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Analysis of energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies in professional laundry service

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Abstract

Professional laundry service (i.e., doing laundry for hospitals, hotels, production plants, dormitories, and students cafeterias) is an industrial, energy intensive process. Electrical energy and natural gas are commonly used to heat water and drying air. However, much of the energy leaves the process in waste flows completely without any profit. Professional laundry service has also direct impact upon environment. Waste water is often contaminated with laundry detergents and natural gas flue gas is used as drying medium. Therefore, it is an energy intensive process and its energy consumption and related environmental impact are worth researching. This article presents the concept of professional laundry service and main energy efficiency measures that may be relevant for the process. Impacts of laundry process on environment along with financial aspects are assessed in this article, too. Financial parameters of any measure are crucial for laundry operators. However, every assessment of profitability of particular measure has to be substantiated by source operational data. These may significantly vary depending on local prices of energy, water, and human labor. This fact is presented using case study where the difference between real operational costs in three European countries is evaluated (Germany, France, and the Czech Republic). Successful research and development of energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies must encompass three aspects of every technology, i.e., energy intensity, environmental impact, and financial aspects. This three-component approach and its application in laundry service are unique and since they have not subject to any academic research yet, they are discussed in the conclusion of this article. Article is basically an overview of energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies in professional laundry service and it must be asserted that it is a first of a kind in this area.

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Abbreviations

CAP:

Daily capacity (kgDL/d)

CZ:

Czech Republic

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

DE:

Germany

DPY:

Working days p.a. (d/y)

EEC:

Electrical energy consumption (MWhe/y)

FR:

France

FWC:

Fresh water consumption (\( {\text{m}}^{ 3}_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}} \)/y)

GDR:

German Democratic Republic

HPD:

Working hours daily (h/d)

HEC:

Heat energy consumption (MWhh/y)

IEA:

International Energy Agency

NOE:

Number of employees

P:

Percentage

RFID:

Radio frequency identification

SEEC:

Specific electrical energy consumption (kWhe/kgDL)

SFWC:

Specific fresh water consumption (\( {\text{kg}}_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}} \)/kgDL)

SHEC:

Specific heat energy consumption (kWhh/kgDL)

SMC:

Specific moisture content of linen [kgH2O/kgDL]

SW:

Software

SWWP:

Specific waste water production (\( {\text{kg}}_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}} \)/kgDL)

W2E:

Waste to energy software

WWP:

Waste water production (\( {\text{m}}^{ 3}_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}} \)/y)

AE:

After (water) extracting

BI:

Before ironing

D:

Drying

DL:

Dry linen

e:

Electrical energy

F:

Flat linen

FIN:

Final

G:

Garments

h:

Heat energy

H2O:

Water

I:

Ironing

INI:

Initial

T:

Terry cloth (towels)

W:

Washing

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Acknowledgment

Financial support of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic within the framework of Operational Programme “Research and Development for Innovations”—“NETME Centre—New Technologies for Mechanical Engineering,” project registration number CZ.1.05/2.1.00/01.0002, is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Process and Environmental Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Technická 2896/2, 61669, Brno, Czech Republic

    Vítězslav Máša, Petr Bobák, Pavel Kuba & Petr Stehlík

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  1. Vítězslav Máša
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  2. Petr Bobák
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  3. Pavel Kuba
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  4. Petr Stehlík
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Correspondence to Vítězslav Máša.

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Máša, V., Bobák, P., Kuba, P. et al. Analysis of energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies in professional laundry service. Clean Techn Environ Policy 15, 445–457 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-013-0618-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-013-0618-2

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