Chemistry: electrical and wave energy – Processes and products – Processes of treating materials by wave energy
Patent
1994-04-22
1995-08-15
Niebling, John
Chemistry: electrical and wave energy
Processes and products
Processes of treating materials by wave energy
2041531, G01N 2726
Patent
active
054416116
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method for determining the concentration of an iodine/iodide-containing active substance in aqueous active-substance solutions used in particular for the cleaning or disinfection of containers, such as bottles, casks, kegs, boxes and tanks, and/or pipes in the food-processing industry and for industrial cleaning in continuous washing installations, the concentration of the active substances in the solution being measured by determination of their iodine/iodide content.
STATEMENT OF RELATED ART
Where detergents are used in the institutional sector, it is desirable for ecological and economic reasons to avoid overdispensing. On the other hand, underdispensing results in unsatisfactory cleaning. This problem becomes difficult to solve if the articles to be cleaned pass continuously through a cleaning or disinfecting bath, as is often the case in institutional cleaning, for example in the washing of bottles, casks, kegs and containers, and in the industrial cleaning of sheet-form metals of textiles. This is because the cleaned or disinfected articles remove detergent or disinfectant from the bath, with the result that the cleaning or disinfecting bath is continuously or periodically topped up with fresh water. The gradually decreasing concentration of detergent or disinfectant is measured and restored to the correct level as required.
In cleaning-in-place (CIP) systems where the detergent or disinfecting solution is used several times, diluting effects also occur through mixed phases during the prerinse and final rinse cycles. In addition, it is essential for the storage of used cleaning solutions, which are normally displaced from the pipes with fresh water, to control the time up to which the returning solution is guided into the storage tank and the time beyond which the concentration of detergent or disinfectant in the final rinse water no longer justifies collection and above all the final rinse time after which the installation can be refilled with foods without any danger of contamination with cleaning or disinfecting chemicals. In cleaning in place, this process is known as phase separation.
In these modes of operation, primary importance is attributed to precise measurement of the concentration of detergent and disinfectant in the cleaning or disinfecting solution or in the final rinse water. During the cleaning process, the concentrations of active substances have to be kept within narrow limits for the reasons mentioned above. For example, excessive concentrations in the cleaning of refillable PET bottles (PET=polyethylene terephthalate) lead to stress cracking. If the concentrations are too low, the bottles are again attacked and the cleaning result is unsatisfactory. In cleaning in place, the last step is often a disinfecting step. The contamination of foods with the often toxic disinfectants has particularly to be avoided so that the final rinse has to be monitored with particular care.
Unfortunately, known methods for determining concentrations have disadvantages. Conductivity measurement is carried out as an on-line measuring method. To ensure that variations in conductance in the tapwater do not lead to measurement errors, the safe application of this method presupposes a relatively high conductance of the active-substance solution of typically 3 to 4 mS (milli-Siemens) which is achieved solely by highly alkaline or highly acidic solutions. The absence of suitable on-line methods for measuring substantially neutral active-substance solutions, for example disinfectants based on quaternary ammonium compounds or biguanides (chlorhexidine gluconate) makes them very difficult to use for cleaning in place in the food industry. If conductivity is used as a measure of the active-substance concentration in bottle washing machines, the results obtained mistakenly reflect an excessive active-substance concentration because the conductivity of the solution gradually increases through the introduction of carbon dioxide and through salts obtained, for e
REFERENCES:
patent: 3770608 (1973-11-01), Kelch et al.
patent: 4211623 (1980-07-01), Ross, Jr. et al.
patent: 4550011 (1985-10-01), McCollum
Laufenberg Alfred
Siepmann Friedhelm
Varpins Mike
Werner-Busse Alfred
Bell Bruce F.
Grandmaison Real J.
Henkel Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien
Niebling John
Szoke Ernest G.
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