GB1368892A - Process and installation for cleaning and decontaminating garments - Google Patents

Abstract

1368892 Laundering arrangement SOC DE NETTOYAGE ET DE DESINFECTION D IVRY 14 June 1972 [9 Feb 1972] 27723/72 Heading D1A A process for cleaning and decontaminating i.e. removing particles and fibres remaining after cleaning garments comprises washing or dry-cleaning in a normal environment followed by decontamination in a "clean" room. Cleaning is accomplished in a washing or dry-cleaning machine 6 using an aqueous or chlorinated solvent and decontamination in a 'dry-cleaning' machine 13 using a fluorinated solvent which has a lower boiling point and soil removing ability than aqueous or chlorinated solvents as used in the first step. As shown in Fig. 2, garments are cleaned and dried in the machine 6 and tumble or tunnel drier 6a and then passed through a double door air-lock 5 into the clean room. The garments are then decontaminated in the machine 13 by operatives in "clean"-room kit inspected on hangers 15, folded on a table 17, sealed and packaged in polyethylene bags by unit 18 and removed through a second airlock 12 for sterilisation using ultra-violet radiation while within the packaging. The "clean" room I may be a horizontal laminar flow room (Fig. 1, not shown) with a blower wall (2a) and an eduction wall (3a) on opposite sides or a turbulent flow clean room (Fig. 2) with clean air diffusers 19 and air outlet flaps 20. The decontamination machine 13 (Fig. 5) abuts a seal (22) around an opening 14 in the "clean" room (Fig. 3, not shown) and has a single door in this opening 14. It comprises a drum 31, a pin filter 44, an electrostatic fluff filter 48, a pump 30, a solvent tank 33, a still 41 and a filtration unit with a 20 micron filter 26, a 5 micron filter 27 and a 0.45 micron filter 28 which may be used in series or be bypassed as desired. In use the machine 13 is loaded, evacuated and the drum rotated while solvent including an antistatic additive is circulated through the first filter 26 only before discharge of the solvent to the still 41 and a first spin-drying. Then in a further cleaning cycle solvent is added again and recirculated through the full filtration unit before being discharged to the reservoir directly. The laundry is spun dry and the drum walls heated, the solvent vapour going to the still 41. The laundry is then unloaded and packaged as described above.