OZONE SYSTEMS

Ozone generation using ultraviolet light has been used for many years for many industrial applications. Ozone is a  powerful oxidising agent, second among elements only to fluorine. It can oxidise many organic compounds and is used commercially as a bleach for waxes, oils, and textiles, and as a deodorising agent. Because it is a powerful germicidal agent, it is also used to sterilize air and drinking water. Ozone is usually manufactured by passing an electrical discharge through O2 gas or through dry air. The resulting mixture of ozone and O2 or air is usually suitable for most industrial applications of ozone. Because ozone is very unstable and reactive, the preparation of pure ozone is both difficult and hazardous and is seldom attempted. Ultraviolet light UV ozone generators employ an ultraviolet light source,  generating a narrow-band of ultraviolet light at a wavelength of 185nm, designated in the UVC range, less than 300nm.

Ozone is created by the following reaction: 

O2 + photon(radiation< 240 nm) → 2 O

O + O2 → O3

It is destroyed by the reaction with atomic oxygen:

O3 + O → 2 O2

Germicidal low pressure lamps and  medium pressure lamps are able generate ozone by allowing the wavelength of 185nm to be transmitted through the quartz envelope. The oxygen in the air or reaction chamber is ionised by the ultraviolet light forming the free radical. Germicidal lamps are designated as ozone producing, part # VH (185nm) or non ozone producing part # L (254nm). A 254nm germicidal ultraviolet lamp will not produce ozone because 185nm is not transmitted, it is absorbed by the quartz envelope.

OZONE APPLICATIONS