Hydrophile Lipophile Balance (HLB) is a way of measuring a substances solubility within water or oil. The HLB system was created as a tool to make it easier to use nonionic surfactants. The HLB system enables you to assign a HLB value to a surfactant and a HLB requirement to the application for that surfactant.

What do you mean by HLB?

Hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) is the balance of the size and strength of the hydrophilic and lipophilic moieties of a surfactant molecule. The HLB scale ranges from 0 to 20. … Surfactants with HLB values in the 8 to 18 range are most commonly used in O/W emulsions (Griffin, 1949).

How is HLB calculated?

Using the following equation: HLB desired = ( % surfactant A ) × ( HLB Surfactant A ) + ( % surfactant B ) × ( HLB Surfactant B . ) A blend of surfactant A, HLB = 7.8, and surfactant B, HLB = 13.4 produces a combination that is water soluble and contributes other desired properties.