SMALL/MEDIUM-SCALE SOAP TABLET PRODUCTION
1. INTRODUCTION:
Washing and cleaning are necessities of modern living. Presently, the consciousness of humans is at such a level that hygiene is accepted as a basic necessity for good health and comfort. The daily activities of man, however, generate perspiration as well as bring about contact with sources of stains, dirt, and germs. Thus, there is the need to wash and clean up always. Regular washing of the body, apparel, and domestic utensils is at the root of personal hygiene, and washing relies heavily on soap. Hence, soap is indispensable to modern life. Consequently, the soap industry has continued to grow and is presently one of the most important industries.
There are many types of soap. However, all the different types of soap are classified broadly into three groups based on application. These are (1) household soaps (2) industrial cleaning compounds and (3) Special purpose soap.
This write-up is about how to manufacture household soap bars, specifically for manufacturing body washing soap tablets and laundry soap bars.
While the manufacture of laundry soap bars is not stringently regulated by agency of government, body washing soap is regulated as cosmetics. The fallout is that the standard for its manufacture and distribution is more stringent than that of laundry soaps. It, therefore, requires more capital at start-up. The good news though, is that the profit margin for body washing soap is high when compared to that of laundry soaps.
Two types of body washing soaps in common use are (1) Antiseptic soaps – which contain active ingredients that kill germs on the skin (2) toilet soaps which are usually without germicide additives but are richly performed and contain other ingredients that enhance skin beauty.
There are countless brands of antiseptic and toilet soaps in the market, but the market for each brand is steady because the consumption rate is high.
2. Raw Materials for Production
Generally, soap is formed when fat or oil is mixed with an alkali (chemical compound) under the right conditions. It is that simple. All other ingredients are meant to enhance the quality of the final products or its profitability.
One of the primary raw materials for making soap is fatty acid usually contained in naturally available fats and oils derived from vegetable raw materials or slaughtered animals.
Traditionally, palm kernel oil, palm oil, coconut oil, cotton seed oil, sesame oil, groundnut oil, soybean oil, and maize oil have been used successfully for soap making. These products are extracted from vegetable raw materials in the oil milling factories and they are traded in the open market.
Another source of fat /oil raw material for making soap is a fat extract from animals such as pigs, sheep, and cattle. Tallow is the trade name for fat extracted from cattle while lard is the trade name for fats extracted from pigs.
The third source of fat/oil for making soap is the by-product of vegetable oil refining known as DFA.
Alkali is the other group of raw materials required for making soap. Some common alkalis are sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) and potassium hydroxide (caustic potash). In early times, the main source of caustic potash for soap making was from burning natural vegetable raw materials such as palm fruit bunches, cocoa puds, etc. This method is still employed for producing black soaps. However, advances in scientific knowledge have led to industrial production of pure alkali which is now traded in the open market.
Other chemical ingredients, referred to as additives, usually added to soap (depending on the desired characteristics) are borax, sodium silicate, soda ash, sodium carbonate, kaoline, pumice, and sand. Furthermore, the desire to make soap smell more pleasant has led to the addition of fragrances and perfumes to soap. Perfumes usually added include lavender, geranium, wintergreen, citronella, clove, lemon, rose, almond, caraway, and banana.
Finally, soaps come in different colours and the desired colour is achieved by the addition of colouring matter known as dyes.
In summary, the final composition of any soap bar depends on the chemical components used in its manufacture which is a function of the soap format.
3. Market and Marketing of Soap
3.1 Market:
Soap tablets are in great demand in Nigeria. According to NBS statistics for the year 2019, the aggregate demand for toilet and laundry soap tablets is about 800,000 tonnes with a market value of about 18,000,000,000 naira. This huge demand is driven by population growth, dispensable income, and the rising hygiene consciousness of the population. Nigeria’s fast-growing population of over 200 million translates into an ever-increasing demand for soap since it is a must-use for every home.
Of the 800,000 metric estimated demands, 600,000 metric tonnes is met by local production while 250mt is imported to bridge the gap between demand and supply.
3.2 Marketing:-
While the existence of a huge market for toilet and laundry soap tablets is not in doubt and the skill of soap making is easy to acquire, it is important to note that the business of soap making is contingent on marketing for success.
In other words, a good quality, properly packaged soap plus a well-articulated marketing communication equals a financially rewarding soap-making business.
4. N.C. GILBERT’S TECHNOLOGY & EQUIPMENT FOR MAKING SOAP ON A SMALL/MEDIUM SCALE
Equipment Flow Process
We supply equipment for:
a. Saponification of fats and production of soap noodles.
b. Finishing dry soap noodles into high-quality soap tablets.
4.1 Saponification Equipment
We supply batch saponification plants to produce semi-boiled soap, starting from neutral oils. The set of equipment is also adaptable for the neutralization of fatty acids to produce neat soap.
With our plant, it is possible to produce many different types of soaps with variable TFM%, Moisture content (MC)%, and soap fillers/additives (Talc, Kaoline, sodium silicate, and other fillers used in soap manufacturing). Finished products of our soap saponification will include soap noodles and soap flakes.
The set of saponification equipment are:
A. Soap Reactor (Mixer)
The soap reactor can be described as a pressure vessel used for rapid and complete saponification of raw material slurry composed of neutral fats, fatty acids, or a mixture of both and alkali chemicals.
Our reactors are made of stainless steel for all parts in contact with material and come in two standard configurations viz:
a. Cylindrical drum mounted on a platform complete with staircase.
b. Cylindrical vessel mounted on tilting frame for easy discharge.
We can make reactors of different sizes to suit different plant capacities.
- Vertical Reactor
- Horizontal Reactor
B. Cooling Frames
Molten soap mass from the soap reactor is run into cooling frames where the soap is allowed to solidify over some time – usually overnight. We manufacture different sizes of cooling frames in steel or seasoned wood to suit the scale and budget of the customer.
Cooling Frame
C. Soap Cutting machine
The block of soap removed from the cooling frames is cut to the desired sizes using the soap-cutting machine. The machine is a table equipped with cutting strings that can be stationary or moveable depending on the model.
Depending on the preference or budget of the customer, we can supply the manual soap-cutting machine or the semi-automatic soap-cutting machine.
Pneumatic Soap Cutting Machine
D. Soap Pelletizer
Pieces of soap from the cutting process are further processed into pellets in the pelletizing plodder. The soap pieces are fed to the hopper of the machine. The machine plods and homogenizes the soap with the aid of the rotating screw and extrudes the soap mars through a die plate at the discharge end in the form of noddles or flakes. The process of plodding refines the structure of the soap.
Our pelletizing plodders come in different sizes and are made of stainless steel for all parts in contact with materials.
Pelletizing Plodder
E. Drying/Curing Racks
The moisture content of the soap from the pelletizing plodder is usually higher than that desired for further processing into a finished soap tablet. It is, therefore, necessary to dry the soap to a moisture content of about 12% or lower. This process is termed, curing.
For small and medium-scale toilet soap plants, we configure our drying racks to match different plant capacities.
For drying to take place, the soap noodles or flakes are placed in the drying tray (made of wood or steel) and stacked on the drying racks, placed in the drying room. The drying room is equipped with a circulation fan to enhance the removal of water vapor from the environment. Here the noodles are allowed to cure for a period of up to seven days before removing the noodles from the racks and placing them in storage where they are allowed to cure for a further 7 – 14 days before bagging or use in production of finished toilet soap bars.
Drying Rack
4.2 Soap Finishing Equipment
Our set of soap finishing equipment converts cured soap noodles and flakes from the saponification process into tablets ready for delivery to the final consumer.
This set of equipment is comprised of:
a. Amalgamator (b) Plodder (c) soap log cutter (d) stamping machine
a. Amalgamator:- N.C. Gilbert Soap amalgamator is designed to mix soap noodles/flakes with various liquid/solid additives.
The mixer is comprised of a horizontal U-through bowl equipped with a mixing shaft with open-type “Z” shaped mixing blades. The blade is configured to ensure a thorough blending of all ingredients.
A discharge door that is activated by a pneumatic cylinder or a lead screw shaft depending on the model is placed at the bottom of the mixing tank to facilitate complete discharge of materials after mixing. Mixing is usually very rapid with batch mixing time of 5 – 10 minutes readily achievable. This results in large daily equipment throughput.
After blending, the batch of soap is discharged from the amalgamator and taken to the plodder for extrusion into a bar.
Amalgamator
B. Soap Plodder
Our soap plodders are designed to refine, homogenize, and extrude the processed soap (soap noodles + perfume + color – fragrance) coming from the amalgamator.
The plodder is equipped with a heating system for the extrusion cone to ensure a smooth finish for the extruded final product.
Water cooling jacket – surrounds the extrusion barrel to ensure that the equipment can work continuously without a decrease in capacity due to overheating of products.
Currently, we supply two major sizes of plodders, determined by the diameter of the extrusion barrel. These are a diameter 80mm plodder that has a guaranteed capacity of up to 50kg/hr and a diameter 120mm that can produce up to 150kg/hr of soap bar.
Die Plodder
C. Soap Cutter
The extruded soap log from the plodder is cut to the desired size with the aid of the cutting machine.
We supply manual or semi-automatic soap log cutters depending on customers’ preferences.
Cutting Machine
D. Stamping Machine
We supply semi-automatic stamping machines with our set of equipment. The stamping machine functions to shape and emboss the desired logo on the soap bar. Our soap presses are designed to produce stamped soap bars with different shapes (rectangular, oval, round, etc) from extruded logs. It includes one set of stamping dies (soap mold) designed to the customer’s specification and comprised of a lower and an upper die half.
Pressure for embossing the soap is supplied by a manually activated pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder.
Stamping m/c
For Enquiries:
Website: https://ncgilbertdev.co.com.ng
Whatsapp/Phone: +2348034047378
