Evaluation of the Stability of a Non-toxic Biodetergent for the Removal of Petroderivates in Industries

Abstract

In the industrial environment, it is common to use toxic and petroleum-derived oils, which are difficult to remove from various surfaces on which they are adhered. For the cleaning of machines, equipment and other surfaces impregnated with these oils, the industries use products of high cost and that, some of them present high toxicity, presenting risk to the health of the workers and to the environment. In this context, the advancement of sustainable technologies has increasingly driven the search for natural and biodegradable surfactant compounds, which reduce impacts on the environment and guarantee the health of workers. This led to the development of natural detergents / degreasers, formulated from renewable / sustainable sources. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate the stability of a biodetergent produced from non-toxic components such as organic vegetable solvent, natural surfactant and stabilizing gum for large-scale production for application in the removal of type 1 fuel oil (OCB1). The effect of the variation in the stirring time (5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 minutes) of the mixture was evaluated in relation to the volume increase (4, 5 and 6 liters) at 80 ºC using a rotor stirring equipment approximately 3,200 rpm. After mixing, the stability in relation to the storage time (48 and 96 hours) and the removal efficiency of OCB1 fuel oil on a smooth surface were evaluated. The results obtained demonstrated the interaction between the processing conditions, which directly influenced the final characteristics of the product after 96 hours of storage. All tests showed excellent results, with emphasis on the stirring time of 7 minutes, reaching almost 100% stability. The evaluation of the biodetergent for the removal efficiency of the OCB1 fuel oil showed satisfactory results, with removal of 100% of the oil impregnated on the smooth surface. Thus, it can be concluded that the formulation of the biodetergent showed reliability in increasing the scale of production, since it did not show variation when subjected to the investigation of physical factors in the production process.