Process for producing detergent agglomerates from high active surfactant pastes having non-linear viscoelastic properties

A process for preparing detergent agglomerates comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a non-linear viscoelastic surfactant paste including, by weight of said surfactant paste, from about 70% to 95% of a detersive surfactant, and from about 5% to about 30% of water, wherein said detergent surfactant is mixture of alkyl sulfate and linear alkylbenzene sulfonate surfactants in a weight ratio of about 3:1, and said surfactant paste is a shear thinning paste meeting the following relation
• .sigma.=K.gamma..sup.n
• where .sigma.=Shear Stress (dynes/cm.sup.2), K is a Consistency value of from about 50,000 to about 250,000 cPoise.sec.sup.n-1, .gamma.=Shear Rate (sec.sup.n-1), and n=Rate Index varying from about 0.05 to about 0.25;
• (b) regulating the amount of sodium carbonate within the range from about 0.01% to about 0.6% by weight in said surfactant paste such that said surfactant paste has a Maximum Shear Rate of from about 85 to 130 sec.sup.-1 so that said surfactant paste is processable;
• (c) charging said surfactant paste into a high speed mixer/densifier;
• (d) inputting from about 1% to about 70% by weight of aluminosilicate into said high speed mixer/densifier;
• and
• (e) agglomerating said surfactant paste and said aluminosilicate by treating said surfactant paste and said aluminosilicate initially in said high speed mixer/densifier and subsequently in a moderate speed mixer/densifier so as to form said detergent agglomerates.