Patent Application
20090259409
The present invention is directed toward a process that can be used in the formulation of more environmentally friendly, greener formulations for consumer applications. The process includes the evaluation of components in a formulation, then determining the percentage of the molecule that is green, establishing a green star rating and determining the effect of that component on the overall green star rating of a formulation.
Today's consumer and formulator have become increasingly aware of the consumption of resources that are not renewable. Products derived from fossil fuels are nonrenewable. This includes products like Gasoline, coal, natural gas, diesel, and other commodities.
Green resources are defined as renewable resources, replenished by natural processes. Green products are renewable resources include oxygen, fresh water, timber, and biomass. Green products also include commodities such as wood, paper, and leather. Furthermore, alcohol, oils from plants and seeds are considered green products.
These green raw materials are the most environmentally friendly and their use are the most conservative in minimizing negative impact on the earth. However, these basic green products cannot be combined it a way that provides consumer products that meet the demands of the consumer. For example soap can be a green detergent, but it does not possess all the desirable properties that give the consumer a laundry detergent. In order to make high performance formulations, some materials that are not strictly speaking green are required.
While the concept of green products is straightforward, the ability for the formulator and the consumer to quantify the greenness of a given shampoo or other consumer product is elusive. Given a proper understanding, the consumer and formulator can make better informed better educated decisions as to making products with the best combination of green properties and formulation attributes. In other words, the need of the consumer and the need of the environment can be intelligently determined.
Prior to the present invention, the formulator and consumer lacked a process by which the “greenness” of a formulation and a raw material could be determined. This required either an all or noting approach to environmental stewardship. We recognized that the formulation of a consumer product with the optimum trade off in performance and greenness required a systematic approach to develop a measurable metric for the level of greenness in a formulation. This has resulted in the Green Star Rating system or simply GSR.
This process allows the formulation chemist a way to break a molecule down into green portion and a non-renewable resource portion. The evaluation of this data allows for the generation of a Green Star Value, which is the percentage of the molecule that is based upon green chemistry divided by 10. Once this number is known, the effect of replacing one ingredient in a formulation with a “greener” compound can be ascertained. Specifically, if a raw material used in a formulation at 20% by weight has a Green Star Rating of 1 is replaced with a product with a Green Star Rating of 7, the impact on the formulation is (7-1) times 0.20 or 1.2. This means that much more renewable resources are being used in the formulation and its consumption will impact less negatively on the environment. This approach allows the formulator to make greener product and the consumer to choose greener products. By greener products is meant products based upon a greater percentage of renewable resources. Greener products are those with a higher Green Star Rating.
It is the objective of the invention to develop a process for determining the greenness of a raw material and formulation used by consumers. Greenness is defined as the percentage of a formulation and of a raw material based upon renewable resources. The ability to quantify the greenness in what is called the Green Product Rating (GPR) allows for a real number to be generated using the process of the present invention. That real number allows the formulator the chance to optimize the Green Star Value and the consumer to intelligently access the formulation for environmental impact.
The present invention is directed toward a method for automatically obtaining a green star value, comprising:
The Green Star Rating (GSR) is a classification system designed to allow the formulation chemist the ability to maximize the renewable component in products. The higher the Green Star Rating the more green the product.
Step one—determining the empirical formula for chemical compounds used to make formulated product:
Example—Sodium Coco sulfate
C12H23SO4Na
Step two—determining which portions of the molecule are green;
Example—Sodium coco sulfate
Step three—determining the percentage by weight of the green portion of the molecule. This is done by multiplying the weight of each atom by the number of atoms of in each portion
Carbon has a molecular weight of 12 there are 12 present in the renewable portion so the molecular weight contribution of the carbon is 12 times 12 or 144.
Hydrogen has a molecular weight of 1 there are 23 hydrogen atoms present in the renewable portion so the molecular weight contribution of the hydrogen is 1 times 23 or 23.
The sum of all the elements in the renewable portion is 144+23 or 167.
The Non-renewable portion is SO4Na.
Sulfur has a molecular weight of 32 there is 1 sulfur atom present in the non-renewable portion so the molecular weight contribution of the sulfur is 1 times 32 or 32.
Oxygen has a molecular weight of 16 there are 4 oxygen atoms present in the non-renewable portion so the molecular weight contribution of the hydrogen is 4 times 16or 64.
Sodium has a molecular weight of 23 there is 1 sodium atom present in the non-renewable portion so the molecular weight contribution of the sulfur is 1 times 23 or 23.
The sum of all the elements in the non-renewable portion is 32+64+23=119
Total Molecular Weight=Renewable Portion+Non-Renewable portion
Total Molecular Weight=167+119=289
Renewable Portion/Total=167/289=57.7%
Step 4 Determining the Green Star Value
Green Star Value (GSV)=% Renewable rounded to unit=58
C12H23O(CH2CH2O)3SO3Na
C18H35O7SNa Empirical Formula
Example—Sodium lauryl sulfate
C12H23SO4Na
Step two—determine which parts of the molecule are natural (derived from green natural raw materials) and which are synthetic.
Example—Sodium lauryl sulfate
Step three
Step two—determine which parts of the molecule are natural (derived from green natural raw materials) and which are synthetic.
Step three
C16H30O3N
Step two—determine which parts of the molecule are natural (derived from green natural raw materials) and which are synthetic.
C11H23—C(O)—N—(CH2CH2OH)2
Step three
C14H29O2N
Step two—determine which parts of the molecule are natural (derived from green natural raw materials) and which are synthetic.
C11H23—C(O)—NHCH2CH2OH
Step three
Formulations
The process used in the present invention can be used on any formulation.
Conditioning Shampoo
This product is based on sodium lauryl sulfate (synthetic alcohol)
Conditioning Shampoo (Version 1)
This product is based on sodium lauryl sulfate (synthetic alcohol) and SLES-3
Conditioning Shampoo
This product is based on sodium coco sulfate (renewable alcohol)
Conditioning Shampoo
This product is based on sodium coco sulfate (renewable alcohol)
The simple formulations above show the power of the new system. Minor changes in the formulation made be properly selecting raw materials result in a 2.2 times improvement in the green star rating. This process allows the formulator to fine tune formulations to maximize greenness and to inform the consumer about the degree amount of a given formulation that is renewable. The same approach works not only on shampoos but all formulations.
While the illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described with particularity, it will be understood that various other modifications will be apparent to and can be readily made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of the claims appended hereto be limited to the examples and descriptions set forth hereinabove but rather that the claims be construed as encompassing all the features of patentable novelty which reside in the present invention, including all features which would be treated as equivalents thereof by those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.
This application claims priority to and benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/123,879 filed Apr. 12, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein for all purposes.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61123879 | Apr 2008 | US |
