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OZONE AS A BLEACHING AGENT IN STEAM LAUNDRIES. 
F. O. ANDEREGG. 
In Europe the application of ozone to various commercial uses has 
been much more successful than in this country. Thus we see great 
ozone installations for the purification of the city water at Paris and 
many other cities. Notable application of ozone to the ventilation of 
the London Subway is being made, while the French use considerable 
amounts of ozone in the synthesis of various perfumes and other high- 
grade organic chemicals. 
In Germany there are two firms which produce ozonizers suitable 
for use in steam laundries. One, the Ozongesellschaft m. b. H., is a 
branch of the Siemens-Halske firm, which is connected with the famous 
A. E. G., the great electrical trust. This concern uses the most modern 
modification of the Siemens tube, which has been used extensively for 
ozone production for a great many years. Another company has con- 
centrated on the application of ozone to laundries. This firm goes by 
the name, Aktiengesellschaft fuer Ozon-industrie. 
Both of these companies advertise in the most glowing terms as 
to the wonderful merits of ozone as a bleaching agent. Claims are 
made of great saving in soap, water, overhead, labor, in addition to 
considerable improvement in quality through the use of ozone as a 
Tests made on cotton goods by the Staatlichen Materialpruefung- 
samtes of Berlin-Dahlen. No. 1 is for ozone bleaching in cold water. 
No. 2 gives similar data for ozone in hot water, while No. 3 shows 
the harmful effect of typical peroxide bleaches which has reduced the 
strength (festigkeit) of the goods to 40% in 25 washings. 
bleaching agent. It is stated that the most delicate material is un- 
harmed by their ozone bleaching. Shirts are supposed to have the 
white part bleached purer white while the colored pattern is brightened 
by this treatment. Now ozone acts on most organic material with 
which it comes in contact so that it is surprising that the colored part 
should not be bleached also! On the other hand, tests made at Berlin- 
Dahlem by the Staatliches Materialpruefungsamt, using the Goedicke 
apparatus of the Aktiengesellschaft fuer Ozon-industrie showed that 
with ozone the goods lasted very much longer than with chlorine bleach 
material. Samples of cotton cloth were treated and observed after 
every ten bleachings. A decrease in strength was observed while the 
weight and stretching were both increased. The cotton goods still 
maintained 80% of their strength after 50 treatments in cold water, 
64% in hot water, while 25 bleachings with chlorine water reduced the 
strength to a very small value. 
As to cost, there is considerable doubt also as to their claims. The 
use of Javelle water as practised today in up-to-date laundries is a 
very small item. The interest on the cost of an ozone installation in 
addition to the power consumption, although it amounts to but a few 
