CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION
Chemically, soap is a salt of a fatty acid. Soaps are mainly used as surfactants for washing,
bathing, and cleaning, but they are also used in textile spinning and are important components of
lubricants.

Soap may be defined as a chemical compound or mixture of chemical compounds resulting

from the interaction of fatty acids or fatty glycerides with a metal radical (or organic base). Soap
may also be described as any water-soluble salt of those fatty acids which contain eight or more
carbon atoms. The metals commonly used in soap making are sodium and potassium, which
produce water-soluble soaps that are used for laundry and cleaning purposes
(Kuntom etal. 1994). The qualities of soap are determined by the amount and composition of the
component fatty acids in the starting oil. Blends of oils can be used in both the hot and cold soap
production methods. Vegetable oil blends could be obtained by mixing different vegetable oils
such as the mixture of coconut oil, palm kernel oil, groundnut oil and shea butter in different
proportions. Kuntom et al. (1996), produced soaps of desirable quality by blending various fatty
acids of palm oil (PO) and palm kernel oil (PKO) and the quality of the soap produced is
comparable to the quality of commercially available soaps.

Soaps for cleansing are obtained by treating vegetable or animal oils and fats with a strongly
alkaline solution. Fats and oils are composed of triglycerides; three molecules of fatty acids are
attached to a single molecule of glycerol. The alkaline solution, which is often called lye
(although the term "lye soap" refers almost exclusively to soaps made with sodium hydroxide)
brings about a chemical reaction known as saponification. In this reaction, the triglyceride fats
are first hydrolyzed into free fatty acids, and then these combine with the alkali to form crude
soap, an amalgam of various soap salts, excess fat or alkali, water, and liberated glycerol
(glycerin). The glycerin is a useful by-product, which can be left in the soap product as a
softening agent, or isolated for other uses. Soap is undoubtedly the oldest product to be
produced specifically as a surfactant and in its many forms continues to play a major role today.
Within this highly competitive marketplace soap is presented in a multitude of forms both solid
and liquid.
 Soap is the traditional washing compound made from oil fats and caustic alkali. One can say a
detergent is the one that cleans any surface. Synthetic detergent is quite different from other
kinds of detergent. More foam is produced with such kind of detergents, moreover, there is less
tension created on the dirty surface yet emulsification takes places and the detergent niters the
surface much faster. This is the reason why the cleaning process is fast.

1.1 BACKGROUND

It has been said that the use of soap is a gauge of the civilization of nation, but though this may
perhaps in a great measure correct at the present day, the use of soap has not always been coexist
with civilization. Soap was first introduced into Rom from Germany having been discovered by
the Gauls, who used the product obtained mixing goats tallow and beech ash for giving a bright
hue to the hair. In west central Africa, moreover, the natives especially the Fanti race have been
accustomed to wash themselves with soap prepared by mixing crude palm oil with the ashes of
banana and plantain skins. The manufacture of soap seems to have flourished during the eighth
century in Italy and Spain, and introduced in to France some five years later, when factories were
established at Marseilles for the manufacture of olive oil soap. From 1524 till the beginning of
the 19 th c the manufacturing of soap develop very slowly, being essentially carried on by rule of
thumb methods, but the classic researches of chevereul on the constitution of fats at once placed
the industry up on a scientific basis, and stimulated by Leblanc‘s discovery of a process for
commercial manufacture of caustic soda from common salt. Mindful of the need to encourage
local industry, including a very crude soap made by an entrepreneur in Wismar in the 1970’s.
This product was barely recognizable as soap, being either too hard or too soft and rarely at the
right consistency. Never the less, it was popular amongst housewives as a cleanser in cruder
applications like heavily soiled laundry, yard and building wash-up and industrial type cleaning.
Its discontinuation by the entrepreneur for reasons unrelated to the product was unfortunate and 3
decades later, the product is still remembered with amusement, if not fondness, by those who
used it. This self-supporting attitude augurs well for the introduction of an indigenously
produced, affordable, consistent product. Besides domestic consumption, the demands of
industries likely to be started in the Region such as laundries and other factory Operations will
make for symbiotic relationships as they provide a potential market for a good soap. The use of
synthetic detergents has been increasing both in domestic and commercial consumption largely
because of heavy national and international advertising, but soap still remains a viable cleansing
product and can make a comeback in popularity, if its benefits and advantages are marketed
properly.

1.2 Problem of statement

The following statements of problems are hereby formulated to assist in this project work of
surface-active agent’s production.

1 What raw materials are required to produce high quality soap?

2. What are the steps to follow in producing the soap?

3. How can the soap produced be tested?

4. How durable is the soap produced.

The production of quality soaps at cheaper rate has been a hitch to many soap producers this has
led to the production of soaps with poor qualities and high cost of production. Blending various
vegetable oils of different qualities and prices for soap production could go a long way in the
production of quality soaps for laundry, bathing and general cleaning purposes, still at minimized
cost of production.

1.3 OBJECTIVE

1.3.1 General Objective:

 To design a soap factory from a byproduct of oil factory

1.3.2 Specific objective

 To produce glycerin as a byproduct of soap making

 To teach local households how to make detergent for washing clothes.
 To produce soap that can be used on both hard and soft water.
 To produce soap of high quality that can be used for both bathing and laundry.
 To investigate the properties of soap produced from blends of oils.
 To produce soap of high cleaning action that also lathers well in water.
 To produce soap at a cheaper rate from blends of cheap vegetable oils.
 CHAPTER TWO

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

Soap, a product with a 5,000 year history, remains an essential ingredient in modern living,
used daily for medicinal and laundry purposes, for household cleansing and personal hygiene.
Until fairly recently its production remained a primitive art, its manufacture being essentially the
treatment of fat with alkali, a chemical process which is the same whether production is done in a
backyard or in a factory. The simplicity of the process has led to its worldwide practice as a small
business operation. Large factory operations are exclusively based on the modern continuous
process, which produces soap in only 15 minutes but requires machinery that is expensive, and
demands close production control, a very large output is required to be economical.

Soaps are anionic surfactants used in conjunction with water for washing and cleaning. Soap are
mainly used as surfactants for washing, bathing, and cleaning, but they are also used in textile
spinning and are important components of lubricants. Soaps for cleansing are obtained by
treating vegetable or animal oils and fats with strongly alkaline solution. Fats and oils are
composed of triglycerides; three molecules of fatty acids are attached to a single molecule
of glycerol. It consist of sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids and is obtained by reacting
common oils or fats with a strong alkaline solution in a process known as saponification. Soap
belongs to the family of detergents which is a substance which improves the cleaning properties
of water. In saponification, the fats are first hydrolyzed into free fatty acids, which then combine
with the alkali to form crude soap. Glycerol (glycerine) is liberated and is either left in or washed
out and recovered as useful byproduct, depending on the process employed (Cavitch and Miller,
1994).

2.1.1 Property of soap

Solubility: both soda and potash soaps are readily soluble in either alcohol or hot water. In cold
water they dissolve more slowly, and owing to slight decomposition, due to hydrolysis, the
solution distinctly turbid. Sodium oleate is peculiar in not undergoing hydrolysis except in very
dilute solution and at a low temperature. on cooling a hot soap solution , a jelly of more or less
firm consistence results ,a property possess by colloidal bodies ,such as starch and gelatin, in
contra distinction to substances which under the same conditions deposit crystals, due to
diminished solubility of the salt a lower temperature. Soda soaps are insoluble in concentrated
caustic lye, and, for the most part, in storing solutions of sodium chloride, hence the addition of
caustic soda or brine to a solution of soda causes the soap to separate and out rise to surface.

 The chemistry of soap making is an acid-base reaction. But the acid is a fatty acid from a
living organism, not a mineral acid, such as hydrochloric acid.
 The irony about soap is that it is made from fats and oils, the very thing that soap helps
to remove. But the action of soap is more than just grease and oil cutting; it also bonds to
dirt and other materials, and with the help of water, washes these materials away.
 Chemically, soap is able to be polar and non-polar at the same time. Because of this dual
Property, it is such an effective cleansing agent.
 Soap is actually a salt. It is an organic salt of the reaction of fatty acid with a strong base.

2.1.2 Product description and application

Soap is a cleansing agent or detergent, made from animal and vegetable fats, oils and greases;
chemically, the sodium salt of a fatty acid, formed by the interaction of fats and oils with alkali.
Most soap removes grease and other dirt because some of their components are surface active
agents, or surfactants. Surfactants have a molecular structure that acts as a link between water
and the dirt particles, loosening the particles from the underlying fibers or other surfaces to be
cleaned. It is used for laundry and household cleaning.

2.1.3Application of soap

Soap is an essential chemical in modern life, because it has great application in;

 Medical
 Cleaning(laundry purpose, for hose hold and personnel hygiene)
 As lubrication of machines.
2.2 Plant capacity

Based on the projected demand indicated on the market study, minimum economies of scale &
availability of raw materials, the envisaged plant is proposed to produce 3,600tonnes of soap per
annum, working 300 days in a year, under three shift systems of 8 hours each.

2.3 Materials and Methodology

2.3.1 Raw material used in soap making

 Fats and oils

 Waste fats
 Fatty acids
 Less known oils and fats of limited use
 Various new fats and oils suggested for soap making
 Rosin
 Alkali (caustic and carbonated)
 Water
 Salt
 Soap-stock.

2.3.2 Methods that are used in soap production

There are three major methods of saponification processes for production of soap from fatty
acids and sodium hydroxide.

1. Full boiled kettle (batch) process

2. Cold process saponification

3. Semi boiled process

1. Hot process (full boiled batch)

In the hot-process method, lye and fat are boiled together at 80–100 °C until saponification
occurs, which before modern thermometers, the soap maker determined by taste (the bright,
distinctive taste of lye disappears once all the lye is saponified) or by eye; the experienced eye
can tell when gel stage and full saponification have occurred. Beginners can find this information
through research, and classes. It is highly recommended to not "taste" soap for readiness. Lye,
when not saponified is a highly caustic material. After saponification has occurred, the soap is
sometimes precipitated from the solution by adding salt, and the excess liquid drained off. The
hot, soft soap is then spooned into a mold. The soap lye is processed for recovery of Glycerine.

2. Cold process

A cold-process soap maker first looks up the saponification value of the fats being used on a
saponification chart, which is then used to calculate the appropriate amount of lye. Excess
unreacted lye in the soap will result in a very high pH and can burn or irritate skin. Not enough
lye and the soap are greasy. Most soap makers formulate their recipes with a 4-10% deficit of lye
so that all of the lye is reacted and that excess fat is left for skin conditioning benefits.

The lye is dissolved in water. Then oils are heated, or melted if they are solid at room
temperature. Once both substances have cooled to approximately 37-43 °C, and are no more than
5.5°C apart, they may be combined. This lye-fat mixture is stirred until "trace" (modern-day
amateur soap makers often use a stick blender to speed this process). There are varying levels of
trace. Depending on how additives will affect trace, they may be added at light trace, medium
trace or heavy trace. After much stirring, the mixture turns to the consistency of a thin pudding.

3. Semi boiled process:

This is similar to the cold process, but a higher temperature is used to speed saponification and
permit adjustment of the alkali content before framing. The fat charge and alkali (which may be
caustic potash for soft soap) are thoroughly mixed at 70 – 80oC until the soap becomes smooth.
Just prior to framing the soap may be perfumed and small amounts of sodium silicate or other
builders may be added to laundry soap and free sand pumices etc. to abrasive hard soap.

2.3.3 General procedures of soap manufacturing

Soaps and detergents are widely used in our society. Soaps are the product of the reaction
between a fat and sodium hydroxide: Soap is produced industrially in four basic steps. This
article lists different steps because in the industrial processes described each of these is done over
several process steps, but in principle it could be done in the three steps outlined here.
 Step 1 - Saponification
A mixture of tallow (animal fat) and coconut oil is mixed with sodium hydroxide and
heated. The soap produced is the salt of a long chain carboxylic acid.
Fat + 3NaOH → glycerine + 3 soap
Step 2 - Glycerine removal
Glycerine is more valuable than soap, so most of it is removed. Some is left in the soap to
Help make it soft and smooth. Soap is not very soluble in salt water, whereas glycerine is,
So salt is added to the wet soap causing it to separate out into soap and glycerine in salt
water.
Step 3 - Soap purification
Any remaining sodium hydroxide is neutralised with a weak acid such as citric acid and
Two thirds of the remaining water removed.
Step 4 - Finishing
Additives such as preservatives, colour and perfume are added and mixed in with the
soap and it is shaped into bars for sale.
Detergents are similar in structure and function to soap, and for most uses they are more
efficient than soap and so are more commonly used. In addition to the actual 'detergent'
molecule, detergents usually incorporate a variety of other ingredients that act as water
Softeners, free-flowing agents etc.

Chapter three

3 Material and energy balance

3.1Material balance

Mass balance bleacher tank

The amount of bleaching earth required is 1-2wt% of soap stock(Kirk othmer,1978). Amount of
soap stock is 7TPD,the sum of the two plants.

And let bleaching earth required be 1%wt % of soap stock, then the amount of bleaching earth
required = 0.01*7000kg/d =70kg/d

Mass balance On reactor (kettle)

Saponification value =220g KOH/kg

Fatty acid composition = 9wt%

Conversion = 98.37wt% of fatty acid.

56.1gKOH is equivalent with 40g of NaOH ( pdf, soap from soap stock)

Basis: 1day operation

Weight of soap stock = 7000kg

Weight of fatty acid = 9% of soap stock =0.09*7000 = 630kg

The necessary amount of NaOH is required for saponification can be calculated as

630kgfatty acid*220g KOH/kg fatty acid =138600gKOH

Weight of NaOH = (40/56.1)*138600 =98824g of NaOH

Mass of soap formed is calculated as follow;

Mass of soap = mass of fatty acid * conversion

Mass of soap =630kg*0.9837 =619.731kg

By making material balance around the reactor, we can get crude glycerin formed.

Mass of Soap stock + mass of NaOH = mass of soap + mass of glycerin

7000+98.824 = 619.731 +mass of glycerin

Mass of crude glycerin = 6479kg

For the raw material of pure fatty acid, soap produced is

= 3000kg*0.9837 = 2951.1kg

Total soap production = 2951.1+619.731kg = 3570.831kg/d

And there is additives 1% of soap produced (assumed value)

Final soap production = 3570.831+0.01*3570.83 = 3606.54kg/d

The amont of NaOH required can be calculated from mole balance

Mole ratio of fatty acid to NaOH = 1:3

Mole of fatty acid = 3000Kg =3000000g =10948.905mol

274g/mol 274g/mol

Mole ofNaOH = 3*10948.905mol =32846.715mol

Mass of NaOH =40g/mol*32846.715mol =1313868.613g =1313.86861Kg

Total mass of NaOH =1313.86861Kg + 98.824Kg = 1412.69Kg

3.2 Energy balance

On boiling kettle

Assumption:

 Perfect insulated system(no loss of heat across the wall of reactor.

 The steam enters the system completely saturated at a pressure of 7 bars. About 40
percent of it condenses and the rest leaves the system at 1 bar and 1000c.

The energy put in the system per kg steam can be calculated as follows:

Saturated steam at 7 bar: T,=I 65'~, hg i =2766 kJ/kg.

Saturated steam at 1 bar: T,=IOO'C, hge= 2675 kJ/kg, hCe= 2258 kJ/kg
h,, = hgi - hge + 0.4. hce = 994 kJ/kg
The total energy needed to heat up the material up to 980c .

A + 3B 3C + D

t
Qt = cpAmA(T –TA) +cpBmB(T-TB) + 0∫UAK(T – Tsur)dt – ∆HrmA +QVap
We can say that, because the material are heated up to 98 0c, almost all the reaction energy is lost
in vapor. Hence, ∆HrmA ≈ Qvap
Then the total energy equation can be simplified as:

Qt = cpAmA(T-TA) + cpBmB(T – TB) + 0

Fatty acid raw material

Qt = 0.585 KJ/Kg/K*(98 – 60)*3000Kg +3.6 KJ/Kg/K*98.824*(98-25)

= 66690KJ + 216.547KJ

Qt = 66906.547KJ

Qt = mst*hst

mst = Qt/hst = 66906.547KJ = 67.31Kg/day

994KJ/Kg

For soap stock raw material

Qt = 216.547KJ + (98 -60)*2.2*7000 KJ = 585416.547KJ

Qt = mst*hst

mst = Qt/hst = 585416.547KJ/994KJ/Kg = 588.95Kg/day

Chapter four

4.1 equipment sizing and selection

Boiling kettle

The design equation of batch reactor is;

Assumption:

 First order isothermal reaction, K=3.188/day.

 First batch operation=7000ton ; second batch operation =3tone

t =V/ν0 =CA0∫(dXA/-rA) XA=0.9837

V/ν0=CA0∫dxA
KCA
CA =CA0(1- XA) 0.9837
V = ν0CAO∫ dXA = -ν0ln(1-XA) │
KCA0(1- XA) K 0

ν0 =7000/912 +98.824/1470 =7.743m3/day

V = -7.743*-4.117/3.188 =9.999m3 ≈10m3

Therefore the volume of reactor/kettle needed for 7TPD Soap stock is10m3.

4.2 selection of equipment

Comparison between continues and batch

Table 1: Some advantages and disadvantages of batch operation compared with continuous
operation

Batch operation Continuous operation

Usually better for small volume Better for indefinitely long production runs of
Production one product or set of products
More flexible for multiproduct Only designed for specific operation
(multiprocess) operation
Capital cost usually relatively Capital cost usually relatively
Low High
Easy to shut down and clean Loss of production in lengthy
for fouling service stoppages can be costly
Inherent down-time between
Batches
Operating cost may relatively low Operating cost may be relatively high
Though the batch process requires very little training and skill to produce a crude soap,
higher qualities are easy to achieve with closer control. Digital timing and sensor
technologies are cheap and increasingly accessible and will introduce sophistication in
the areas of temperature control and timing. Suitable staffing is assured by the availability
of personnel accustomed to chemical processing in the plant. The availability of many ex-
bauxite personnel with experience in chemical processing in the plant should provide
suitable staffing.

Selection: hot and batch process is selected due to, the following reasons.
1) hot is for speed of reaction and quality soap.

2) batch since there is small amount of raw material per day, 10tons per day, (ashrf baground)