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Triethanolamine cloudy separation in solution (Multi-purpose surface cleaner)
Hello Everyone
i’m facing a problem (that i didn’t experience in numerous batches before) so i don’t know what’s the variable causing the issue here?!
the formula is as follows (usually the solution is clear and remains clear without any separation)
NP9 3%
TEA 3%
BTC50 1%
Pine Oil 1.5%
i tried different samples eliminating the pine oil and TEA and the only samples that were separating with white/cloudy solution at the bottom of the bottles after couple of hours were the samples containing TEA.
would appreciate any help to troubleshoot this issue!
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2 Replies
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@Ahassan22 At least you intelligently resolved the bad actor here by DoX - a good chemist you are. Many will just shake their heads and dial up this blogspot for answers. That BTC quat (Stepan?) is your issue when using with TEA. The white ppt may be the quat salting out. This raises the issue why adjust pH to the high side when a quat is the main surfactant (and disinfectant). No need to build pH like other HI&I products. The TEA is unnecessary. If you HAVE to include then add a hydrotrope to this like sodium cocoampodiacetate or a phospho-ester.
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Hello Chemicalmatt
Thanks alot for your reply, i’ve been battling this problem for quiet some time now 🙂
Answering your questions and i hope i answer them accurately as i’m not a chemist unfortunately!!!!
The quat is Stepan yes.
and the TEA was as you mentioned to raise the PH for better cleaning efficiency (At least that was the intention of the formulator as i believe)
i’ve thought of adding a hydrotrope but the extra cost discouraged me ( as i mentioned this issue didn’t use to happen so i had hope to resolve it without any core modifications).
seems like eliminating the TEA is the safest route to take.
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