CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING
NEWS VOLUME
40,
NUMBER
37
The Chemical W o r l d This W e e k
SEPTEMBER
10, 1962
Heavy-Duty Detergents Boost Liquids' Drive Convenience of Wisk, All, Gain, and Dynamo gives new momentum to liquids' inroads on solid syndet growth The swing to heavy-duty detergents in liquid form is picking up momentum. Colgate-Palmolive's Dynamo has gone into distribution all along the eastern seaboard. Procter & Gamble's Gain is now being test marketed in four major cities. Lever Bros.' liquid All and Wisk bring to four the number of heavy-duty liquids available to consumers. The demand for heavy-duty liquids promises to increase the gains liquids are already making over solid synthetic detergents. Liquids now boast over 2 5 % (by weight) of the syndet market. By 1965, they could have more than 30% of a market that is fast approaching the 5 billion pound-peryear mark.
Gain, the latest entry from a large company, was put into test marketing in 1960. Albany, N.Y., Portland, Me., and Scranton, Pa., were first; then came Toledo, Ohio, in 1961. Dynamo went into distribution in the East early this year, after extensive test marketing in New England. Dynamo, Gain, All, and Wisk are basically similar. Each has an optimized, slightly alkaline formula that classes it as a heavy-duty detergent suitable for laundry use. The surfactant part, typically an alkylbenzene sulfonate, and the primary builders, mildly alkaline polyphosphates, are the major ingredients. Other ingredients in the builder, which makes up about half the formu-
lation by weight, give such properties as optical brightness and pleasing odor. Optical brighteners can be expensive. And with the many other factors that have to be considered, the right balance between cost and effectiveness is difficult to achieve. This explains why manufacturers tend to be secretive about their formulations. Convenience. In syndets, as in many other product lines, convenience makes the difference. Liquids sell in more and more volume in spite of a premium price. The offsetting factors are their ease of use in exact quantities and their instant solubility in water. For industrial use, where convenience pays off directly in lower costs, liquid detergents have virtually taken over
Liquids Set a Fast Pace in the Syndet M a r k e t
SEPT.
10,
1962
C&EN
33
the market, according to one raw materials maker. Industrial users of liquids now take more than 10% of the total liquids sold. A sales census by the Soap and Detergent Association (formerly the Association of American Soap and Detergent Producers, Inc.) indicates that the industrial market for liquids now follows a cyclical pattern. Annual bulk sales of liquid detergents, almost all of which are to industrial users, have fluctuated widely around an average of 5.5 million gallons for nine years. Bulk sales now represent only about 6% of liquid syndet volume. Thus, the mushrooming growth of liquid svndets appears to have come from sales of packaged cleaners primarily to consumers, although some industrial users also buy consumer-size packages. Heavy-duty liquid detergents have contributed heavily to this growth. They held about 5% of the market for svndets in 1960, have probably tripled that percentage now, and still have plenty of room to grow in a market dominated by lower-cost, heavy-duty solids. Procter & Gamble's convenience forms of solid svndets—Salvo, a pressed tablet, and premeasured Tide and Dash in water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol packets—have found a niche in the market place. But growth of these solids doesn't appear to be able to match that of the liquids. Soaps Slide. The shift of consum34
C&EN
SEPT.
10, 1 9 6 2
ers from soap to detergents, and from solids to liquids in both areas, has been going on for some time now (C&EN, Dec. 26, 1960, page 3 2 ) . The figures tell the story. For instance, the U.S. Department of Commerce's annual survey of manufactures shows that shipment of soap fell from $368 million in 1958 to $338 million in 1960. Meanwhile, syndet shipments climbed in value from $875 million to $982 million. But now the trend to liquids is really gaining momentum. The Soap and Detergent Association's sales census indicates that dollar sales of liquids in the first quarter of this year were double those of the first quarter of 1958. Meanwhile, sales of solids had grown only 13 # , and had hardly changed since 1960. If present trends continue, liquids could rack up about 40c/c of the syndet market, in dollar value, by 1965. This would be nearly $500 million in sales out of a total market of about $1.2 billion. But price changes or requirements for biodegradability could change this picture. Wholesale prices of solid svndets have remained fairly stable at about 22 cents a pound, while liquid prices have been steadily dropping. In 1954, liquids were about 47 cents a pound, or about SI.40 a gallon. Currently they are about 32 cents. If the downward trend continues, there might be cuts to about 30 cents per pound by 1965. However, the rate of price reductions has slowed and prices for liquids may level off at about 50% above those of solids. Another factor that could alter the syndet picture is biodegradability. If surfactants that are quickly degradable are first developed in solid formulations while surfactants in liquids remain resistant to bacterial degradation, the trend to liquids might be reversed. But it could be the other way around. Legislation might play a big role here, since the consumer would not reap direct benefits unless the household used a septic tank or cesspool. Convenience and efficiency would not be expected to improve. Hard formulations will continue their domination and growth wherever water supply conditions are not critical, especially if soft detergents command a premium in price. Trade sources say it could be three years or more before biodegradable surfactants have an appreciable effect on the U.S. market. (For more on biodegradable surfactants, see page 38.)
Carolinas Virginia Nuclear Plant Hits Snag Southern Railway wants more elaborate safety measures for the installation The Southern Railway has asked the Atomic Energy Commission to hold up a provisional operating license for the new Carolinas Virginia Nuclear Power Associates, Inc., plant at Parr, S.C. The Southern is asking for "greater safeguards for its personnel, passengers, and freight/' The rail line passes within a few hundred feet of the reactor. AEC believes that present safeguards are adequate, but the railway wants an elaborate signal system installed—at no expense to the railroadto give a warning which would enable a train to stop before entering the plant in case of a major accident. Both sides will present additional testimony on the case at a hearing on Sept. 21. Start-up of the reactor is slated for some time this fall. Carolinas Virginia Nuclear Power Associates is made up of four southeastern utility companies: Carolina Power & Light Co., Duke Power Co., South Carolina Electric and Gas Co., and Virginia Electric & Power Co. Besides the $33 million put up by these companies for the project, about $13 million in research, development, and other charges has been invested by AEC. The nuclear plant will generate 17,000 to 19,000 kw. It uses heavy water as both a coolant and a moderator. The fuel is partially enriched uranium dioxide pellets, arranged in Zircaloy-clad fuel elements. In order to avoid the difficulties of fabricating a large pressure vessel for the reactor, the fuel elements are located in a number of tubes. Each tube has a diameter of about 4 inches, compared to the 100-inch diameter a single pressure vessel would need. Tubes can be thinner and engineering problems are thereby reduced. The Carolinas Virginia reactor is designed to furnish information for much larger nuclear power plants—200 megawatts or more. Although it uses enriched fuel, more information on heavy water-moderated reactors, with their good neutron economy, may eventually make it attractive to build a natural uranium power reactor moderated with heavy water.
