Eliminate unwanted foam with FoamDoctor® by PennWhite

Foam control; to most people it’s a phrase that has never crossed their mind. They think of foam as fun, recalling childhood bubble baths or twenty-something foam parties on holiday islands. Why would they want to “control” it? But for those involved in many industries, unwanted process foam effects safety, productivity and profitability.

Foam is formed whenever gas (including air) is introduced into a liquid. Stabilised by dissolved surface active molecules, the bubbles created rise to the surface of the liquid and penetrate it to form a bubble with a double layer. Without interference this self-perpetuating process will grow exponentially. The result is foam. Lots and lots of foam, which in commercial situations can force production to be abandoned and plants to be evacuated.

The obvious solution is to prevent gas entering the liquid in the first place. Unfortunately this is unavoidable in many production processes. For example, when washing and blanching fresh peas prior to freezing, natural sugars released in to the water will combine with air introduced by agitation to create enough foam to halt processing and make the peas inedible. Foam causes serious problems in many market sectors.

Unwanted foam is a problem in sectors such as:

• Beverages
• Bio fuel
• Bio mass
• Food production
• Pharmaceuticals
• Dairy
• Meat & Poultry
• Seafood
• Recycling
• Water treatment
• Textiles
• Fermentation
• Vegetable processing

Rupture and gas release with FoamDoctor®

The FoamDoctor® range of anti-foams and de-foamers has been developed by PennWhite Ltd over the last 30 years and has become the foam control solution of choice in applications across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The company offers 140 variants of FoamDoctor® including over 75 suitable for food industry use.

Each FoamDoctor® is a unique high performance formulation developed by PennWhite to eliminate foam in a specific aqueous media over a defined temperature and pH range at the most economical dosage. Whilst different formulations tackle foam in different ways they all share the same basic approach; reduce the surface tension of each bubble’s lamella causing it to rupture and release the gas trapped inside it. As the gas is released the bubble, and thus the foam, collapses.

Tailored applications

PennWhite supports FoamDoctor® with a complete technical and an on-site support service and uses its expertise to identify products that will satisfy the foam control needs of each customer. If, in the unlikely event that an off-the-shelf solution can’t be found, PennWhite’s laboratory team can formulate a bespoke FoamDoctor® tailored to a customer’s application.

Contact your local Barentz representatives for more information on FoamDoctor® or visit www.pennwhite.co.uk