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Food and beverage manufacturers are under increasing pressure to maintain high hygiene standards while reducing the environmental and financial costs associated with cleaning and sanitation. Oxi-Tech is addressing this challenge through its Pulse Oxidation technology, which uses boron-doped synthetic diamond electrodes developed by Element Six to generate ozone from cold water and low-voltage electricity. The system is designed to replace or reduce conventional hot chemical Clean-in-Place (CIP) cycles, lowering chemical consumption and energy use while maintaining hygiene performance. With installations at Yeo Valley’s Yoxter Organic Farm and Sandford Orchards, the technology is already being applied in dairy and beverage production. Paul Morris, CEO of Oxi-Tech, explains how the system works, the operational and environmental benefits it can deliver and the opportunities for wider adoption across the food and beverage industry.

Can you explain in more detail how the boron-doped diamond technology works within the sanitation system and what advantages it offers over conventional cleaning methods?  

Element Six’s proprietary boron-doped diamond technology is at the heart of our Pulse Oxidation systems, serving as an advanced electrode that helps us generate ozone from cold water using low-voltage current.

Diamond is usually an insulating material, but when synthetic diamond is ‘doped’ with boron particles, it becomes highly electronically conductive while remaining durable and chemically inert, which is exactly what is required in a demanding CIP environment.

These properties mean the boron-doped diamond electrodes can carry high currents and efficiently create ozone in situ, providing a powerful, natural disinfectant that destroys waterborne bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms without relying on aggressive chemical washes. This allows food and beverage manufacturers to replace many conventional hot, chemically intensive CIP cycles with cold-water Pulse Oxidation, reducing chemical use and hot-water consumption while maintaining high hygiene performance.

The result is a durable and efficient sanitation solution that is simpler to implement at scale than traditional methods. And it makes cleaning in production environments safer, more sustainable and more cost-effective.

How is the technology currently being used at Yeo Valley's Yoxter Organic Farm and Sandford Orchards, and what results have been achieved so far?

At Yeo Valley’s Yoxter Organic Farm in Blagdon in Somerset, Oxi-Tech’s Pulse Oxidation system has been integrated into the dairy parlour cleaning regime to replace a considerable proportion of hot chemical CIP washes with cold water ozone sanitation.

By generating ozone on-site from water and low-voltage electricity, the system has helped Yeo Valley cut chemical use by around 75% and reduce the energy required to heat cleaning water by approximately 75%, without compromising hygiene. The removal of bulky chemical storage has also freed up valuable on-site space. 

In the beverage sector, Sandford Orchards has integrated Oxi-Tech’s Pulse Oxidation system into its bottling CIP process as part of a collaborative project with its partners, Stratos 3 and DASL in Exeter. At full production volume, with normal cleaning schedules, the system can save 4-6 tonnes of carbon per year on its facility. The system also reduces hot water use by 300 litres per wash, avoids 52 hot washes per year, and reduces annual chemical use by 826kg of caustic soda and 203kg of peracetic acid per year.

This demonstrates how the technology can simultaneously improve hygiene, lower environmental impact and reduce operating costs in real-world food and drink applications.

Beyond the reported reductions in chemical and energy use, what impact can the technology have on operating costs for food and beverage manufacturers?

Beyond reductions in chemical and energy use, the operating cost benefits extend much further. Because Pulse Oxidation is a cold water process, manufacturers can eliminate the energy required to heat the cleaning water. The cost to run the system is typically about two-thirds of traditional CIP cleaning. There are also savings associated with the chemicals themselves, including the carbon and costs tied to producing, transporting and packaging drums of harsh cleaning agents, which are removed from the equation.

Food and beverage manufacturers also benefit from better cleaning efficiency and uptime. After a Pulse Oxidation wash, what remains in the line is clean water rather than chemical residues, so there is no need for extended rinse cycles to flush out chemicals before restarting production.

One client has estimated that a plant using the system saves one hour per day per shift, as aggressive chemicals do not have to be cleaned out of the system after the wash. The handling and storage of aggressive chemicals is also reduced or removed, contributing to improved site safety. 

In addition, synthetic diamond’s durability means that Element Six’s chemically inert and erosion-resistant electrodes have been proven capable of lasting for years under intense industrial conditions - including pharmaceuticals and refinery wastewater treatment - prolonging the lifespan of the overall system.

What types of food and beverage production environments are best suited to the technology?  

Pulse Oxidation technology is particularly suited to food and beverage production environments that rely on water-based CIP processes and are vulnerable to waterborne bacteria and biofilm formation.

This includes operations producing and bottling liquids, such as dairy processing and packaging, cheese and yogurt plants, breweries, cideries, wineries and a range of soft drinks and fermentation-based beverages. Any facility that manages incoming potable process water, borehole-sourced water, or water-based flushing and cleaning systems for production lines can benefit from ozone-based sanitation too. 

In terms of the fastest uptake, we are seeing particularly strong interest from drinks fermentation businesses such as cider, beer and wine producers, where hygiene, flavour quality and sustainability are all critical to brand value. Milk-related production facilities, including dairy packaging and chilled dairy manufacturing, are also prime candidates because milk’s nutritional profile makes it both valuable and highly susceptible to microbial contamination, which raises the stakes around cleaning performance.

What challenges do food and beverage manufacturers typically face when adopting ozone-based cleaning systems, and how does this solution address them?

Typically, food and beverage manufacturers looking at ozone-based cleaning have had to grapple with concerns about system complexity, reliability and how easily the technology can be integrated into existing CIP infrastructure.  

However, bacteria are becoming harder to eliminate as they develop antimicrobial resistance and form resilient biofilms that can withstand conventional treatments. Specifically, waterborne pathogens can adapt to standard treatment methods and spread across complex supply chains, persisting despite the use of conventional sanitisers. This is a particular challenge in industries such as food and beverage production, including dairy farming. 

Using Element Six’s boron-doped synthetic diamond electrodes means efficient, reliable ozone can be generated from cold water using low-voltage electricity. It streamlines the system, boosts durability in tough processing environments and is designed to work with existing CIP infrastructure, replacing or reducing hot chemical stages without requiring operators to completely overhaul their cleaning processes.

Importantly, the system is designed to deliver reliable, high-performance sanitation that supports current hygiene protocols, enabling manufacturers to meet or exceed standards while relying less on harsh chemicals.

Are there any limitations or operational considerations businesses should be aware of before implementing the technology?

As with any sanitation technology, there are operational considerations that businesses need to understand before implementation. Pulse Oxidation works best when it is integrated into environments that already rely on water-based CIP processes. In these settings, replacing conventional hot chemical washes with cold Pulse Oxidation can significantly reduce chemical consumption and hot water usage while maintaining high hygiene performance and supporting a more sustainable CIP process.

Operational considerations are really based on whether a business is prioritising sustainability premiums or return on investment (ROI). Where ROI is the critical path, organisations must evaluate total spend on cleaning and disinfection chemicals, as well as the energy costs associated with heating water to activate the cleaning chemicals in the wash.

As a rule of thumb, dairy farms typically need to have around 150 head of cattle, or more, to achieve an ROI within 3 years. For beverage manufacturers, annual production levels of more than 2-3 million pints are usually needed to generate sufficient savings in energy and chemical use to justify CAPEX and OPEX of the unit below standard capital models. Leasing the units can also prove to be a way to ensure ROI is more immediate for the end user.” 

How quickly can producers typically see a return on investment after installation?

This will vary from site to site, and returns will differ depending on the sector. In the dairy sector, a Pulse Oxidation system can reduce a 250-cow herd’s carbon footprint by over five tonnes per year, reflecting significant savings in both energy and chemical consumption while maintaining hygiene performance. By reducing chemical consumption and hot water usage, and lowering the carbon and cost associated with producing, transporting and packaging plastic barrels of cleaning chemicals, the system offers a compelling return on investment for food and beverage producers.

On one farm of around 250 head of cattle heating approximately 1000 litres of water from 68°F to 176°F (approx. 20°C to 80°C) per day came to an annual cost of £7,000 ($9,254.31), with cleaning chemicals costing approximately £6,000 annually. With an initial installation cost of £30,000 and annual maintenance costs of £3,000, the system delivered a return on investment in around three years.

If sustainability is the priority, then the advantage of removing some 730 litres of Caustic Alkali Cleaner, 2000 litres of Peracetic Acid and around 5 tonnes of Carbon per year per farm would be enough to convince a business that they are doing the right thing.

Are there any plans to expand the technology into additional food and beverage sectors or international markets?

Yes. Our partnership with Element Six is focused on expanding adoption of Pulse Oxidation across food and beverage production and other sectors where cleaning performance, safety and sustainability are critical.

We are already seeing strong interest in areas such as dairy farming, dairy packaging, cheese and yogurt production, and drinks fermentation businesses, including cider, beer and wine.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Across the food and beverage sector, manufacturers are under pressure to maintain high hygiene standards while reducing chemical use, energy consumption and operating costs.

Our partnership with Element Six is about helping them meet that challenge by combining Oxi-Tech’s Pulse Oxidation systems with Element Six’s proprietary boron-doped synthetic diamond technology to create a more efficient, durable, sustainable and scalable sanitation solution.