Technology Focus
Ozone Laundry Systems
Commercial laundries are typically high users of energy and water in order to clean, sanitise and disinfect linen in a variety of sectors – health care, correctional care, aged care and hospitality to name a few.
Traditionally, laundries rely on four elements to deliver a good wash – heat, agitation, time and chemicals. Ozone gas is essentially a new piece of the pie which enables reductions in the use of the other four.
Water and chemical savings are achieved through reduced wash times as segments of the wash are deleted from the program (one rinse cycle instead of two, for instance). Energy savings come about through reduced washer activity and lower wash water temperatures. Other savings, such as a reduction in linen wear-and-tear, and laundry labour can also be achieved.
Ozone itself is a naturally forming gas comprised of three oxygen atoms. It is very short lived and quickly breaks down into harmless oxygen, making it much safer than chemical disinfectants. It is said to be over 3,000 times more powerful than bleach and is most effective when it is continuously in contact with linen in the wash process.
There are several different ozone laundry systems on the marketplace and users are encouraged to select a system which best meets their needs. Common areas to look at include:
Safety
Ozone can be dangerous in high concentrations. Health studies have shown that most people can detect about 0.01 parts-per-million (ppm) in air. Exposure to 0.1 to 1 produces headaches, burning eyes, and irritation to the respiratory passages and can be characterised by a very unpleasant smell.
Systems which use very low levels of ozone injected directly into the washing machine are able to minimise any venting of ozone into the workplace, thus eliminating nasty odours or potential health risks.
Flexibility
All ozone laundry systems introduce ozone into the washing machine in an effort to improve the wash quality, but not all ozone laundry systems do it the same way.
Some systems directly inject ozone into the washing machine whilst others inject ozone into the cold-water inlet pipes for the washing machine.
The down-side of having a ‘cold-water’ system is that you are limited to washing in cold water. While this may sound great for hot water savings, it can often result in a very poor wash quality with little flexibility to switch back to warm water. Cold-water systems also have to inject higher volumes of ozone in order to maintain contact between the linen and ozone gas throughout the wash cycle.
‘Direct-injection’ ozone systems inject ozone into the washing machine as and when required, and as such, it is possible to wash in either hot, warm or cold water depending on the wash specifications.
Reliability of Wash Quality
As this new technology starts to take hold, reliability of equipment and the quality of wash it can deliver are of prime importance. This is of particular importance in the health sector where disinfection of the wash is critical.
Some ozone laundry systems often end up fighting a balancing act between turning up the ‘ozone knob’ in order to deliver wash quality and turning down the ‘ozone knob’ in order to prevent OH&S concerns.
Consumers are advised to thoroughly investigate the different technologies in the marketplace in order to select the one that best suits their needs. |
