Patent ID: 8668916

Claim:
A HIPE-gellation process for preparing a highly concentrated, spherical, biopolymer gel particle suspension composition which composition comprises: a) an aqueous phase comprising 60 to 99% by wt. of said suspension of spherical biopolymer gel particles; wherein average diameter of the particles in the suspension is 1 to 50μ; wherein the biopolymer gel particles are formed from the aqueous internal phase of a high internal phase emulsion intermediate (HIPE) product whereby the aqueous internal phase comprises biopolymer and water or polar solvent; and b) an oil phase comprising 1 to 40% by wt. of suspension where the oil phase comprises a mixture of oils and surfactants used in formation of said HIPE intermediate and wherein amounts of the oil and surfactants in said HIPE intermediate are as follows: (i) 0.1 to 30% by wt. of said HIPE intermediate comprises an oil or mixture of oils suspending said biopolymer particles of (a); and (ii) 0.01 to 10% by wt. of said HIPE intermediate product comprises surfactant or surfactants dissolved or dispersed in said oil or oil mixture of (b)(i) wherein said surfactant comprises a nonionic surfactant having a hydrophilic-lipophiloc balance (HLB) less than 15, wherein said process for forming the suspension composition comprises: (A) forming an aqueous solution by dissolving 0.01 to 15% by wt. biopolymer into water and optionally polar solvent, as well as optional water-soluble active, wherein the ratio of said biopolymer to water or polar solvent is 0.01/99.99 to 15/85% by wt., and heating dispersion formed to a temperature of about 60° C. to about 100° C. which is above the gellation temperature of the biopolymer; (B) forming an oil solution by dissolving or dispersing 0.01 to 10% by wt. surfactant(s) into 0.1 to 30% by wt. oil or mixture of oils, and heating said solution to a temperature of about 60° C. to about 100° C. which is above the temperature of the gellation temperature of the biopolymer; (C) dispersing the biopolymer solution of (A) into the oil solution of (B) at a temperature of about 60° C. to about 100° C., which is above the gellation temperature of the biopolymer in order to form, as intermediate product, a water-in-oil high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) with biopolymer solution as internal phase in the form of small spherical droplets of 1 to 50μ which is suspended in oils found in the continuous oil phase; and (D) cooling said HIPE containing biopolymer solution as internal phase to a temperature below the gellation temperature of biopolymer to form gel particle suspension composition defined by (a), (b)(i) and (b)(ii).