Determining the surfactant concentration

and correlating foamability of hand

dishwashing detergents
Malte Snoyek, Selina André, Svenja Sergelius, Carsten Gerber
KRÜSS GmbH, Hamburg, Germany
Monitoring the efficiency of a cleaning bath by measuring its
dynamic surface tension
Dynamic surface tension can be measured with the Bubble Pressure Tensiometer – BPT Mobile
to analyze concentration of free surfactants

Measurements of cleaning baths with two different dishwashing

detergents

 Dynamic SFT measurements of concentration series

 Monitoring dynamic SFT at different contamination levels to

determine concentration of free surfactants

M. Snoyek | SEPAWA 2018 Page 2

Dynamic surface tension increases with decreasing
concentration of dishwashing detergents
The difference between dynamic surface tension of both samples becomes most clear at a
surface age of six seconds
Concentration series of sample 2

Creating a reference curve the concentration of free surfactants at different contamination

levels can be determined by monitoring the dynamic surface tension

M. Snoyek | SEPAWA 2018 Page 3

Increasing contamination leads to increase of dynamic surface
tension and decrease in concentration of free surfactants
Sample 2 shows a stronger dependency on the contamination level compared to sample 1

75
58

Dynamic surface tension at 6 s [mN/m]

Dynamic surface tension at 6 s [mN/m]

70 Sample 1 56 Sample 1
54
65 Sample 2 Sample 2
52
60
50
55 48
46
50
44
45
42
40 40
1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 0 1 2 3 4
Surfactant solution concentration times contamination

Overall, sample 1 shows a higher dynamic surface tension. Low contamination levels have an
effect on sample 2 but not on sample 1.

M. Snoyek | SEPAWA 2018 Page 4

Foamability and foam stability measurements complement the
BPT Mobile results and provide additional information
Foam and liquid height can be measured with the Dynamic Foam Analyzer - DFA100 to analyze
foamability and foam stability

Parameters used for the measurements of dishwashing detergents

with different contamination levels
 Foaming method: Sparging 150 mL of air at 0.5 L/min

 Measurement of total, liquid and foam height for 5 min

M. Snoyek | SEPAWA 2018 Page 5

The foamability of two hand dishwashing detergents decreases
with increasing contamination
Both samples show high foamability without contamination.

172
Sample 1
170
Max. foam volume in mL

Sample 2
168

166

164

162

160

158
0 1 2 3 4
times contamination

The samples show the same behavior but the foamability of sample 2 is decreased
compared to sample 1.

M. Snoyek | SEPAWA 2018 Page 6

Increasing contamination leads to decreasing foam stability for
both samples.
Sample 2 shows a stronger dependency on the contamination level compared with sample 1

160 30
Foam volume after 300 s in mL

Sample 1
155 25 Sample 2

Δ Foam volume in mL
150 20

145 15

140 10

135 Sample 1 5
Sample 2
130 0
0 1 2 3 4 0 times 1 time 2 times 4 times
times contamination contamination

Without contamination, sample 1 shows a slightly smaller foam stability. For higher
contamination levels, sample 2 is less stable.

M. Snoyek | SEPAWA 2018 Page 7

Decreasing foamability with increasing contamination level can
be correlated with the decrease of dynamic surface tension
Combined measurements of BPT Mobile and DFA100 allow detailed cleaning bath analysis

 Dynamic surface tension of both samples increases with increasing contamination

 Overall, sample 1 shows a higher dynamic surface tension
 Low contamination has an effect on sample 2 but not on sample 1.

 Foamability of both samples decreases with increasing contamination

 Without contamination, sample 1 shows a slightly smaller foam stability
 For higher contamination levels, sample 2 is less stable

 Both effects can be explained by the decreased concentration of free surfactants with
increasing contamination level

M. Snoyek | SEPAWA 2018 Page 8

Do you have questions?
KRÜSS GmbH
Malte Snoyek
Technical Consultant
Borsteler Chaussee 85
22453 Hamburg
Tel.: +49 40 514401-28
m.snoyek@kruss.de