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As an organic compound with excellent performance, tributyl phosphate has become a popular defoaming solution in the industrial field due to its unique physical and chemical properties. In the process of modern industrial production, the foam problem is often a major problem that plagues various industries.

From the pulping process in the papermaking workshop to the mixing link of the coating production line, from the coating process of ink printing to the mud circulation system of oil drilling, the generation of foam will not only affect the appearance quality of the product, but also may lead to a decrease in production efficiency, increase cleaning costs, and even pose safety hazards in certain high temperature and high pressure environments.

The chemical structure of tributyl phosphate gives it two key physical properties: first, it is insoluble in water but can be miscible with a variety of organic solvents. This property enables it to quickly disperse and function in different systems; second, its surface tension is significantly lower than that of water and most industrial solutions. This feature is the core basis of its defoaming function. When it is added to the foaming system, it can quickly penetrate into the foam liquid film, destroy the stability of the foam by reducing the surface tension of the liquid film, and make the originally solid foam film in a thermodynamically unstable state, thereby quickly breaking and defoaming. At the same time, it can also form a lasting antifoam layer in the system to inhibit the generation of new foam.

The reasons for the generation of foam in industrial solutions are relatively complex, among which the presence of high concentrations of organic matter is one of the main causes. In the production process of coatings, printing and dyeing industries, various surfactants, polymers and other ingredients are very easy to form stable foam under process conditions such as stirring and heating. When these surfactants are degraded due to factors such as high temperature and acid-base environment, the change in molecular structure will further aggravate the generation of foam, resulting in a large amount of fine and difficult-to-eliminate foam in the system.

These foams will not only make the product appearance turbid and have defects such as pores, but the odor they emit may also pollute the operating environment, and the equipment cleaning and floor cleaning work caused by foam overflow will greatly increase the labor cost and time cost of the enterprise.

As a common auxiliary agent in the field of industrial defoaming, tributyl phosphate exhibits many advantages. The first is the efficient defoaming ability, which can eliminate the already formed foam in a very short time, and can quickly play a role even in a complex system with dense foam to restore the clarity of the solution. Secondly, it has excellent environmental adaptability. Whether in high-temperature boiling papermaking black liquor or strongly alkaline textile printing and dyeing solution, it can maintain stable defoaming performance and will not fail due to drastic changes in temperature and pH value.

In addition, its wide applicability is also a highlight. From the production of polymer materials such as nitrocellulose and cellulose acetate to the chemical process of rare metal extraction, it is compatible with different systems and can achieve the ideal defoaming and anti-foaming effect by adjusting the addition amount (usually in the range of 0.05% - 0.3%). It is worth mentioning that tributyl phosphate also has good environmental friendliness. Its chemical properties are stable, it is not easy to accumulate in the natural environment, and it will not cause pollution to water and soil, which is in line with the concept of modern industrial green production.