Ozone is a molecule
that consists of three oxygen atoms (O3), with a
delta negative and a delta positive electric charge.
The ozone molecule is very unstable and has a
short half-life. Therefore, it will decay after some time into its original
form: oxygen (O2, according reaction presented
below)
2O3 ⇋ 3O2
In essence ozone is nothing more than oxygen
(O2), with an extra oxygen atom, formed by an
electric high charge an extra oxygen atom.
In nature, ozone is produced by some chemical
reactions.
The most familiar example is of course the
ozone layer, where ozone is produced from the sun’s ultra-violet (UV) rays.
But ozone is also produced at thunderstorms
and waterfalls.
The extreme high voltages attended with
thunderstorms produce ozone from oxygen.
Ozone derives from the Greek word ozein, which means to smell.
Ozone is only produced under extreme
circumstances. This can also be created by ozone generators.
Ozone generators produce ozone with extreme
high voltages or with UV-light.
HOW DOES OZONE
WORK?
Ozone operates according the
principle of oxidation.
When the static loaded ozone molecule (O3) contacts
with something “oxidation able”, the charge of the ozone molecule will directly
flow over.
This is because ozone is very unstable and
likes to turn back in its original form (O2).
Ozone can oxidize with all kinds of
materials, but also odor and
microorganisms like viruses, moulds and bacteria.
The extra oxygen atom releases from the ozone
molecule and binds with the other material. Eventually, what remains is only
the pure and stable oxygen molecule.
Ozone is one of the strongest oxidation
agents technically available for use to oxidize solutes.
The extra-added oxygen atom will bind
(=oxidation) in a split second to every component that comes into contact with
ozone.
Ozone can be used for a broad of area of
purification.
For the biggest part, ozone is applied in the
municipal wastewater and potable water treatment plants (for disinfection).
However, ozone is used more and more in industries.
In the food industry, for example, ozone is
used for disinfection.
And in the paper and textile industry, it is
used for the oxidation of wastewater.
The main benefit of ozone is its clean
character, because it only oxidizes materials, with forming almost no
byproducts.
Because ozone has a strong recognizable odor,
very low concentrations will soon be perceived. This makes it generally safe to
work with ozone.
HOW IS OZONE
PRODUCED?
Ozone can be produced artificially
according the same principle as it occurs in nature, which means by UV light (ozone layer) or via corona-discharge (high voltages, thunderstorm).
In both methods the connection between the
oxygen molecules is broken up.
Consequently, oxygen radicals are produced,
which connect with the oxygen molecule to O3 (ozone).
For the production of ozone, corona discharge
is used more because of the greater advantages of this method.
Advantages are the lower costs for ozone
production (more cost-efficient) and the greater durability of the system.
For the feed inlet, ambient air can be used
as well as pure oxygen.
For pure oxygen, oxygen generators can be used to concentrate oxygen out
of air.
When pure oxygen is used, a higher
concentration of ozone can be produced.
WHAT IS THE HALF-LIFE
OF OZONE?
For the purification of water and
air, it’s needed to produce ozone on-site.
Because of its short half-life, ozone will
decay soon when produced.
The half life of ozone in water is about 30
minutes, which means that every half hour the ozone concentration will be
reduced to half its initial concentration.
For example, when you have 8 g/l, the
concentration reduces every 30 minutes as follows: 8; 4; 2; 1; etc.
In practice the half-life is shorter because
a lot of factors can influence the half-life.
Factors are temperature, pH, concentration
and concentration and sort solutes.
Because ozone reacts with all kinds of
components, the concentration of ozone will reduce quickly.
When most of the components are oxidized, the
residual ozone will remain, and the concentration of ozone will be reduced.
IS OZONE HARMFUL
AND WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS?
At higher concentrations ozone is
harmful for human health after inhalation.
Several agencies, such as the occupational
safety and health agency (OSHA) have proposed MAC-values for ozone.
The MAC-value is the Maximum Acceptable
Concentration a human is allowed to be exposed to for a certain time and
certain agent.
For ozone the MAC-values is 0.06 PPM for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (PPM =
Parts Per Million).
For a maximum of 15 minutes a MAC-value of
0.3 PPM is applied.
The concentrations mentioned above are much
higher than the odour threshold at which ozone can be smelled, so critical
concentrations will be noticed quickly.
When people are exposed to high ozone
concentrations the symptoms can vary from dryness in the mouth and throat,
coughing, headache and chest restriction.
Nearby the lethal limits, more acute problems
will follow.
When larger ozone generators are applied, ozone destructors can be used for the destruction of
residual ozone.
HOW CAN YOU TELL
THE LEVEL OF OZONE?
There are a lot of measuring
instruments available to measure
ozone in water and air.
These measuring instruments rest on different
principles and can measure the concentrations from PPM (PPM = Parts Per
Million) to PPB (= Parts Per Billion).
The instruments can be used for monitoring
and controlling the ozone generator.
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