industry news New Hako dealership appointed
H
ako, a global leader in the field of cleaning and municipal technology with machines characterised by their pioneering and innovative features, high levels of economic efficiency, environmental focus and user friendliness, recently announced the appointment of BHBW South Africa as their Southern Africa dealer for professional indoor and outdoor cleaning equipment. Hako industrial cleaning machines are built to the highest quality using German engineering, thereby ensuring top-of-the-range cleaning machines. The company forms part of the Possehl Group with Minuteman, Powerboss and Oertzen as additional cleaning equipment brands. BHBW South Africa was established in 2017 to create a new value
proposition in materials handling and agriculture in Southern Africa. The company is a 50/50 joint venture between Barloworld South Africa and German trading group BayWa Ag. On the materials-handling side, BHBW SA builds on Barloworld’s track record as a leading supplier of equipment and solutions to the market to grow its footprint and services. In agriculture,
BHBW SA combines Barloworld’s expertise and BayWa’s capabilities as one of the leading agricultural traders worldwide to help farmers take food production to new levels. For more information about Hako professional cleaning equipment, contact Wouter Niemann, product manager Hako. Contact nr: 065 650 3839, email: wniemann@bhbw.co.za
Self-sanitising N95 masks
Scientists, from left, Parans Paranthaman, Tina Summers and Merlin Theodore at DOE’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at ORNL are partnering with industry and a university to develop antiviral materials for N95 masks.
O
ak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) researchers in the US collaborated with Iowa State University and RJ Lee Group to demonstrate a safe and effective antiviral coating for N95 masks. The
coating destroys the COVID-19-causing coronavirus and could enable re-use of masks made from various fabrics. The team evaluated Goldshield 75, finding that the patented product effectively killed the novel coronavirus
without degrading mask fibres and showed no toxicity. Coated masks were germ-free 24 hours after virus exposure even over repeated test cycles and after high-temperature storage. The work builds on technology developed at the DOE Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at ORNL. “We explored avenues to integrate effective antiviral coatings that are safe for the wearer and the environment,” said ORNL’s Parans Paranthaman. “The long-term goal is to develop filter media with a built-in coating, which may also be useful in other applications, such as air filters for hospitals, or in combatting other pathogens,” said ORNL’s Merlin Theodore.
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African Cleaning Review May/June 2022
