An Ozone-Based Laundry and Laundry Wash Water Recovery System

The impact on the water recovery and reclamation system resulting from laundry operations has been the primary obstacle to the implementation of a laundry capable for long duration space missions. Such an onboard system can provide improved housekeeping effectiveness and crew health maintenance aspects. Electrochemically generated ozone was used as a laundry (cleaning) agent under simulated washing conditions and compared with Tide^® and dodecynlbenzoicsuccinic acid (DBSA). Three aspects were studied: (i) cleaning ability; (ii) disinfection potential; and, (iii) impact on the resulting laundry water. In most instances, ozone provided a detergent-like cleaning ability that was as good as, or better than, Tide^® or DBSA. Ozone was a superior disinfectant and, more importantly, had a low impact on the laundry wash water in terms of its potential for recycling. Ozone does not contribute to the organic or inorganic load of the waste water stream (as do typical detergents), and tests clearly showed that ozone could be used to oxidize organics in the waste water stream, thereby enabling a feasible pathway toward the development of a closed-loop recycle system for laundry wash water.