Cleaning and laundering

摘要

Electrolux Home Products Corp BV has invented a cleaning apparatus that generates a plasma to decompose and remove organic stains from fabrics. The company's device is more convenient and safer to use than previously suggested devices of this kind, and uses less energy, according to International Patent Application WO 2008/028565. Moreover, it is simple to make. The cleaning device contains a dielectric-barrier discharge assembly (2) adapted to generate a plasma at atmospheric pressure. This assembly has a high-voltage electrode (3), a counter electrode (4) and a dielectric barrier (5) that defines the discharge gap (6). An alternating current (AC) generator (7) is connect to the high-voltage electrode. The device also has a means to supply a gaseous medium to the discharge gap.