March/April 2023 - 16

FOOD HANDLING
discharge the dirty water and replace it
with fresh. The former solution is not
available to all processors, and the latter
comes at a hefty cost.
Camilla Khrulova, ozone application
specialist and head of food and beverage
at Arrowlake, along with Arrowlake
colleague Jurgen Bischhaus, director
of sales and marketing, developed a
solution: an ozone generator, an all-inone
water quality management system
called the FLO₃W, specifically for the
food processing sector.
Developing the ozone generator was
no easy task, Khrulova said. The first
challenge was how to keep the ozone
in water long enough to do its job, as it
tended to bubble to the surface.
" It took some years of research, but
we have figured out a way to actually
take any ozone produced by anyone and
dissolve it and mix it in the water at very
high concentrations, " Khrulova said.
The duo also figured out how to
automatically generate enough ozone to
treat the water no matter what condition
it is in. To do this, FLO₃W measures water
parameters, including pH, temperature,
dissolved ozone and redux, throughout
the process.
Ozone is known as a good tool for
degrading bacterial load. In fact, according
to Khrulova, it is 3,000 times more
powerful than chlorine. Furthermore,
its only waste by-product is oxygen.
According to Khrulova, FLO₃W allows
processors to real-time monitor, control
and analyze process water. Food processors
are able to maintain microbiological
water quality standards throughout the
processing cycle while preventing the
formation of biofilm in the long-term.
Using ozone lessens the need for
mechanical and chemical cleaning,
and it prevents cross-contamination and
re-contamination of produce between
temperature-controlled environments.
In fresh produce like carrots, the result
is increased product quality and longer
shelf life.
Further benefits of utilizing ozone
include the elimination of chemical
residues on produce and less reliance
on valuable resources such as energy
and water.
A small carrot producer in the
Netherlands, for instance, saves 50,000
kilowatts a year in energy and six cubic
meters of water per day by installing this
system, Khrulova said.
" And we're not even talking about shelf
life, " she said. " By retrofitting FLO₃W,
you are actually increasing the shelf
life of your produce simply by releasing
the product from all the crosscontamination
that you have introduced
to it by the process. "
Khrulova believes uptake of ozone
will happen once processors realize the
benefits.
" It's a really useful tool that is not that
complicated, " she said.
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16 MARCH/APR I L 2 023
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March/April 2023

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