Concentrol has carried out a comparative study to assess the efficacy of the defoamer EMULTROL DFM DV-28 FG and a standard product.
The reference method used to evaluate antifoam efficacy uses the surfactant sodium laureth sulphate, an industry generic soap. This method closely approximates actual conditions found in industry. In this way, an approximation of the conditions of the medium in which the product will be applied is created.
Simulating the customer’s environment presents many challenges and with certain aspects difficult to reproduce, such as the recirculation of many cubic meters. For this reason, a standard model is used to obtain comparative data.
For the evaluation of the antifoam efficacy, a method consisting of the injection of compressed gas into an aqueous solution containing 1% of surfactant is used.
The following table summarizes some characteristics of the two defoamers used.
| Defoamer | Type | Dry extract % | Active substance % |
| Market reference | Food grade silicon emulsion | 39 | 30 |
| EMULTROL DFM DV-28 FG | Food grade silicon emulsion | 28 | 20 |
Methodology used
To carry out the comparison, 200 mL of aqueous solution of sodium laureth sulphate at 1% are added to an 800 mL beaker. The corresponding antifoam is then added (0.1% dose) and air is injected through the gas diffuser (pressure of 1 bar and a flow rate of 0.1 l/min).
Subsequently, the volume of the foam is recorded every 30 seconds and up to 15 minutes or until the foam reaches its maximum volume.
Results
The rate of foam formation is considerably reduced with the antifoam EMULTROL DFM DV-28 FG, compared to the reference value, despite the reduced content of active ingredients and solids compared to the other sample used.
Conclusions
The comparative study concludes that the EMULTROL DFM DV-28 FG product is recommended as an effective food grade defoamer for aqueous media containing common surfactants such as sodium laureth sulphate.
The Concentrol product has excellent antifoam efficacy, although it contains a lower percentage of dry extract and active ingredient compared to other standard references on the market.
