AN INTRODUCTION TO OZONE GENERATION Philp J Bartow Technical Director - Watertec Engineering Pty Lid ABSTRACT ‘Ozone is an extremely versatile and effective disinfecting and oxidising ‘agent, which has application in many industries. With the ever increasing awareness of envirormental pollution and chemicals which ‘2dversely effect the environment altematve, more acceptable oxidants fare being sought. Due to zones high efficiency and lower production Of detrimental byproducts, its use in the treatment of water and wastewater is growing very rapidly ‘Ozone has alvays been considered an expensive treatment, however it wil often perform a task which other chemicals, such as chiorine, cannot do at any price. Also, over the lest decade, the efficiency and reliabilty ‘of ezone generating equipment has advanced significantly. ‘The basic properties and generation techniques for ozone will be discussed, together wih typical methods of diffusion, contacting and off (988 destruction ‘Ozone itself leaves no toxic restiues which need to be removed, as ‘once ozone has done its oxidation work t primarily reverts to oxygen, INTRODUCTION Ozone is the triatomic state of oxygen which simply means that the ozone molecule Contains three oxygen atoms having the chemical symbol O3, This is nothing more than ‘another molecular form of oxygen, the chemical symbol for which is Go, Ozone is the strongest commercially available oxidising agent we can produce, however the molecule is Unstable and cannot be stored for future use, as can gaseous chlorine. For this reason ‘ozone must be generated close tothe poh of application then used immediately (Ozone is distinguishable by a characterisfc odour which was first reported by Van Mauren in 4785, in the vicinity of an electrical discharge, In 1840, Christian Schonbein identified this characteristic odour as a previously undetermined compound. He named t ozone efter the Greek word “ozein", meaning to smell. Over pursuing decades several researchers ‘experimented win the production and reactions of ozone, however the ientty of the ‘structure of the compound was confiemed in 1867 as tratomic oxygen. Ozone has been used commercially since 1893 with the fist full scale drinking water application being implemented. Today ozone is being successfully used in thousands of water treatment applications, some of which inclide the treatment of:Industrial Process Water ‘+ Municipal water and wastewater . + Cooling Towers + Swimming Poots * Odour Control + Bottled Water Plants + Ultra Pure Water + Aquaculture + Marine Aquaria + Food Processing + Beverage industries + Effuent Treatment Allof these and many other applications take advantage of the exremely reactive and ‘strong oxidising properties of ozone. PROPERTIES OF OZONE (Ozone is 2 natural component of the earth's upper atmosphere and always exists in the ‘gaseous form at ambient condiions, In the earth’s stratosphere it is primarily formed pphotgchemicaly. The clean, fresh odour of air after an electrical thunderstorm isa result of low levels of ozone gas produced by lightening. Ground level azone is present in very low concentrations. ‘The odour threshold of ozone gas is approximately 0.01ppm. Ozone will develop an Unpleasant acrid smell at concentrations above O.tppm and a faint blue colour at levels ‘exceeding Spm. Ozone is relatively stable in air and has a halflife of several hours at low concentrations. This halflife changes signifcanty once ozone is introduced into water Where many chemical reactions can occur. Because ozone is very reactive in an aqueous. ‘environment, czone can oxidise material between 10 and 1000 times faster then most ‘oxidants used in water treatment. In some instances of organic oxidation, the material can be completely oxidised to carbon dioxide and water. (On a comparison of oxidation strengths of standard oxidants, ozone is 2.07 volts as compared vith chine at 1.96 volts and chicrine dioxide at 1.50 volts, versus hydrogen, respectively. Table 1 details the oxidation strength of the more common oxidants, Table 1 - Oxidising Potentals of Various Reagents Oxiaisi nt ‘Oxidising Potential Fluorine Hydroxyl ree radicals Atomic Oxygen [Ozone Permanganaie: Hh aad [Chlorine dioxide Hypoctiorous acid [Chlorine Bromine Hypochiorie When ozone is dissolved in water, it can react with contaminants by either direct reaction 2 the O3 molecule, or by indirect reaction with hydroxy! free raceals. In strong acidic solutions, the direct reaction predominates, but above pH7 the latter reaction Predominates.‘As can be seen from Table 1, hydroxyl tree racicals have an oxidation potential ‘considerably above that of the ozone molecule itself, Therefore, the formation of these ‘compounds assist with chemical oxidation, however with a very short half Ife (microseconds) they do not play a major part in achieving disinfection, OZONE GENERATION ‘Ozone may be generated by various methode including corena diecharge, UV irradiation ‘and elecroyticaly, although corona discharge is the only practical and safe method for large scale applications. Corona Discharge Generation (CD) ‘This style of generators far more sophisticated than the UV iradiation technique, however high concentrations of ozone can be produced, ‘There are many generation cell designs, although the fundamental principal remains the ‘same. Figure 1 details a simplified process flow for a vertical tube azonator in which the cooling water Is in direct contact withthe glass dielectric and used as the grounding electrode. Figure 2 details the principal ofa typical horizontal tube stainless steel jacketed ‘ozonator which is almost exciusively used for large ozone applications. With this design the glass dielectric tube has a metalised intemal coating which becomes the active electrode. in contrast to the vertical tube ozonator, the air gap is formed between the ‘outside diameter of the dielectric tube and the stainiess steel vessel, which becomes the (grounding electrode.=a Soe aro Fig. 2 ~ Typcol Horizontal Tube Ozonator Process flow Schematic ‘Ozone is generated by passing an oxygen cortaining gas through a high energy electrical field where a portion of the oxygen Is converted into ozone. Electrons are accelerated ‘across an air gap so as to give them sufficient energy to spit the oxygen - oxygen double ‘bond, producing atomic oxygen. The two oxygen atoms which are produced by the colision react with other diatomic oxygen molecules to form ozone according to the following equation. 302 + Energy + 203 “The quantity of zone produced is dependant on several factors, such as the voltage and frequency of the altemating current applied tothe CD cells. ‘When enough high energy electrons bombard gas molecuies so that they are jonised, a light emiting gaseous plasma is formed which is commonly referred to as a corona. In practice, ozone concentrations of 1 ~ 2% wiw using air and 3 - 8% wiw using oxygen can be obtained by CD generators. However, with modem “advanced technology” ozone ‘generator, higher concentrations of ozone are achievable. ‘Ozone generation by corona discharge is an exothermic physio-chemical reaction, Much of the energy used for ozone generation is lost in heat, therefore cooling efficiency is an important factor in generator design. Ozone destruction by decomposition increases as the {gas temperature and ozone concentration increase, For this reason, most ozone generator designs are derated as the cooling water supply temperature increases. Generatordesigns in which the cooling water is in drect contact with the dielectric tubes can tolerate higher cooing water temperatures. ‘Typical voltages used in CD ozonators vary between 7 and 20 KV. The voltage required for efficient ozone generation is dependant cn the generation cell supply frequency and gap between the active electrode and dielectic insulator. Until recent advances with power electronics, most ozonators operated on mains, or low frequency, being 50 or 60 Hz. For ‘these ozonators voltages of between 12 and 20 kV are typical. As the voltages increased, sizess on the dielectric material also increases which has a direct effect on the service Ife Of this component. Low frequency ozonators are sill quite common and vieble, however ‘more modem generator designs, using medium frequency (up to 1000 Ha) offer many technical and operational advantages. Properly designed medium frequency ozonators. ‘are now favoured as they provide many benefis over the older low frequency technology. ‘Some of the benefits of medium frequency ezonators include: +, Greater ozone production can be achieved with less electrode surface area, Therefore, {for a given ozone output, the equipmertis significantly smaller. + When designed correctly, the power consumption per kg of ozone production is les. + Using modem power electronics the generator efficiency may be manipulated by varying frequency, wave form, voltage etc. ‘+A greater czonator tumdown is possisle and the output is very linear to frequency variations. Using both frequency and voltage control, an ozonator output of between (0-100% may be provided. ‘Atypical corona discharge ozone system consists of four fundamental components. ‘+ An Air Preparation or Oxygen Producten Unit + A Corona Discharge Generator ‘An Ozone Diffuser/Contactor + An Ozone Off-Gas Destruction System, Uttra Violet Generated Ozone (UV) This is a photochemical process and is far simpler and less expensive, from a capital equipment viewpoint, than corona discharge ozonators. Using this technique, air is [passed over a UV lamp, from which a smal portion of the oxygen is converted into ozone by high energy radiation. The main disadvantage of UV generated ozone is that only @ very low concentration of O is produced (up to 0.1% whw) The low ozone concentrations produced by UV generation severely limite te practical use ofthe techni ‘Most UV lamps operate in the 254 nm range and are primarily used for disinfection Purposes. “As shown in Figure 4, at 254 nm ozone is in fact destroyed, For ozone Production, 2 wave length of 185 nm is normally used, although even under ideal ‘concitions a maximum ozone concentration of 0.1% is obtainable. A UV lamp operating at 254 nm produces only trace quantities of ozone, (0.001%)Using 185 nm lamps ozone production is optimised, however some of this ozone is Photochemicaly decomposed by UV radiation to form hydroxy free radicals. As discussed Previously hydroxyl free radicals are very powerful oxidising agents which wil perform Chemical oxidation of dissolved organic materi s * ge Boo Zo gn 3 0 200 210 220 230 240 250 260 270 280 290 300 Wavelength (nm) Fig, 4 UV Destruction of Ozone AIR PREPARATION Ar preparation is crucial for efficient and reliable operation of corona discharge ozonators, Moisture and particulant matter has @ very detrimental effect on the generation cell electrodes and dielectric material. Moist air in the ozone generator wil cause nitric acid to {orm which decreases the ozone production and corrodes the generation cell components, Figure 3 details the effect of water vapour on ozone production. UV ozone generators can ‘operate without drying the feed air, asthe process wil not produce nic ac, For efficient ozone generation the final air supply must be fitered to remove particulant ‘matter and ary oll or hyérocarbons which may carry over from the compressed air system. zone generators are often installed in Not, humid plant rooms. Also many localities ‘experience ambient conditions with both high temperatures and humidity which places ‘2dcitional requirements on the sir preparation system. Figure 1 details the ai preparation typically used for CD generators, particulary where less than ideal ambient conditions are ‘experienced. Pressure fed systems are more suitable than atmospheric pressure dryers as they are able to reliably provide the necessary ar quality with all normal cimatic conditions. The stages ofa typical ai preparation system are; ‘Air Compressor > Pre-Filtration (§ micron) -» Refrigerated Cooler (2°C PDP) -> Coalescing Fier (0.01 micron) > Heatless Desiccant Dryer (-80°C PDP) -> Oust Filter (5 micron) -> Flow Control System > Flow Monitor -> Ozone GeneratorRelative Ozone Output 2 T L a8 23 T 1 1 1 1 oO -0 -09 0 HY -—m -0 0 Feed Ges Dew Point, . 3 Effect of Water Vopour on Ozone Production ‘Oxygen may be used as the ozonator feed gas, and is generally selected on the basis of higher czone concentrations being required, The specific advantages of using oxygen is. that the generator power consumption is significantly reduced, when compared to an ait {ed ozonator, (Typically 6-7kw'kg compared with 18-20kw/kg).. Many oxidation reactions Fequire higher ozone concentrations, therefore oxygen fed czonators are automatically selected Most ozonators use either a bulk liquid oxygen supply’ (LOX) or a pressure swing ‘absorbtion oxygen concentrator (PSA). PSA oxygen concentrators have improved significantly over recent years and are able to reliably provide up to 95% oxygen purty. ‘This equipment can be very cost effective for remote areas where liquid oxygen delwveries are expensive. It oxygen is used for economic reasons, oxygen not converted into ozone is normally recovered, dried then recycied back to the ozonator. Due to the cost and operating requirements of these oxygen recovery systame, most applications use air ae the feed gas SOLUBILITY OF OZONE patialy soluble in water, therefore the concentration of ozone in the (Generator gas stream becomes very imporant. According to Henry's Law, the efficiency of absorbing a specific gas into an aqueous phase is based on the partial pressure of that particular gas in the total gas flow. Therefore, the higher the concentration of ozone in the Qenerator gas stream, the more complete will be the transfer of ezone into the water. Table 2 shows the theoretical residuals of ozone that can be achieved in water, based on ‘ozone gas concentration and temperature.Table 2 - Solubility of Ozone in Water 1. Ozone generated by UV “+ zone generated by Corona Discharge ‘zone solubity in mgt SSC | ies | ee ae aS ae, ‘00T™ ‘3.067 —|~“o.007 —|~“o.00s —) 0.008 | 0.008 | “0.008 ort O74 085. 055 42 035 027 eel 738 850, 580 429 353 270 1s 09 975 840 eas 520 foe ea rm | 1300 | tite | esr 705 539 fs zis | ies0 | tere | 1286 | 1058 8.00 ‘As would be expected, the ozone solublty decreases with an increase in water temperature. Also, as a consequence of Henry's Law, the solubiliy of ozone increases with an increase in ozone concentration in the gas stream. In practical appleations, ozone does not have sufficient contact time to achieve equibrium conditions, resulting in lower solubity levels than shown in Table 2. DIFFUSION OF OZONE IN WATER Considering that relatively low concentrations of ozone gas are produced in the generator {98s stream, together with the limited solubity of azone gas, the method of inlection and mixing these gases withthe water is of great importance. The choice of which of the many ‘ozone injection and diftusion systems to use is dependant on the specific application and Physica ceria ofthe treatment piant. The type of reaction involving azone may determine the type of contactor selected. Many treatment applications require the transfer of the ‘maximum amount of ozone in the shortest possible time. For such criteria, azone diffusion systems such as injectors and turbine mixers are applicable. On the other hand, for reactions where maintaining a homogonous ozone residual in the total volume of water for ‘a specific length of time is required, a high ozone driving force is not necessarily essential In this type of system traditional fine bubble dusers may be more applicable. When the reactions occuring in the liquid phase are relatively slow with respect to the ‘ozone transfer from the gas phase to the lquic phase, the design of the contactor may well be different to treatment enteria where ozone reacts very quickly with the contaminants present. Diffusion of high concentrations of czone (6-8% wiw) requires careful design of the contactor o achieve a uniform distrbution of ozonated gas in the body of water. ‘The most common azone difusion techniques include; Conventional Fine Bubble Diffusers ‘+ High Efficiency injectors, producing negative pressure + Turbine Mixers Each of these azone ciffusion systems have acvantages and disadvantages, therefore, as detailed above, selection must be based on the requirements and merits of each ‘application. These diffusion techniques are briefly discussed below.Fine Bubble Diffusers Fine bubble ditusers/contactors are the most widely used of the available ozone transfer ‘systems due to their abiity to operate without addtional energy, apart from that of inital gas compression. The technology anc design requirements are now well proven and Understood, therefore scale up from a teoretical or pilot plant evaluation is not cficut Figure 5 details a typical ozone contactor using the bubble difusion technique. (One of the most apperent advantages of conventional bubble aftusion systems is that they ‘are @ widely used technology with many years of demonstrated perfomance. With this ‘system ozone gas is normaly discharged from the ozone generator at pressure of 0.7 - 1.0 Bar, which is sufficient to overcome the hydrostatic head plus the head loss due to the gas distributor piping and diffusers. This difusion system may also be used with ozonators ‘operating under negative pressure, using stainless steel iquid ring gas compressors to inject the ozone, under pressure, Some of the advantages and disadvantages ofthis type of system are summarised below. Advantages + Maintenance requirements are minimal, as no moving parts are used. ‘+ High efficiencies (> 90%) are achievable, however this requires multipoint injection, deep contact chambers and often recycling of off-gas. However, high diffusion ‘offciencies are not normally achieved with simple one of two pass contactors. ‘+ Scale ups easily achieved, due to the well established design criteria for this method, ‘+ The systems may be designed to accommodate a low hydraulc head loss through the tanks, Disadvantages, ‘+ This diffusion method requires deep contact basins for effective ozone transfer (5 - 7 metres) *+ Clogging of diftusers is possible, paricularly when water flow and ozone doses are intermitent, or when iron and manganese oxidation is required, ‘+ Vertical channeling of bubbies is possble, which adversely affects gas/iquid contact. Fig. 5 ~ Typical Fine Bubble Diflusion/Contact System. 9High Efficiency Injectors When designed correct this injection rrethod will provide high diffusion efficiencies (© 96%) however additional energy is required to produce @ partial vacuum. Injector selection and design are important in achieving maximum diffusion efficiencies. with minimum energy. ‘This type of injection system has been used throughout the world wth both small and large. ‘zonation facities, however its use Is certainly more common in small and medium size ‘applications. With this technique, a side steam of water Is normally taken from the main Plant flow where the pressure is boosted to supply a vacuum injector. This involves the ‘water flowing rapidly through a small orfice, creating a venturi effect (partial vacuum), that pulls the gas from the ozonator into the water stream. When designed correctly this Drovides very effective production of fine gzs bubbles which together with high turbulence: [Produces high diffusion efficiencies. This czonated side stream is then injected into the ‘main plant flow, normaly via a low head los static mixing device. Alternatively, this side stream of azonated water can be injected into a degassing/contact tank which operates at ‘atmospheric pressure With this design the dissolved ozone is effectively mixed withthe main body of water after which a contact tank would be required to achieve the necessary contact of ozone with the Water to be treated. ‘The following advantages and disadvantages are applicable fo this injection technique. Advantages ‘+ Both injectors and static mixers (when used), are simple to operate, with low maintenance requirement, due tothe lack of moving parts + Excellent mixing and mass transfer can be achieved. Depending on the desired detention time, contactreaction tank depths and volume may often be smaller than those required for bubble diffusion. ++ This type of citusion system may be adapted fo any hydraulic plant design. + Correctly designed counterfiow or vortex static mixers impart low hydraulic head loss to the plant, Disadvantages + Additional electrical energy is required to atfcienty operate the vacuum injector, however this is often counteracted by theincrease in diffusion efficiency. ‘+ These systems have a tumdown capablty limited to the capacity of the specific injection device. This problem is minimised where a side stream from the main flow is. tea tothe injector. Figure 6 detals two typical methods of applying an injector ozone aitfusion syste Diagram A would be used for an inline system operating under pressure whereby Diagram BB shows atypical design for an atmospheric tank system.A In Line Diffusion B. Injector Assisted Bubble Difusion 5 & oe Fig 6 ~ Injector Ozone diffusion methods ‘Turbine Diffusers ‘Turbine contacting systems are also quite often used in water treatment plants around the ‘world. Asprating turbines, which draw ozonised gas into the contactor as well as mixing the ozone with the water in the contacter, are commonly used, As opposed-to bubble ditfusionlcontactors, the use of turbines require addtional energy. A principal design consideration for turbine contactors is the requirement to maintain a ‘constant gas flow rate, regardless of the water flow rate through the contactor. Therefore, the energy required to operate the turbine is the same regardless of the water low rate. ‘Also, the transfer efficiency decreases as the gas to liquid ratio increases. Both of these factors ace wasteful from an energy point of view. This can be overcome, however the ‘complexity of the equipment increases significantly as the gas to iquid ratio must vary according to water flow through the contact system. Turbine difusers can achieve high difuson efficiencies, (greater than 90%) and are not susceptible to blockages, as are fine bubble diffusers. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of this system are; Advantages ‘+ Transfer of ozone from the gas to quid phase can be enhanced by the small bubble ‘size resuting from the high turbulence and high sheer produced by the turbine “+ High diffusion effciencies can be achieved without the need for deep contact tanks.‘+ Aspirating type turbines can be used to draw off gases from other contacting chambers into an upstream contactor, to satisfy ozone demand and decrease the load on the ‘ozone destruction system. + Turbines can be used to achieve both ozone contacting and rapid mixing in one chamber. Disadvantages ‘+ Turbine contactors require the input of energy to run the turbine. The energy required to run the turbine being the same regardless of water flow variations through the contactor. ‘+ Acconstant gas flow must be maintained, regardless of flctuations in water flow rate, resulting in decreased transfer efficiency. ‘+ Maintenance requirements for a turbine mey be significant. Figure 7 details atypical turbine ozone contacting system. Fig. 7- Typical Turbine Ozone Contactor ‘There are several other ozone siffusionicortactor designs, however they are not as ‘commonly used as the three methods described above, (OZONE OFF-GAS DESTRUCTION zone is an oxidative and reactive gas which is harmful to humans above certain concentrations. Ozone gas is heavier than air therefore any undissolved ozone must be removed fom the system and disposed of corecily. As indicated above, in a practical application 100% of the generated ozone is not able to be dissolved into the water. Even with a diffusion system which achieves 95% diffusion efficiency, the ozone off-gas will ‘contain approximately 600 ppm of ozone, assuming a feed gas ozone concentration of 2%,Although several factors must be taken info consideration, such as air dion, this a lethal level of ozone gas and must be destoyed prior to being dlscharged to the atmosphere, ‘Several methods are available for ozone destruction, the common ones being; + Thermal destruction + Thermalcataiytic destruction + Adeorbtion and reaction with GAC ‘Thermal Destruction ‘Thermal ozone destrucors rely on the decomposition of ozone at increased temperatures. ‘At room temperature, the half life of ozone in air may range from 20 to 100 hours. At 100°C the haif life is reduced to between 11 and 100 minutes and further reduced at 250°C. {only 0.04~ 0.4 seconds. In an ozone destruction unit, the off-gas is heated to between 300" and 350°C for a short period of time, usualy less then 5 seconds, With large installations, the discharge of gasses at these elevated temperatures also has ‘environmental concems, therefore heat ‘ecovery heat exchanges are usually provided ‘There are several methods of heating the incoming gases, however for most small 0 ‘medium applications single pass electrical heated destruct systems are used. Water sprays are normally provided to prevent foam from entering the heat exchanger or off-gas heating elements. A stainless steel demister may also be provided to maximise water droplet removal. The off-gas is nomally extracted from the contact tank via a fan, therefore the contactors operated under a sight negative pressure ‘Thermal/Catalytic Destruction System ‘The use of catalysts for ozone destruction a fairy recent development, but this method is Widely used today. Specific information regarding the composition of most catalysts is {treated as proprietary. However metals metal oxides, hydroxides and peroxides are known for their ablity to decompose ozone. Many catalysts are based on palladium, ‘manganese, or nickel oxides. Sometimes the catalysts is coated on @ support medium ‘such 2s a palladium based coating on aluminium granules. Moisture condensation on the catalysts can greatly reduce its effectiveness and life expectancy. A heating chamber is usually a requirement for catalytic systems to maintain the temperature ofthe water saturated contactor off-gas, to above its dew point. Operation without preheating of the gas prior to the catalytic destructor is not recommended due 10 the continuing danger of possible moisture accumulation on the catalyst. The required temperature increased depends on the catalyst used. Matal caalyste may be operated at temperatures as low as 30°C, while metal oxice catalysts operate at 50-80°C. Catalysts may be reversibly or imeversibly deactivated by nitrogen oxides, chlorine ‘compounds or sulphides. Therefore, the use of this destruction method may not be applicable for installations where these compounds are present in the off-gas, however some newer catalysts are more resistant to ‘hese contaminants. Catalyst life expectancy can be in the order of five years, when the system is properly designed and operated. The catalysts can be regenerated by Neating them to approximately 500°C for a period of 6-7 hours 213‘Adsorption And Reaction With GAC. ‘Activated carbon adsorption is extensively used for small application where air is the ‘ozonator feed gas. This is an adsorption rrocess whereby the reaction consumes the ‘carbon media, The material used is elemental carbon which has been steam activated to Provide a large intemal surface area. Carbon is a strong reducing agent, therefore upon ‘contact with ozone gas, the carbon is oxidised to carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, resulting in destruction of the ozone molecule. Thie reaction degradee or powderizos the ‘ranuar activated carbon, therefore It has a firite fe. To this end the azone consumes the ‘carbon by slow rate combustion. Due to this consumption of carbon, the media must be replaced or cleaned regularly ‘When the carbon is saturated with water and washed with sprays, the reaction becomes partialy catalytc, requiring a larger volume of SAC to be used, For ‘zone installations where oxygen is used as the feed gas, carbon adsomtion destructors must not be used, due to the dangers of combustion, resulting in explosion. ‘Again it must be stressed that this method of off-gas destruction is only applicable for smaller applications, ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH ASPECTS Because ozone has a very short half Iie in aqueous solutions, and its degradation results in either oxygen or oxygenated byproducts, waters treated with ozone will be less of an environmental hazard than the water left untreated or treated with halogens or related compounds, such as chlorine. Ozone accelerates the natural oxidation process of both ‘atmospheric and biological oxygen take up. Water treated with ozone can generally be recycied in the environment without fear of releasing toe substances. Toxicity Of Ozone Gas Ozone is an acute toxin, meaning its effects upon exposure are immediate, but short lived, Ozone is not a chronic toxin and is not confirmed or suspected as a human carcinogen, ‘Although ozone in the gaseous form is both toxic and reactive, it presents no safety handling probiems in property designed operating systems. Unlike most other oxidants wiih are stored on site in bulk form, ozone is produced on site in low concentrations and immediately consumed. Consequently, any ac:idental leakage can be easily controled, 28 ‘evidenced by azone's long safety history in mary applications around the world Breathing traces of ozone in air for a few minutes is of ite public health concem. The ‘odour threshold is approximately 0.01ppm which is well below the suggested level for healt risk. AtO.tppm concentration most pecple can tolerate 8 hours exposure, which is the threshold limit value - time weighted average (TLV-TWA). At 0.3ppm concentration exposure should be limited to 15 minutes, which is the threshold limit value - short term ‘exposure limit (TLV-STEL). Any exposure greater then 10ppm should be completely avoided. ‘Allozone installations should include ozone gas leak detectors which provide a waming at (. ppm and alarm at 0.3ppm. On alarm the azone generation equipment must be stopped, utEven though throat and lung imitation plus cedema have been observed after extreme exposures to ozone, itis important to recognise that during more than: 100 years of commercial use, no deaths related to czone exposure have ever been reported, Figure 8 is a graph of ozone concentration versus exposure time detaling human tolerance to ozone gas. Exponte Tine in Minutes Fig, 8 - Human Toleronce for Ozone CONCLUSION ‘The design and operation of azone generating and ancilary equipment is both a detailed ‘and complex subject. however this paper is intended to give a very brief overview of ‘current thinking and techniques for safely producing and using this unique oxidant. When designed correctly, modem generation equipment will provide a reliable and safe ‘source of ozone for both small and large teatment applications. One must sill remember that ozone is a toxic gas, therefore equipment and installations, incorrectly designed and ‘operated, can present ‘significant dangers to both plant and personnel. No ozone instalation should be considered without folowing the recommendation of organisations. ‘who are familiar with and experienced in the generation, use and operation of complete ‘ozonation facilites.When used correctly, czone will provide another valuable tool for effective water treatment, while addressing the rapidly growing requirements for environmentally friendly or suitable products REFERENCES HANDBOOK OF OZONE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS VOLUME 1 - Ann Arbor ‘Science Publishers, Editors Rip G. Rice and Aharon Netzwer, 1962 OZONE IN WATER TREATMENT - APPLICATION AND ENGINEERING - Lewis Publishers, Editors Bruno Langais, David A. Recthow, Deborah Brink, 1994 DESIGN GUIDANCE MANUAL FOR OZONE SYSTEMS - IOA Pan American Committee, Editor M.A. Dimitsiou, 1980. PHILIP J. BARLOW “Ozone in Swimming Pools - Facts and Fallacies”, 1983, D. MORAS, P. UHLIG, JF. PETITIMBERT CH. HENERY AND L. AYAD "High ‘Concentration Ozone Generation’, Proceedings of 11th World Ozone Congress - San Francisco, $-8-1 to $-8-18, 1998