Claims
- 1. An apparatus for treatment of laundry with ozone, said apparatus comprising:a supply tank and a transfer tank, each of said tanks having a hollow interior and each of said tanks having a water inlet and a water outlet; a water source connected in fluid communication with said tanks; means for filling said supply tank and said transfer tank with water from said water source; an ozone system for generating ozone and dissolving said ozone into water, said ozone system disposed between said water source and said supply tank in fluid communication with said supply tank wherein said ozone generated by said ozone system is introduced into a wash water flow to provide wash water having a dissolved ozone concentration to said supply tank; a control means for controlling an amount of ozone generated by said ozone system; a dissolved ozone concentration monitor disposed within said supply tank to determine the dissolved ozone concentration of the wash water; an oxidation reduction potential monitor disposed within said transfer tank; means for circulating water in said supply tank between said supply tank and said ozone system until said water in said supply tank has reached a predetermined dissolved ozone concentration; means for circulating water in said transfer tank between said transfer tank and said ozone system until said water in said transfer tank has reached a predetermined oxidation reduction potential; at least one washing means in fluid communication with said supply tank and said ozone system; said at least one washing means including a plurality of wash water supply ports; whereby wash water having a desired dissolved ozone concentration is delivered to said washing means.
- 2. The apparatus for treatment of laundry with ozone as in claim 1, wherein the dissolved ozone concentration is between 0.0 PPM and 6.0 PPM.
- 3. A The apparatus for treatment of laundry with ozone as in claim 1, wherein the dissolved ozone concentration is between 1.0 PPM and 4.5 PPM.
- 4. The apparatus for treatment of laundry with ozone as in claim 1, wherein said control means is a Programmable Logic Controller.
- 5. The apparatus for treatment of laundry with ozone as in claim 1, wherein the ozone system further comprises a plurality of contact columns wherein each contact column is an elongate hollow enclosure having a closed top, a closed bottom, and a gas tight hollow interior and wherein an ozone generator is disposed between the water source and said plurality of contact columns whereby ozone is introduced into the water flow.
- 6. The apparatus for treatment of laundry with ozone as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of wash water supply ports further comprises a first wash water supply port which is cold and a second wash water supply port which is hot.
- 7. A method for treatment of laundry with ozone, comprising the steps of:providing a supply tank and a transfer tank in fluid communication with one another; connecting a source of water to said supply tank and said transfer tank; filling said supply tank and said transfer tank with water from said water source; providing an ozone generator for generating ozone and positioning said ozone generator between said water source and said supply tank in fluid communication with said supply tank so that ozone generated by said ozone generator is introduced into a wash water flow to provide wash water having a dissolved ozone concentration to said supply tank; controlling an amount of ozone generated by said ozone generator; monitoring a dissolved ozone concentration of water in said supply tank; monitoring an oxidation reduction potential of water in said transfer tank; circulating water in said supply tank between said supply tank and said ozone generator until said water in said supply tank has reached a predetermined dissolved ozone concentration; circulating water in said transfer tank between said transfer tank and said ozone generator until said water in said transfer tank has reached a predetermined oxidation reduction potential; connecting at least one washing means, having a plurality of wash water supply ports, in fluid communication with said supply tank and said ozone generator; whereby wash water having a preselected dissolved ozone concentration and a preselected ozone oxidation potential is delivered to said washing means.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a divisional application under 37 C.F.R. 1.53(b) of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/394,314, filed Sep. 10, 1999, which claims the benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/100,002 filed Sep. 11, 1998.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5625915 |
Radler et al. |
May 1997 |
A |
5806120 |
McEachern |
Sep 1998 |
A |
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/100002 |
Sep 1998 |
US |