Rapid method for determination of unsulfonated oils

Abstract

A primary limitation to alkylbenzene sulfonation processes has been the lack of a rapid method to sense the quality of sulfonation. This is especially true for a process using sulfur trioxide where both the level of sulfonating agent and time are critical: too little reagent results in high oils; too much reagent degrades product color; and a delay in the process also degrades color. Although steam distillation of oils from the neutralized sulfonate can be conducted in about one and one-half hours for commercial dodecylbenzene derivatives, far greater time is required for higher molecular weight homologs. Extraction of oils requires about one hour and more operator time than distillation.