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hydrogen peroxide addition rate to very low color (30 Klett). This is comparable to sulfonates
of good quality linear alkyl benzene. It has been observed that MES of equal Klett reading to

LAS looks significantly lighter to the naked eye. The palm kernel MES was also stripped
rather than dried, based on its low average molecular weight and carbon-chain distribution.
This particular palm kernel ME has a high IV (1.4) and the resultant stripped MES has a Klett
color of 310, Table 2. In other respects such as the PEX and di-salt content the product
quality is equivalent to the coconut-based product. Unrefined palm kernel based MES may be
of interest for formulating into detergent products in situations where feedstock costs are
paramount. In terms of color the C16 Palm ME produced the best quality MES. Prior to
hydrogenation C16 ME is low in unsaturates and a low level of hydrogenation further reduces
these resulting in very light colored MES. The palm stearin MES example shown in Table 2
has low color, low di-salt, and low PEX and with these parameters it can be readily
formulated into both light and heavy-duty products, dry and liquid. In spite of the IV of 0.3
this feedstock produced very light colored MES. As a comparison the tallow based ME with
an IV of 0.1 produced much darker MES (180 Klett). Previous work has noted that as the
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molecular weight of the ME increases so does the difficulty in bleaching.

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Several factors influence digested MESA color, including minor constituents in the ME,
SO 3 to ME mole ratio, post–sulfonation MESA digestion time and digestion temperature,
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degree of unsaturation measured as IV in the ME, and ME molecular weight. The color of
digested MESA is somewhat correlated with the IV of the starting ME, Figure 3. The color of
the digested MESA is determined by sample dilution in 2-propanol to an appropriate
concentration for an on-scale meter reading on the Klett colorimeter. The log fit of the data
suggests that additional starting unsaturation does not linearly increase the color of the acid.
The same effect is seen in reverse with bleaching, as the unsaturation is reduced, the color
decreases more slowly as the bleaching progresses.

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