Environmentally friendly and efficient rinse aid for professional use

Purpose and goal

The main objective was to gain a deeper understanding of the surface chemistry processes that determine the cleaning and drying efficiency of rinse aids for professional users. The aim was to strengthen the company´s competitiveness by developing products that are better tailored to customer needs, still environmentally friendly, and that lives up to upcoming legislation (CLP hazard). The legislation require the existing rinse aids to be reformulated not be classified as flammable and must be applied before June 2015.

Results and expected effects

Several rinse aid formulations have been developed and tested both in lab environment and at a customer. The software HSPiP, available at SP in combination with freezing attempts have been applied to find suitable solvents in rinse aids that will not be classified as flammable products but still have sufficiently low freezing point not to create problems during transport. Surface tension measurements were carried out to ensure that the rinse aid contain sufficient amounts of active surfactant for fast drying to prevent stains and streaks on the dishware.

Approach and implementation

Several surfactants, complexing agents, acids, and solvents were chosen to be tested in various rinse aid formulations. A low surface tension of the formulation was found to be important for fast drying of glassware. Drying results were evaluated on both glass and plastic, and compared with results of our existing products as well as with market leading products. Some selected formulations showed satisfactory results during dishwashing in lab environment. These will be tested on a large scale at several customers in a kitchen environment before being introduced on the market.