Dry cleaning system using densified carbon dioxide and a surfactant adjunct
AssigneeLever Brothers Company, Division of Conopco, Inc.
InventorsSharon Harriott Jureller, Judith Lynne Kerschner, Dennis Stephen Murphy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for dry cleaning soils from fabrics comprising densified carbon dioxide and a surfactant in the densified CO.sub.2. The densified carbon dioxide is in a temperature range of about -78.5.degree. C. to about 100.degree. C. and a pressure range of about 14.7 to about 10,000 psi. At least 0.1% by volume of a modifier is preferably present. The surfactant has a polysiloxane, a branched polyalkylene oxide or a halocarbon group which is a functional CO.sub.2 -philic moiety connected to a CO.sub.2 -phobic functional moiety. The surfactant either exhibits an HLB of less than 15 or has a ratio of siloxyl to substituted siloxyl groups of greater than 0.5:1.
Claims8
A dry cleaning system for removing stains from fabrics comprising:
- (a) an effective amount of densified carbon dioxide which is present in a temperature range of from about 0.degree. C. to about 40.degree. C. and a pressure of about 500 to about 10,000 psi;
- (b) 0.001% to 10% by weight of a surfactant compound having the formula
- MD.sub.x D.sup.*.sub.y M
- wherein M is a trimethylsiloxyl end group, D.sub.x is a dimethylsiloxyl backbone which is CO.sub.2 -philic and D.sup.*.sub.y is one or more methylsiloxyl groups which are substituted with a CO.sub.2 -phobic R.sup.2 or R.sup.3 group and mixtures of R.sup.2 or R.sup.3
- wherein R.sup.2 or R.sup.3 are each independently defined by the formula
- --(CH.sub.2).sub.a (C.sub.6 H.sub.4).sub.b (A).sub.d -[(L).sub.e --(A').sub.f -].sub.n -(L').sub.g Z.sup.2 (G).sub.h
- wherein a is 1-30,
- b is 0 or 1,
- A and A' are each independently a linking moiety representing an ester, a keto, an ether, a thio, an amido, an amino, a branched or straight chain polyalkylene oxide, a phosphate, sulfonyl, a sulfate, an ammonium and mixtures thereof;
- d is 0 or 1,
- L and L' are each independently a C.sub.1-30 alkylene ,
- e is 0-3,
- f is0 or 1,
- n is 0-10,
- g is 0-3;
- Z.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen, a carboxylic acid, a hydroxyl, a phosphato, a phosphato ester, a sulfonyl, a sulfonate, a sulfate, a branched or straight-chained polyalkylene oxide, a nitryl, a glyceryl, an unsubstituted aryl, an unsubstituted carbohydrate or an ammonium;
- G is an ion selected from the group consisting of H.sup.+, Na.sup.+, Li.sup.+, K.sup.+, NH.sub.4.sup.+, Ca.sup.+2, Mg.sup.+2, Cl.sup.-, Br.sup.-, I.sup.-, mesylate, and tosylate, and
- h is 0 -3;
- and
- (c) a densified carbon dioxide dry cleaning vessel comprising the densified carbon dioxide and the surfactant which are effective to clean the fabrics.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.