M. Culfaz et al., CLINOPTILOLITES OF WESTERN ANATOLIA AS DETERGENT BUILDERS, Journal of chemical technology and biotechnology, 65(3), 1996, pp. 265-271
The use of clinoptilolites of Western Anatolia in detergents as phosph
ate substitutes was investigated. The cations present in the clinoptil
olite samples were first exchanged with sodium ions. The washing chara
cteristics of detergent mixtures containing surfactants, clinoptilolit
e, sodium carbonate and sodium sulphate were analysed. The stains of c
offee, tea and tomato paste were tested. The washing tests were repeat
ed for different surfactants, i.e. linear alkyl benzene sulphonate, so
dium alkyl sulphate and alcohol ethoxylate and for different co-builde
rs, i.e. sodium carbonate and EDTA. In addition, the effects of deterg
ent dose and detergent formulation on washing were investigated. Other
factors affecting the degree of soil removal such as shaking time, te
mperature and water hardness were also studied. The contribution of cl
inoptilolite to the washability was compared with zeolite A, zeolite X
and sodium tripolyphosphate. Increasing the shaking time and temperat
ure improves the degree of cleaning. LAS was the most effective surfac
tant for use with clinoptilolite. The washing performance of the deter
gent mixtures used in the present work was found to be 00 comparable w
ith that of commercial detergents at low washing temperatures. Key wor
ds: clinoptilolite, detergent builders, phosphate substitutes.