Cold plasma sanitation for a dispensing machine
An apparatus comprises a dispensing system and a sanitizing system. The apparatus has a dispensing mode and sanitizing mode. The dispensing system may comprise a first valve and at least one component, the at least one component having an inner surface. The first valve is opened to send a free-flowing material to the at least one component when the apparatus is in the dispensing mode. The first valve is closed when the apparatus is in the sanitizing mode. The sanitizing system comprises a processing unit having a discharge cell configured to initiate a cold plasma discharge in an air flow. A tank may be configured to receive the air flow from the discharge cell of the processing unit and expose water in the tank to the air flow for a time sufficient to provide dissolution of ozone from the air flow into the water and form ozone-containing water.
1. A method comprising:
providing an air flow through a discharge cell sanitizing system, the discharge cell comprising a discharge chamber and discharge electrodes;
initiating in the discharge cell a cold plasma discharge in the air flow using the discharge electrodes;
after initiating the cold plasma discharge in the air flow, exposing a liquid comprising water to the air flow for time sufficient to provide dissolution of ozone and other ions and chemical radicals from the air flow into the water and forming ozone containing water; and
sending the ozone-containing water from the sanitizing system to an interior surface of at least one component of a beverage dispensing system to sanitize the interior surface of the at least one component;
closing a first valve, the first valve located at an outlet of a beverage concentrate supply of the beverage dispensing system;
wherein the exposing of the water to the air flow from the discharge chamber occurs in a tank of the sanitizing system;
opening a second valve, the second valve located at an outlet of the sanitizing system;
wherein the beverage dispensing system in combination with the sanitizing system is switched from a dispensing mode to a sanitizing mode when the first valve is closed and the second valve is opened; and
wherein sending the ozone-containing water from the sanitizing system to the interior surface of the at least one component of the beverage dispensing system comprises pumping the ozone-containing water.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one component is selected from the group consisting of a pipe, a mixer, a chamber, a reservoir, a pump, a third valve, and a nozzle.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending the ozone-containing water to the tank of the sanitizing system after the ozone-containing water has made at least one pass across the interior surface of the component.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising draining the ozone-containing water after the ozone-containing water has made at least one pass across the interior surface of the component.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending the ozone-containing water across the interior surface of the component until the interior surface of the component has been sanitized.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving remaining ozone in the air that is not absorbed by water in the tank and decomposing the remaining ozone into diatomic oxygen.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein decomposing the remaining ozone comprises catalytically converting the ozone into diatomic oxygen.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the catalytically converting is performed in a catalytic converter.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the catalytic converter is a thereto-catalytic converter.