{"id":14614,"date":"2022-11-20T10:00:42","date_gmt":"2022-11-20T04:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aplustopper.com\/?p=14614"},"modified":"2022-11-21T10:19:10","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T04:49:10","slug":"saponification-soap-making-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aplustopper.com\/saponification-soap-making-process\/","title":{"rendered":"What is saponification in soap making?"},"content":{"rendered":"
What is saponification in soap making?<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
What is soap?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
Soaps are sodium or potassium salts of long-chain fatty acids<\/li>\n
The general formula of a soap can be written as RCOO–<\/sup>Na+<\/sup> or RCOO–<\/sup>K+<\/sup>, where R is an alkyl group usually containing 12 or 18 carbon atoms. R can be saturated or unsaturated. \n
The history of soap manufacturing<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
In the past, soap was made by mixing animal fats with alkaline wood ashes.<\/li>\n
Large-scale commercial soap making occurred in 1791 when a French chemist, Nicholas Leblanc patented a process for making soda ash or sodium carbonate from common salt. The process yielded large quantities of quality soda ash.<\/li>\n
Twenty years later, Belgian chemist Ernest Solvay developed a process to further reduce the cost of obtaining soda ash, thereby reducing the cost of soap manufacturing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Soap preparation process<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
Soaps can be made from animal fats and vegetable oils.<\/li>\n
The animal fats most commonly used are fats from cows and goats.<\/li>\n
The vegetable oils often used are palm oil, olive oil and coconut oil.<\/li>\n
Soaps are prepared by hydrolysing fats or oils under alkaline condition. The reaction is called saponification.<\/strong><\/li>\n
The saponification<\/strong> process involves boiling fats or oils with concentrated sodium hydroxide solution or concentrated potassium hydroxide solution to produce glycerol and the salts of fatty acids which are the soaps.<\/li>\n
The general equation for this reaction is: \n \nwhere the three alkyl groups (R, R’ and R”) can be the same or different groups.<\/li>\n
The fats or oils are hydrolysed first to form glycerol and fatty acids. The acids then react with an alkali to form the corresponding sodium or potassium salts.<\/li>\n
The following equation shows how a soap, sodium palmitate, is prepared. \n<\/li>\n
When concentrated potassium hydroxide solution is used instead of concentrated sodium hydroxide solution, a potassium soap, potassium palmitate is formed.<\/li>\n
Potassium soaps are softer and milder than sodium soaps and are usually used for bathing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n