The 2016 Management and Innovation Technology International Conference (MITiCON-2016)
Fabrication of Ozone Generator for Indoor
Air Quality
Wannana Panuwatsuk
Environmental Engineering Branch,
Faculty of Engineering,
Ramkhamhaeng University
Bangkok 10240 Thailand.
Email: wpanuwat@hotmail.com
Abstract⎯Ozone generator was fabricated in the size
of 40x12.5x12.5 cm3. It composed of 6 ozone tubes, a
computer fan, electronic board with variable resistors
and adjustable buttons of 7 ozone production levels. The
generator was operated in a chamber of 96.5x47x47 cm3
representing a model room met air ventilation standard.
At level 1 of operation, ozone concentration in the
chamber was to be 0.1 ppm which is obeyed the
standard OSHA recommendation for 8 hrs of working.
The generator was also tested in a normal room with the
size of 4x4x2 m3. Due to low flow of computer fan, the
generator was performed to obtain ozone concentration
of 0.1 ppm as following: turning on at level 7 for 3 hrs
and further on at level 3 until 8 hrs.
Keywords⎯ozone generator; ozone level
1. INTRODUCTION
Ozone is composed of three atoms of oxygen (O3). It is the
oxidizing agent which is the most attention due to its strong
behavior and rapid decomposition. The removal of
ammonia and methylamine under laboratory conditions was
found to be five times after 1-hr exposure (applying 2 times
the stoichiometric ozone quantity). [1] Ozone applied to
incoming air in piggery building at concentration of 0.03
ppm reduced 21 % of inhalable particles and 30 % of
airborne bacteria but increased 26% of respirable particles.
[2] Ozone was also used to reduce more than 90% of
airborne microbes such as Staphylococcus salivarius and
Staphylococcus epidermis by using O3 at concentration of
0.6 ppm for 10 min and 4 min, respectively. [3] For bacteria
found in soil and water, Pseudomonas fluorescens and
Escherichia coli, were able to be reduced 50 % by applying
O3 at concentration of 0.1 ppm for 20 min. [4] Therefore,
ozone is commercially used as a disinfectant for air and
water. However, inhaling ozone, even in small amounts,
may cause throat irritation, coughing, chest pain and
shortness of breath. The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) recommends an average
concentration of ozone at 0.1 ppm or less for 8 hrs in indoor
environments. (ANSI/ASHARE Standard 62.1-2004)
978-1-5060-4105-3/16/$31.00©2016 IEEE
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Pumate Duanden
Computer Engineering Branch,
Faculty of Engineering,
Ramkhamhaeng University
Bangkok 10240 Thailand.
Email: pumate192@hotmail.com
Ozone can be generated by using corona discharge and
UV irradiation. Corona discharge is selected in this paper
due to practical and safe method for various scales of
application. Generally, commercial ozone generator is
made to produce ozone at high concentration which is
usually over the standard value at least 10-100 times. The
user only turns the generator on and off at certain time
when ozone odor has become strong. This paper presents
the ozone generator capably operated at various ozone
concentrations especially in indoor air which amount of
ozone produced met the standard of indoor air quality (0.1
ppm).
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
A corona discharge system, the feed gas passed between
two closely spaced electrodes under an applied voltage
potential of ~ 10 kV. A barrier discharge occurs when the
feed gas becomes partially ionized, resulting in a violet
glow. Efficiency of ozone production depends on the
strength of micro-discharges. [5] In this paper, the generator
consisted of ozone tubes (500 mg/h of ozone production),
air blower, and electronic board containing variable
resistors (at least 1,000 kΩ) with adjustable buttons. The
device was performed in a chamber of 0.213 m3 and a room
of 32 m3 volume with air ventilation following
ANSI/ASHAR Standard 62.1-2004. (25oC, 30-60%
humidity and air flow rate > 0.568 m3/min/person) The
ozone level in a room can be determined by the equation of
= − 
where, V is the volume of room, C is the ozone
concentration, t is time and λ is the decay rate of ozone due
to ozone deposition and ventilation system, G is the
generation rate of ozone. [6]
An ozone produced was determined by using iodometric
method. Ozone gas was bubbled into 100 ml of 2%
potassium iodide at flow rate of 2 l/min. The solution was
then titrated with 0.01 N sodium thiosulfate solution using
1% starch as indicator. Concentration of ozone in ppm
modified from International Ozone Association [7] equals:
 The 2016 Management and Innovation Technology International Conference (MITiCON-2016)

0.24 x volume of thiosulfate in ml x 1,000 x 298 divided by

the inlet volume of gas passed in l, 12.187, and 48.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION KI solution

The size of ozone generator was to be 40x12.5x12.5 cm3. 6

ozone tubes and electronic board with variable resistors Suction pump
were fabricated in the generator. Adjustable buttons were (2 l/ min)
set up into 7 levels of ozone production. At first, air from
air pump was introduced into the generator which is turned
on at certain level of ozone production. Gas flowing out at
Model room
Table 1. Amount of ozone produced from ozone generator
with pumping air in and bubbling gas out

Level of ozone Amount of ozone produced

production mg/h ppm
Fig.2. Gas inside a model room was drawn and determined
1 0.05 0.20
by iodometric method
2 0.10 0.41
3 0.17 0.71 Table 2 demonstrated the average ozone concentration
4 0.91 3.87 at various levels of ozone production. Level 1 was found to
5 1.97 8.35 be the restriction of ozone concentration for 8 hrs of
6 2.90 12.3 staying. In order to obtain a practical ozone generator, it
7 8.47 36.0 was also operated in a normal room with the size of 4x4x2
m3 for 10 hrs at certain level of ozone production, as shown
flow rate of 2 l/min (breathing rate) was bubbled into 2 sets in Fig. 3. This room was controlled to meet the air
of potassium iodide solution in order to determine the ventilation standard. Gas inside the room was drawn to
efficiency of ozone production. The result of ozone
concentration at each level was shown in Table 1. It was Table 2. Amount of ozone produced from refabricated
found that higher amount of ozone produced was done by generator in a room model
turning on the higher level. This is consistent with using
higher voltage to obtain higher ozone concentration of Level of ozone Amount of ozone produced
ozone generator with dielectric barrier discharge. [8] The production mg/h ppm
minimum level of ozone production was to be 0.20 ppm 1 0.02 0.10
which is more than the requirement of standard air quality 2 0.06 0.26
(0.1 ppm). To meet the OSHA value, a computer fan with 3 0.11 0.46
low flow was introduced into the generator in order to let
4 0.18 076
the air flow in and out for a practical use. The refabricated
5 0.19 0.82
generator was tested in a chamber with a size of
6 0.25 1.07
96.5x47x47 cm3 (0.213 m3) representing a model room with
indoor air quality by controlling the air ventilation at 0.568 7 0.47 1.99
m3/min/person, temperature and humidity at 25oC and 50%.
The device was operated in the chamber at various levels of
ozone production for 8 hrs. Gas inside the chamber was Refabricated ozone generator
bubbling out at interval of 3rd hr, 5th hr, and 7th hr to
determine the ozone concentration, as shown in Fig. 1.&2.
Suction pump
Refabricated ozone generator

Flow of gas KI solution

Inside a model room
Fig.3. The refabricated generator operated in a normal room
Fig.1. The refabricated ozone generator was operated in a and suction gas determined by iodometric method
model room.

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 The 2016 Management and Innovation Technology International Conference (MITiCON-2016)

determine an ozone concentration at interval of 3rd hr, 5th hr, obtain ozone concentration of 0.10 ppm for 8 hrs, the
7th hr, and 9th hr, respectively. The results were shown in operation should be turning on at level 7 for 3 hrs and
Table 3. Due to low flow of computer fan and large space further on at level 3 for 5 hrs.
of normal room, level 1 2 and 3 were not able to reach 0.1
ppm of ozone concentration within 5 hrs of operation. 5. REFERENCES
Therefore, it was conducted to operate at level 7 first. For 2
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process gas,” Retrieved July 31, 2015, from http://www.
The generator was set up in the size of 40x12.5x12.5 cm3
otsil.net/articles/IODIMETRY20%METHOD%20OZONE%
and composed of 6 ozone tubes, electronic board with
20MEASUREMENT.pdf
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of ozone for indoor air quality (0.10 ppm). The refabricated
generator was also performed in a normal room (4x4x2 m3
size) meeting the standard of air ventilation. In order to

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