Method and test kit for measuring concentration of a cleaning agent in a wash liquor
First Claim
1. A method of measuring concentration of a surfactant-based neutral cleaning agent in a wash liquor, comprising:
- a) providing a wash liquor comprising a mixture of the surfactant-based neutral cleaning agent, an amount of a reducing sugar proportional to the cleaning agent, and a sugar preserving agent, said sugar preserving agent being added to the mixture to inhibit microbial degradation of the reducing sugar;
b) reacting a portion of the wash liquor with an enzyme composition to induce an enzymatic reaction with the reducing sugar to produce a colored reaction product;
c) photometrically measuring color intensity of the reaction product; and
d) correlating the color intensity of the reaction product to the concentration of the surfactant-based neutral cleaning agent in the wash liquor.
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Abstract
A method of determining the concentration of a surfactant-based neutral cleaner in a wash liquor, a hand-held apparatus, and a test kit for carrying out the method are provided. According to the method, a cleaner composed of the cleaning agent, an amount of a reducing sugar that is proportional to the cleaning agent, and a sugar preserving agent, is added to a wash solution. A sample of the resulting wash liquor is applied to an enzyme system that reacts with the reducing sugar to form a colored end product. After a suitable time interval, the color of the reaction product can be photometrically measured to provide a color intensity value that is correlated to the amount of reducing sugar in the wash liquor, which, in turn, is correlated to the amount of cleaning agent in the wash liquor. The portable apparatus can be packaged with associated test supplies and reagents in a test kit.
21 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of measuring concentration of a surfactant-based neutral cleaning agent in a wash liquor, comprising:
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a) providing a wash liquor comprising a mixture of the surfactant-based neutral cleaning agent, an amount of a reducing sugar proportional to the cleaning agent, and a sugar preserving agent, said sugar preserving agent being added to the mixture to inhibit microbial degradation of the reducing sugar;
b) reacting a portion of the wash liquor with an enzyme composition to induce an enzymatic reaction with the reducing sugar to produce a colored reaction product;
c) photometrically measuring color intensity of the reaction product; and
d) correlating the color intensity of the reaction product to the concentration of the surfactant-based neutral cleaning agent in the wash liquor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of measuring concentration of a cleaning agent in a wash liquor, comprising:
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a) providing a wash liquor comprising a mixture of the cleaning agent, an amount of a reducing sugar proportional to the cleaning agent, and a sugar preserving agent, said sugar preserving agent being added to the mixture to inhibit microbial degradation of the reducing sugar;
b) reacting a portion of the wash liquor with an enzyme composition to induce an enzymatic reaction with the reducing sugar to produce a colored reaction product;
c) measuring color intensity of the reaction product; and
d) correlating the color intensity of the reaction product to the concentration of the cleaning agent in the wash liquor. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification