Process for making agglomerated detergents

A continuous process for agglomerating and blending particulate ingredients of a detergent composition, said process comprising the steps of:

• (a) feeding a composition to a generally planar, inclined, rotating and sliding bed, said composition comprising:
• 1. 5 - 60% by weight of particulate sodium tri-polyphosphate, brought at least partially to the hexahydrate state and containing about 9 to about 23% by weight of water, based on the weight of said sodium tripolyphosphate,
• 2. 2 - 70% by weight of at least one substantially anhydrous, particulate, inorganic alkali metal alkaline detergent builder salt selected from the group consisting of a carbonate, an orthophosphate, a pyrophosphate, a metasilicate, and a borate, said alkali metal being selected from the group consisting of sodium and potassium;
• 3. 0.1 - 10% by weight of a particulate sodium or potassium salt of a chlorinated isocyanuric acid;
• and
• 4. up to 20% by weight of anhydrous particulate sodium sulfate;
• b. continuously spraying an agglomerating amount of water onto said rotating and sliding bed,
• c. maintaining a residence time for said composition on said sliding bed which ranges from about 10 seconds to about 2 minutes, whereby agglomerated particles containing said composition are produced, at least 60% by weight of said agglomerated particles having a size range of -4+ 80 mesh on the U.S. Standard Scale,
• d. continuously conveying the agglomerated particulates resulting from the preceding steps to a heated drying and dehydrating zone and maintaining said agglomerated particles in said drying and dehydrating zone for at least about 0.2 but less than about 2 hours until said agglomerated particles reach a temperature of at least 40.degree.C. but less than 60.degree.C., and
• e. discharging the resulting dried agglomerated particles from said drying and dehydrating zone into a relatively cooler environment.