Acid mix process

Claim 2

In the process of sulfating an organic detergent precursor the steps including contacting the detergent precursor with a sulfating agent, the improvement thereon comprising carrying out the reaction in the presence of an effective amount of benzoic acid to lower the acid mix viscosity.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1 wherein the weight ratio of detergent precursor to the benzoic acid is from about 100:1 to about 1:1.

Claim 4

The process of claim 2 wherein the detergent precursor is selected from the group consisting of alkyl benzenes, ethoxylated alcohols, fatty alcohols, α-olefins, aliphatic carboxylic acids, the esters of aliphatic carboxylic acids and mixtures thereof.

Claim 5

The process of claim 3 wherein the weight ratio of detergent precursor to the benzoic acid is from about 50:1 to about 3:2.

Claim 6

The process of claim 4 wherein the ethoxylated alcohol has from 8 to 24 carbon atoms in the alkyl radical and the degree of ethoxylation is from 1 to 30.

Claim 7

A process in accordance with claim 5 wherein the ethoxylated alcohol has an alkyl chain length average varying between 12 and 16, and the average degree of ethoxylation of said mixture varying between 1 and 4 moles of ethylene oxide, said mixture comprising: a. from about 0% to 10% by weight of said ethoxylated alcohol mixture of compounds containing 12 or 13 carbon atoms in the alkyl radical; b. from about 50% to 100% by weight of said ethoxylated alcohol mixture of compounds containing 14 or 15 carbon atoms in the alkyl radical; c. from about 0% to 45% by weight of said ethoxylated alcohol mixture of compounds containing 16 or 17 carbon atoms in the alkyl radical; d. from about 0% to 10% by weight of said ethoxylated alcohol mixture of compounds containing 18 or 19 carbon atoms in the alkyl radical; e. from about 0% to 30% by weight of said ethoxylated alcohol mixture of compounds having a degree of ethoxylation of zero; f. from about 45% to 95% by weight of said ethoxylated alcohol mixture of compounds having a degree of ethoxylation of from 1 to 4; g. from about 5% to 25% by weight of said ethoxylated alcohol mixture of compounds having a degree of ethoxylation of from 5 to 8; and h. having about 0% to 15% by weight of said ethoxylated alcohol mixture of compounds having a degree of ethoxylation greater than 8.

Claim 8

The process of claim 4 wherein the alkyl benzene has from 9 to 15 carbon atoms in the alkyl radical.

Claim 9

The process of claim 7 wherein the mean alkyl chain length is between 11 and 12.

Claim 10

The process of claim 4 wherein the fatty alcohol contains from 8 to 24 carbon atoms in the alkyl radical.

Claim 11

The process of claim 4 wherein the detergent precursor is an α-olefin having from 10 to 24 carbon atoms in the alkyl radical.

Claim 12

The process of claim 4 wherein the aliphatic carboxylic acid has from 8 to 20 carbon atoms in the alkyl radical.

Claim 13

The process of claim 4 wherein the ester of the aliphatic carboxylic acid has from 8 to 20 carbon atoms in the acid radical and from 1 to 14 carbon atoms in the alcohol radical.

Claim 14

The process of claim 1 wherein the sulfating agent is sulfur trioxide.

Claim 15

The process of claim 1 wherein the sulfating agent is chlorosulfonic acid.

Claim 16

The process of claim 1 wherein the sulfating agent is oleum.