Material
Detergent Powder
Answer in brief
Detergent powder is a designed blend that handling tends to take apart.
Spray-dried granules are hollow and break easily, post-dosed components differ in size and density, and the finished product has to arrive in the carton with the recipe intact.
- Convey gently, because broken granules mean dust and a changed bulk density.
- Design against segregation at every fall and every silo.
- Control enzyme dust as a sensitising exposure, not as general dust.
Reviewed October 21, 2026 · Updated October 21, 2026
Handling challenges
A detergent tower produces a fragile particle on purpose, and everything downstream has to respect that.
Attrition
Spray-dried granules are hollow spheres, and they collapse under impact and in high velocity conveying.
The debris is fine dust that changes bulk density, fills the carton differently and increases enzyme dust exposure.
- Belt or bucket conveying in place of long pneumatic runs where layout allows.
- Dense phase conveying at low velocity where pneumatic transfer is necessary.
- Minimal drop heights into silos and cartons.
Segregation of the blend
Post-dosed enzymes, bleach granules and perfumes differ in size and density from the base powder, and every fall sorts them.
Mass flow silos, blending close to packing and short, controlled transfers keep the carton representative of the recipe.
Caking and reactivity
Hygroscopic salts take up moisture, and moisture lets components react with each other in storage.
Dry air, sealed silos and limited residence time are the controls, with temperature kept stable to avoid condensation inside the vessel.
Enzyme exposure
Detergent enzymes are respiratory sensitisers, and the exposure target is far below a general nuisance dust limit.
Enclosure, extraction at dosing points and monitoring are standard practice in this industry for that reason.
What to establish before buying equipment
- Granule strength and the acceptable fines increase across the line.
- Particle size and density spread across all blend components.
- Humidity control in storage and packing areas.
- Enzyme exposure limit and the control strategy that meets it.
Material behavior
- Flowability
- Free flowing
- Abrasiveness
- Low to moderate
- Cohesiveness
- Low when dry, cakes with humidity
- Moisture behavior
- Hygroscopic; caking and reaction between components
Partner with powderbulkvideos.com
Put a relevant technical solution in this decision path.
Connect your company and video evidence with clearly labelled visibility where engineers evaluate this material, application, industry or product.
Related content
Continue exploring
Move from this page to the companies, videos and technical topics that add useful context.
Companies
Videos
Gericke AG
See Gericke's Leading Bulk Mixing Technology in Action
Gericke shows its bulk mixing portfolio in operation, from laboratory scale double shaft mixers to continuous mixers that cover inline mixing from 1 kg/h to more than 100,000 kg/h.
Total reach: 2,537
Coperion
E-finity Continuous Dense Phase Conveying
Coperion presents E-finity, a continuous dense phase conveying system for fragile granular and pelleted materials that monitors pressure and corrects the airflow during the run.
Total reach: 1,829