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Trial Number 6

Trial Purpose:

To evaluate supplied product for coffee equipment cleaning as compared to traditional product

Date Run:

08/17/2009

Experiment Procedure:

To prepare coffee sludge for application onto preweighed coupons, 35 g of coffee was added to 500 ml of water. The coffee mixture was stirred using a magnetic stir bar while being heated to boiling on a hot plate for 1 hour 45 minutes. After the initial heating, the coffee grounds were removed from the solution. The resulting coffee mix was again agitated and heated until the liquid mix became more of a sludge.
When the coffee mix was at an appropriate viscosity, the sludge was applied to the glass coupons using a hand held swab and allowed to cool. Once cool, dirty weights were recorded to determine the amount of coffee added.

Three coupons were placed in the Gardner Straightline washability unit. Cleaning products were sprayed onto the coupons using 3-5 pumps from a manual spray bottle. Five to seven pumps were applied to a Kimberly Clark Wypal reinforced paper wiper that was attached to the cleaning sled of the washability unit. Ten cleaning cycles were performed for each cleaning product. At the conclusion of the cleaning, a clean, dry reinforced paper towel was used to dry the coupons. Final weights were recorded, efficiencies calculated and observations made.

Note: Cleaning cycle length was determined prior to cleaning using water only. The time for water to completely remove the coffee stain was determined and then cleaning cycle time for the products was set at half that time.

Trial Results:

The supplied product had the highest overall efficiency at 97.3, followed closely by the Activeion cleaner at 97.14. The traditional product had a lower efficiency than the water (control). However, all three cleaners removed more than 90% of the coffee within 20 seconds of manual cleaning. Even though water removed a majority of the coffee and looked cleaner than the chemical cleaners, the water left behind a coffee stain residue that was not present from the other products.

Cleaner  Initial wt Final wt % Removed
Coffee Equipment Cleaner 0.1692 0.0052 96.93
  0.1848 0.0047 97.46
  0.1981 0.0049 97.53
Formula 409 0.2441 0.0110 95.49
  0.2380 0.0083 96.51
  0.1756 0.0179 89.81
ActiveIon 0.1201 0.0038 96.84
  0.1468 0.0030 97.96
  0.1068 0.0036 96.63
Water 0.2484 0.0053 97.87
  0.2034 0.0088 95.67
  0.1353 0.0058 95.71

Success Rating:

A follow up test, usually based on company input.

Conclusion:

The Alpha Chemical Services Coffee Equipment Cleaner performed very well, surpassing the lab's 85% cutoff level for effective cleaning. A follow up test will be conducted on a coffee maker soiled with coffee sludge and compared to the same products.

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