Operational Research on Design and Process Optimization of Ozone Water Application in Kitchen

School of Engineering, Taylor’s University, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: PuiMay.Chou@taylors.edu.my

Abstract

Food safety is a very important focus in the kitchen industry today, as bacteria such as E.Coli and Salmonella are very difficult to tackle. The objective of the present study was to optimize nozzle designs that use ozone technology to bring out the best results in cleaning and sterilizing the kitchen utensils in Taylor’s University School of Hospitality kitchen area. This includes customization of the Medklinn International Sdn Bhd ozone machine and nozzle profiles that improve the effectiveness of ozone generated. Reduction or elimination of chemicals and water usage would be a part of the study. This will bring a huge impact on cost effectiveness, time saving and safety of the users. Return on investment (ROI) using ozone technology is calculated at the end of the research. To compare between the traditional way of cleaning and using ozone technology, the volume of water and dishwashing liquid used, and the Relative Light Units (RLU) before and after washing were recorded. The RLU numbers are found using the 3M Clean Trace measuring equipment. RLU was recorded to determine the cleanliness of the kitchen utensils before and after washing. It has been proved that ozone water with the accompaniment of the selected nozzle prototype is as efficient as the traditional way of cleaning.