SBIR-STTR Award

Chlorine bleach (a 6% solution of sodium hypochlorite in) is the main disinfectant used in the food service and food production industry. It is also used for water supply treatment. It is inexpensive and available in many parts of the world. The very property that makes it such a good chemical disinfectant also causes problems with shelf life and storage. It is a strong oxidizer; storage container integrity and spills are constant concerns and effective shelf life can be as little as 3 months. This causes major problems for pre-deployment stock storage, stock rotation, staging, shipping, on-site storage and, in the final analysis, reliability regarding disinfectant and sanitization effectivity. Functioning as a direct replacement for commercial bleach, on-site production of mixed oxidants can potentially address these problems. Requiring only water, salt and electricity, such a system would not require the storage, transportation, or use of hazardous chemicals. In addition, a mixed oxidant system could be compact in size, and have low maintenance and life cycle costs. The research that is proposed to evaluate the potential for such a system is seen to build on an extensive base of knowledge that exists in the water treatment and purification industry.

Benefit:
In addition to the Marine Corps, Cascade Designs is aware that the U.S. Army is interested in a similar product application. CDI is also interested in distributing this technology for commercial applications. Cascade Designs is also working with several non-profit agencies (including PATH) to develop water purification products for developing countries. Our preliminary research indicates that a Batch Oxidant Generator could prevent diseases by sterilizing food, kitchen equipment, and medial equipment.

Keywords:
Electrolysis, Electrolysis, Oxidant Generator, Mixed Oxidants, MIOX, bleach,

The Marine Corps currently uses 5 wt% sodium hypochlorite solutions (bottled bleach) as a general disinfectant/sanitizer in their combat field kitchens. Diluted bleach solutions are used for processing fresh fruits and vegetables, water purification, surface sanitizing, and general cleaning use. However, the limited shelf-life of bottled bleach (3-6 months) and the hazardous nature of concentrated hypochlorite solutions place significant logistical burdens on military operations in terms of its transportation and storage. Functioning as a direct replacement for bottled bleach, we proposed in Phase I the development of a batch electro-chlorination system that produces a mixed oxidant bleach replacement (i.e. a 5.0 wt% sodium hypochlorite solution). Our electrolysis approach is highly advantageous since high purity table salt, water and electricity are the only consumables. The breadboard devices developed in Phase I were designed primarily to show the technical feasibility of our electrolysis process, and only limited emphasis was placed on addressing the actual usability of the envisaged electro-chlorinator. Consequently, Phase II will be predominately targeted towards the overall design of the on-site electro-chlorinator from a functionality and usability perspective. Our Phase II effort will conclude with the fabrication and delivery of four prototype electro-chlorinators for field evaluation by the Marine Corps.

Benefit:
The Marine Corps field manual recommends several sanitization and disinfection protocols for combat field kitchens that are designed to greatly inhibit the spread of Salmonella, E. coli and other food-borne or waterborne pathogens that can compromise the health of the troops on the battlefield. Our approach of using an electro-chlorinator will overcome the logistical issues of using bottled household bleach in the battlefield since it only utilizes inexpensive chemicals that are air-transportable, shelf-stable, and non-hazardous. Potential commercial applications for this product include outdoor/ disaster relief, on-site production of sanitizing solutions for use in hospitals, clinics, and food-handling services, and disinfecting water at the small community level in developing world countries (the proposed 1 L electro-chlorinator can disinfect up to 5,000 L of water every 30 minutes).

Keywords:
Sodium hypochlorite, Disinfection, surface sanitization, electro-chlorination, Bleach Replacement