There are many challenges facing the beverage industry in terms of production, economics, markets, and the environment. Facility operators are facing increased pressures to increase performance, efficiency, and security and safety standards as new risks and costs rise. We face new operational challenges due to the corporate goals to reduce water use, develop multi-tier sanitizing solutions, and practice sustainability. Plant sanitization practices are required to be increasingly stringent and vigilant in response to consumer and operational concerns regarding food safety.

Ozone Generator’s Advanced Disinfection

The use of advanced disinfection technology in beverage plants, using on-premises injected ozone water and ultraviolet light as a disinfectant, is a means of addressing today’s and tomorrow’s sanitation challenges. Advanced Disinfection using ozone generators has the ability to increase plant sanitization efficacy while reducing the use of traditional chemical sanitizers and reducing sanitizing time, water consumption, and energy consumption. Such benefits would increase plant productivity and profitability by improving the utilization of plant resources and labor.

History of Ozone Technology

Municipal water has been disinfected with ozone and UV for more than a century. USDA has also approved the use of ozone technology for disinfection since 1996.

 As of 2001, ozone for food contact was approved by the FDA as being “generally regarded as safe”. As early as the 1970s, low-level dosing of ozone during bottle filling has been used to prolong the shelf life of bottled water. Earlier this year, the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) published its Good Practice Guide on the use of ozone in the sanitation of pharmaceutical water systems. As the first guide to examine ozone systems with UV, the ISPE guide looked at how the technology can be used to sanitize pharmaceutical water in a safer, more efficient and more cost-effective way. The overriding technical and engineering principles for ozone were presented in simplified form, making it easier for companies to consider the various factors when deciding to utilize ozone versus other sanitization approaches. As the awareness of the efficacy and synergistic benefits of ozone and UV grew, so has their role as a mission critical disinfection and sanitization solution in beverage, food, and pharmaceutical/personal care manufacturing.

What is Ozone

Among the most powerful commercially available disinfectants and oxidizers is ozone (O3), a triatomic form of oxygen with greater oxidizing power than traditional sanitizers. The majority of food and beverage plants generate ozone gas on site and dissolve it into water to treat their sanitation systems. To disinfect and sanitize surfaces, dissolved ozone is applied. After disinfection is complete, it is either removed with UV light or decays naturally into oxygen. To achieve desired outcomes, dissolving ozone is typically applied for a short period of time in low concentrations.

It causes disinfection by oxidizing common pathogenic organisms. 

Ozone produces free radicals when it reacts with the cell membrane of a pathogen, causing it to lyse. Since the genetic material and proteins of the lysed organisms are destroyed, viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms cannot survive. The ozone left behind then decays into divalent oxygen (O2) when exposed to UV light.

The Disinfecting and Sanitizing Power of Ozone Joined with UV Technology

By combining ozone with UV, sanitation can be improved while using less energy. The ozone remains stable at low temperatures and is effective. 

By replacing hot water, steam, and chemical treatments with ozonated water, this property effectively reduces the cooling time. The ideal temperature for ozone sanitation is 60-75 degrees F. Ozone sanitation gives a significant boost to productivity and reduces carbon footprint, as well as saving time and energy. The pilot study, for example, resulted in a significant reduction in sanitization time. As a result, production time was increased and energy savings were realized.

A positive environmental impact can also be realized if ozone sanitization is generated on-site and reduces chemical usage in beverage plants, reducing the amount of chemicals used and the amount of chemical discharges. It is possible for supply chains to be disrupted in the chemical industry. As a result, an ozone sanitation solution will produce disinfectants on-location and will not negatively impact the environment. In addition to oxidizing contaminants, ozone treatment can be used to reduce chemical and biological oxygen demands.

A method based on ozone sanitization reduces water consumption by effectively rinsing and disinfecting in one step, without leaving behind flavor carryovers or residual chemical tastes. UV blasting immediately destroys any residual dissolved ozone in ozone-driven CIP (O3 clean-in-place) systems. This eliminates a few rinse steps from the CIP protocol process.

UV light is used to neutralize residual dissolved ozone. In addition to saving time and water with UV, the ability to turn off ozone reduces both by as much as forty percent. 

Moreover, ozone sanitation also effectively eliminates the tastes, smells, and colors of preceding products and chemical sanitizers, eliminating any chance of the sanitizing process affecting the final product. Residual ozone, after oxidation, produces divalent oxygen (O2) without leaving behind any aftertaste or odor.

Drinking and food plants can be more efficiently and effectively sanitized by using ozone generator compared with UV light sanitization because of its efficient disinfectant and sanitizing properties.

Final Words

The combined advantages of advanced disinfection processes with ozone and UV make it clear that they are capable of increasing production efficiency, creating on-site sanitization capabilities, and becoming truly sustainable solutions to prevent microbial contaminations in beverage plants. By boosting production capacity and efficiency in the plant, as well as improving food safety, ozone and UV can be powerful tools for your business.

You can reach out to us for any recommendations of ozone applications. We would love to help you out according to your requirements.