-HEATER

CAUSTIC SODA PRE'HEATER
FATTY ACID TEMPERATURE CONTROLLER
CAUSTIC SODA TEMPERATURE CONTROLLER
FATTY ACID CONSTANT LEVEL T A N K
CAUSTIC SODA LEVEL TANK
PROPORTIONING PUMPS
SAPONIFIER

425

FLOW CHAMBER WITH ELECTRODE ASSEMBLY

SOAP RECYCLE PUMP
FIRST STAGE MIXER
SECOND STAGE MIXER
FINISHED SOAP HOLDING TANK
SOAP TRANSFER PUMP
ELECTRIC CONTROL BOARD
mV CONTROL BOARD

FIG. 4. "SC" continuous fatty acid saponification with caustic soda.

f r o m G e r m a n y ; Meccaniche Moderne, Gariboldi, and

Mazzoni f r o m Italy.
Vacuum Spray-Dryer

Mazzoni introduced v a c u u m s p r a y - d r y i n g more

t h a n 20 years ago, and the d r y e r of t o d a y (Fig. 6)
consists of a variable-speed drive p u m p 1, which
delivers through a filter 2 into a feed t a n k 3 the
liquid or "neat soap." F r o m the feed t a n k another
variable-speed p u m p 4 feeds a shell and tube heatexchanger 5. The soap passing inside of the tubes
is heated countercurrently by steam passing on the
outside. The preheated soap enters the v a c u u m
chamber 6 through a revolving nozzle, which sprays
a thin layer of dried and p a r t i a l l y cooled soap film
on the walls of the chamber. The soap is removed

b y r o t a t i n g scrapers and falls to the bottom of a

plodder 13, which extrudes the p r o d u c t in the f o r m
of noodles or pellets.
E i t h e r single or double plodding is used, depending on the v a r i e t y of products dried a n d the subsequent finishing-line layout. W a t e r is flashed off
in the v a c u u m chamber 6 in an a m o u n t d e t e r m i n e d
by the q u a n t i t y of heat i m p a r t e d to the neat soap
in the heat exchanger and the degree of v a c u u m in
the system.
Vapors and soap fines pass t h r o u g h two powder
r e c u p e r a t o r s 7 and 8. The powdered soap is separated and recovered at the bottom of the recuperators,
where a powder recovery plodder 9 extrudes the fines
continuously.
The talcum powder-like fines can
either be e x t r u d e d outside of the d r y e r or r e t u r n e d

'--1>
f
2
2a
3
4
S
5a

FATTY ACID FEEO TANK

CAUSTIC SODA FEED TANK
SODA ASH SOLUTION FEED TANK
BRINE FEED TANK
FATTY ACID STRAINERS
CAUSTIC SODA STRAINERS
SODA ASH STRAINERS
5 " BRINE STRAINERS.
7 BRINE FLOWMETER

,8
9
10
ff
12
f3
I~
15
f6

BRINE CONSTANT LEVEL TANK

FATTYACID PRE'HEATER
SODA ASH SOLUTION PRE'HEATER
FATTY ACID TEMPERATURE CONTROLLER
SODA ASH TEMPERATURE CONTROLLER
NEUTRALIZER
CARBON DIOXIDE SEPARATOR
PROPORTIONING PUMPS
SAPONIFIER

f7
18
f9
20
,21
2,2
,23

FLOW CHAMBER
SOAP RECYCLE PUMP
FIRST STAGE MIXER
SECOND STAGE MIXER
FINISHED SOAP HOLDING TANK
SOAP TRANSFER PUMP
ELECTRIC CONTROL BOARD
mV CONTROL
BOARD

FIG. 5. "SCC" continuous fatty acid saponification with soda ash and caustic soda.

426

T H E J O U R N A L OF T H E A M E R I C A N OIL C H E M I S T S ' S O C I E T Y

VOL. 45

1 - FILTRATION PUMP
2 "SOAP STRAINER
3 -HOLDING TANK
4 - F E E D PUMP
S-HEAT EXCHANGER
6-VACUUM SPRAYINGUNIT
7 "FIRST CYCLONE
8-SECOND CYCLONE
g-FINES CONVEYOR
10 - BAROMETRIC CONDENSER
11-HOT WELL
1g-VACUUM PUMP
13-PRELIMINARY "PLODDER

,t

FIG. 6. Mazzoni's v:l(tuum spray dryor.

continuously to tim bottom section of the s p r a y

chan]ber. The vapors reach the barometric condenser
10 to be condensed and discharged into a hot-well.
Multistage Dryer

Mazzoni's latest d r y i n g system is the multistage

d r y e r (Fig. 7). I t is an expanded version of the
single-stage v a c u u m s p r a y - d r y e r just dcscrihed. The
new d r y e r is Callable of processing a wider range
of materials, and it also attains a higher degree of
drying. ] n d u s t r i a l soaps with 6% and lower final
moisture, soap-synthetic mixtures with as high as
40% initial moisture, regular toilct soaps as well

as special soaps like 100% coconut bars can be

processed with tile three-stage system.
First-Staffc Drying. Neat soap is p u m p e d by p u m p
1 through filter 2 into feed t a n k 3. P u m p 4 sends
the soap to the first shell and tube heat-exchanger 5.
Tile preheated soap enters the atmospheric flash
chamber 6 through a sepecial pressure nozzle. This
chamber is provided with a mixing worm, which
helps to liberate the vapors and to homogenize the
p a r t i a l l y dried soap, and p u m p s to the second stage.
A constant level of soap is maintained in the flash
chamber, which rests partially on a scale 7 and p a r t l y
on the floor. The scale's pneumatic control device

10

I,,I
12344a56-

FILTRATION PUMP
SOAP STRAINER
HOLDING TANK
FIRST STAGE F'EED PUMP
MODULATING VALVE
FIRST STAGE HEAT EXCHANGER
FLASH CHAMRER

7- PNEUMATIC LEVEL CONTROL

e-SECOND STAGE F(ED PUMP
9-SECONO STAGE HEAT EXCHANGER
IO-VACUUM SPRAYING UNIT
11- FIRST CYCLONE
12-SECOND CYCLONE
13- FINES CONVEYOR

Fza. 7. Mazzoni's three-s~age

dryer.

14 - BAROMETRIC CONDENSER
15-HOT WELL"
!6- VACUUM PUMP
17- PRELIMINARY PLOODER~
17a- CONNECTING VACUUM CHAMBER
18- FINAL PLODDER
19- THIRD STAGE BOOSTER

J U N E , 1968

SPITZ:

ADVANCES IN

SOAP-FINISHING

acts upon the control valve 4a, which lets any excess
soap be recycled through pump 4.
Second.Stage Drying. Another variable-speed
pump 8 via a second shell and tube heat-exchanger 9
feeds the partially dried soap into the vacuum spray
chamber 10. This portion of the plant and its operation is similar to the single-stage dryer.
Third-Stage Drying and Cooling. The soap ext r u d e d by the preliminary plodder 17 in the form
of pellets falls into the vacuum chamber 17a which
interconnects the two plodders 17 and 18. The absolute pressure in this chamber is considerably lower
than the absolute pressure in the main vacuum
chamber ]0. In the interconnecting vacuum chamber
17a the pellets undergo some minor additional d r y i n g
and considerable cooling. The fully homogenized and
compressed pellets leave the final plodder ]8 and are
ready for the immediate subsequent finishing operation. A small booster ]9 is used to obtain the lower
abso]ute pressure in the interconnecting vacuum
chamber 17a.
Double-Expansion D r y e r

In the Miag d r y e r (Fig. 8) d r y i n g of liquid soap

containing 63% T F A to toilet soap base with 78-80%
T F A or higher is achieved by a double-expansion
system. Neat soap at about 190F is taken by a
variable-speed pump and passed through two shell
and tube heat-exchangers. Steam at about 115 psig,
passing outside the tubes, heats the soap passing
inside the tubes to 275F.
The soap-steam mixture expands through a nozzle
into the first expansion chamber, which is kept at
0.5 at m. pressure. Water is flashed off; the semiconcentrated soap, now containing 72% T F A , cools
down to 230F. In the lower section of the expansion
chamber a mixer stirs the soap continuously in order
to compensate for any differences in the f a t t y acid
content.
A second variable-speed p u m p delivers the 72%
T F A soap to another set of tubular heat-exchangers.
The soap is heated again from 230F to 285F. Another expansion takes place in the second expansion
chamber, which, like the first one, is equipped with
a mixer in its lower section. The soap now dried to
78-80% T F A has a temperature of 230F. It is discharged onto chill rolls, where its temperature is
reduced to 140F. The soap solidifies on the two
counter-rotating rolls, and it is removed in flakes.
Subsequently the flakes are usually plodded into
pellets to increase their bulk density, facilitating
storage and f u r t h e r processing.
Miag also offers a vacuum s p r a y - d r y e r similar to
Mazzoni's single-stage dryer.

8Y- PAss

rLOW-HET[R

TECHNOLOGY

Finishing Lines
Finishing lines for low unit-price items have to be
continuous and fully automated, probably more so
than m a n y other types of finishing lines. The last
decade has seen the development of fully automated,
high-speed lines for different soap and synthetic
products in bar form.
Automated Toilet Soap Line

Fig. 9 illustrates Mazzoni's continuous automated

finishing-line type LTC. A fully automated batch
doser-mixer receives all the liquid and powdered ingredients from the various holding tanks and bins.
This dosing-mixing system is especially suitable for
germicidal slurries which are difficult to dosify on a
continuous basis with accuracy. A f t e r a predetermined mixing period the doser-mixer's bottomopening, sliding door discharges the mixed p r o d u c t
consisting of soap pellets and all the ingredients
which the final bar will contain.
The mix is conveyed on a belt conveyor into a
duplex refining plodder. Each stage of the refiner
is fitted with fine screens (up to 50 mesh) and worms
designed to give maximum refining action. The
pellets, after undergoing two intense refining actions
m the duplex refiner, proceed on another belt conveyor to a duplex vacuum plodder for final refining
through another screen and air-free extrusion in a
continuous slug form.
The cutting operation, which follows, has also
reached complete automation with the invention of
an adjustable cutter. To adjust the cutting length
within certain ranges, it is sufficient merely to t u r n
a hand wheel on the TV cutter instead of having to
change the chains and thus stop the operation. The
cut slugs enter a vertical conditioning tunnel to be
prepared for p r o p e r stamping. These conditioners
increase the production rate of high-speed finishing
lines by minimizing downtime because of cleaning
of the soap-press dies and also improve the over-all
appearance of the stamped finished product.
The conditioned slugs then reach the stamping
operation. In the soap industry there are two basically different presses: horizontol-action types, mainly
for rectangular shape bars, and verticle-action types,
1

(i-W]

1-2-3,4 AUTOMATIC iNGREDIENT

DOS[R-MIXER
5 CONVEYOR
6 DUPLEX REFINER
7 CONVEYOR
8 DUPLEX VACUUM PLOODER
9 ~
CUTTER
10 CONDITIONING-TUNNEL
11 PRESS
12 WRAPPING MACHINE
13 CASE PACKER
14 CASE SEALER

[]
REeNtER

FIG. 8. MIAG-double expansion dryer.

427

FIG. 9. Mazzoni's toilet soap processing line "LTC".

THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN OIL CHEMISTS' SOCIETY

428

mainly for oval shapes without side bands. More

than a year ago, for the first time, a new combination
press was introduced. The STU press is capable of
stamping out any shape. To switch from the rectangular to the oval or pillow shape bars, only the dies
and the dies box have to be changed. The STU press
comes in three models for stamping more than 100,
more than 200, or more than 300 bars per minute.
The stamped bars are moved on to the wrapping,
case-packing, and case-sealing equipment. The discussion of packaging equipment is beyond the scope
of this paper.
The same companies which offer vacuum spraydryers also nlanufaeture complete or partial finishingline equipment.
Synthetic Laundry Bar Processing Line

The need for a synthetic detergent in bar form

has been urgent since the spectacular growth of
powdered detergents. A synthetic laundry bar would
be a substitute for the traditional laundry or household soap, still used in large quantities throughout
the world. Latest statistics show that, in Europe,
laundry soap still accounts for 40% of the total
soap market.
The dcvelol)nmnt of a synthetic laundry bar took
a considerable amount of time and effort ()wing to
formulation difficulties and tile lack of adequate
processing equipment. The different characteristics
exhibited by this type of product necessitated new
machinery, and eventually an entirely new processing
line was evolved. Synthetic laundry bars are soft,
tacky, dense, and hygroscopic. They lack the
lubricating properties of soap and become extremely
hard rather quickly. The SLB line was formally in-

~5

I INGREDIENT FEEDERS
2 AMALGAMA TOR
3 MULTI-WORM CONVEYOR
4 FIVE-ROLL MILL
5 BELT CONVEYOR
6 "t'OM-SLB ~ PLODDER
7 BILLET CUTTER
# SLUG CUTTER
9 CONDITIONING TUNNEL
I0 PRESS
11 WRAPPING MA CHINE
12 CASE PACKER
13 C A S E SEALER

Fla. 10.
"SLB."

Mazzoni's synthetic laundry bar processing line

VOL. 45

troduced only in 1967 although the first SLB product

appeared in mid-1963.
The most accepted method of producing synthetic
laundry bars is by the neutralization of sulfonic acid.
Powdered formulations have also been used, but,
because of difficulties in controlling the homogeneity
of the mixed ingredients in the rather short time
allowed for the mixing cycle, their use is decreasing.
The various powdered and liquid ingredients which
make up the finished product are stored in a series
of silos and tanks 1 (Fig. 10). They are fed in a
carefully predetermined sequence into a jacketed
mixer-reactor 2 of a special design capable of handling viscous, pasty mixtures. The neutralized produet is conveyed by multiworm conveyors 3 to a fiveroll mill 4 for homogenizing and cooling. From the
mill the material is sent to a special plodder 6,
which will be described later.
The finished pr(Iduct extruded from the plodder
is cut continuously by a rotary wire cutter 7 into
billets of a certain length, which are multiple of tile
final bat" size. The slug cutter 8 that folh)ws is an
automatic, adjustable multiple wire-cutter, which
cuts the long billets into tile final individual size
slugs. The cut shigs or blanks proceed directly into
a verticle conditioning tunnel 9, where they haw'~ to
be cooled to optinium consistency for troublc-frec
stamping. According to prevailing temperature,
humidity, and I)roduct consistency, the tunnel can
be provided wit|l an air-conditioning system. The
('~onditioned slugs then are moved to conventional
stamping and packaging equipment 10, 11, 12, and 13.
The heart of the SI~B line is the FO M/ SLB plodder, thc latest and most versatile machine of the soap
industry. The unit is a triplex plodder, consisting
of three groups of twin-worm plodders connected
in tan(tern. The first stage is a refining and feeding
type of plodder. The second and third stages are
special plodders which are designed to incorporate
air into the product. Aeration is achieved through
the combined action of a series of refining screens,
pressure plates, mixing rotors, and special plodder
worms. The F O M / S L B is capable of processing the
following products: a) dense and light synthetic
laundry bars, b) regular and floating synthetic toilet
bars, e) regular and floating soap-synthetic bars,
and d) regular and floating toilet soap bars.
Synthetic and Soap-Synthetic Bar l~inishing Lines
Synthetic toilet bars and soap-synthetic "combo"
bars are processed through finishing lines which only
differ in the refining section from the toilet-soap
finishing line. The refining section consists of threeor five-roll mills, followed by twin-worm duplex
vacuum plodders. Twin-worm models have larger
capacity than their single worm counterpart, give
more refining action, and can handle sticky products,
thus eliminating bridging and minimizing surging
or pulsating of the extruded product. Uneven extrusion rates, characteristic of synthetic products
processed on regular single-worm plodders, create
subsequent cutting and stamping difficulties, hindering continuous high-speed operations. The twinworm plodders can also be used for toilet soaps and
nonaerated dense synthetic laundry bars.
PATENTS
Basset, G. H., U.S. 2,710.057 (1956). Palmqvist, i~. T. E., U.S.
2,727.915 ( 1 9 5 5 ) . G. Mazzeni S.p.A., Italian P a t e n t 550.133 ( 1 9 5 6 ) .
G. ]~Iazzoni S.p.A., Italian P a t e n t 554.710 ( 1 9 5 7 ) .
G. IViazzoni
S.p.A., British P a t e n t 849.866 ( 1 9 6 0 ) . G. Mazzoni S.p.A., Italian
P a t e n t 623.670 ( 1 9 6 1 ) . Palmason, E. ]:I., U.S. 3,073.380 ( 1 9 6 3 ) .
Jacopini, C. 1~., British P a t e n t 985.811 ( 1 9 6 5 ) . 1Vfazzoni, C., U.S.
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