THE MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO NICKEL AND ITS APPLICATIONS
December 2007
Volume 23, Number 1
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Nickel compounds play an important role in the detergents industry.
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The hydrogenation reaction that manufactures surfactants from petrochemicals requires a metal
catalyst, often one based on nickel.
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Effective detergents are made possible by nickel catalysts
By Virginia Heffernan
Nickel Magazine, December 2007 -- Who knew nickel could restore the
whiteness and brightness to your clothes? That’s right. One of the most important applications of nickel
catalysts is to help produce the chemicals that make laundry detergent work.
Surfactants, a key contributor in stain removal, are made from petrochemicals. But before petrochemicals
can become useful cleaning agents, they must be chemically converted into fatty alcohol sulfates. That’s
where nickel comes in.
The hydrogenation reaction that manufactures surfactants from petrochemicals requires a metal catalyst,
often one based on nickel, such as the Raney or Urushibara catalysts.
One of these reactions is the Shell Higher Olefin Process (SHOP), that produces fatty alcohols from
ethylene in the presence of an organo-metallic nickel catalyst.
One of Shell’s least known but most important catalyst applications, SHOP can produce up to 1.2 million
tonnes of linear higher olefins, including synthetic lubricants and detergent intermediates, every year. The
process, developed in the 1970s, has given the growing detergent industry more choices for raw materials for
their products, including everything from laundry powder to hair shampoo.
Shell scientists are constantly improving on the original SHOP concept, giving them more flexibility to alter
the chain lengths of the alpha olefins depending on shifting market demands.
The household detergent industry is an important contributor to the European economy, according to a recent
paper by the Weinberg Group, a scientific and regulatory consulting firm in Brussels. The sector has sales of
about 19 billion euros per annum, a gross added value of 4 billion euros, and directly employs close to
60,000 people. The Weinberg Group estimates that if the industry’s suppliers and retailers are included, the
value-added contribution rises to 13 billion euros and the number of jobs, to 265,000.
The commercial cleaning sector also relies on detergent products, accounting for sales of 45 billion euros,
gross added value of 32 billion euros, and more than 3 million jobs.
Indirect contributions include innovation, efficiency and sustainability, the authors say. The surfactants
produced by nickel-based catalysts, for instance, are constantly evolving into products that are better at
targeting specific stains and removing soil, and thereby extend the life of textiles. Sustainability has also
been improved by developing laundry detergents that work well at lower water temperatures.
The authors conclude that nickel compounds play an important role in the detergents industry. In turn, the
industry provides significant socio-economic benefits in terms of wealth created, innovation, and
productivity gains.
Virginia Heffernan is a Toronto-based freelance science
writer.
Photos: iStock
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