[A] TO DEVELOP A SAFE, EFFICIENT AND COST EFFECTIVE KITCHEN EXHAUST DUCT CLEANING SOLUTION

Kitchen Exhaust Ducts (KED) have to be cleaned regularly to prevent grease accumulation inside the ducts which poses potential fire hazards. Without a proper cleaning regime, this risk of spreading fire along KED to neighbouring stalls will increase significantly which could affect a few stalls and not just one stall if fire incident occurs.

Currently, KED are being degreased manually by cleaners which is labour-intensive. Cleaners are equipped only with spray bottles of degreasing agent and, scrappers and cloths to scrape and wipe off the grease. They have to crawl through the ducts and work within confined spaces.

When KED have limited entry points, access panels will have to be cut out from KED for cleaners to enter. Generally, cleaners will only clean areas which they can possibly reach. Therefore, they are unable to clean hard to reach areas, especially long vertical ducts.

As KED are cleaned manually, it is a time-consuming process. Depending on the length of KED, it may take a few nights for cleaners to degrease KED serving a large food establishment.

The proposed solution should be able to clean all parts of KED, including interior and exterior of KED, vertical ducts, ducts of different shapes (e.g. rectangular and circle ducts), kitchen exhaust fan blades, grilles, louvres and small ducts etc. In addition, the proposed solution should be less labour-intensive and time-consuming, less intrusive (i.e. does not require cutting of access panels) and provide higher cleaning standard.

The proposed solution should meet the following requirements:

1. The proposed solution should function in the greasy conditions typically found in environment in food preparation and cooking areas of commercial kitchens where KED are installed. 
2. (a) Existing KED are able to withstand the weight of cleaning equipment used for degreasing without causing structural damages.(b) KED comes in different shapes and sizes so there is no one-size-fits-all solution.(c) The equipment is able to clean the interior and exterior of KED ducts at angles of elevation of up to 90 degrees. It is able to clean hard-to-clean areas, e.g. kitchen exhaust fan blades, grilles, louvres and, spiral and small ducts.(d) The equipment can be remotely operated.(e) The equipment used is able to operate in a greasy environment and does not cause damage / degrade existing KED and Kitchen Exhaust System’s integrity.(f) The total power consumption of equipment(s) used does not exceed power supply allowable in the premise, and will not cause a power trip. QP/LEW is to certify the installation of the system is safe for the purpose of the trial.(g) The proposed solution does not disrupt business operations and it is able to comply with any statutory regulation on permissible noise, work hours and worksite safety. The cleaning of the KED is to be carried out after operation hours of the hawker centres. The operation hours varies from centre to centre.(h) The proposed solution should be able to take photos or videos or both of the conditions of the duct and also the cleaning process.(i) The proposed solution should be able to provide reports with before and after photographs after every cleaning service. 
3. The proposed solution is less time-consuming and labour-intensive as compared to manual cleaning. The cost of engaging proposed solution does not exceed existing market rates.

Safe, efficient and effective method for kitchen exhaust duct cleaning

Reduce the risk of spreading of fire due to grease accumulation in kitchen exhaust ducts

The target milestones are:

1. Completion of working prototype ready for evaluation 6 months after the start of project 
2. Completion of full functional end product ready for pilot deployment 10 months after the start of project

Please refer to the attachment for full details on the problem statement.

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