Region: The Americas
California company advocates switch to ozone for disinfecting cooling towers
IRVINE, California, 27 August 2019: Plant engineers who’ve switched, or who are thinking about the switch, to ozone (O3) disinfection of water for high-temperature evaporative cooling towers will find that its reagent-less OZ80 Ozone Analyzer provides a green-friendly design that helps them optimize treatment while at the same time reducing cost, simplifying maintenance and avoiding complex environmental issues, Electro-Chemical Devices (ECD) said through a Press release.
The OZ80 helps ensure effective ozone treatment of cooling tower water to prevent bacterial growth, scaling and corrosion, the release said. Ozone as a disinfectant replaces the need for chlorine and other harsh biocides and inhibitor chemicals that are considered toxic hazards, and require special wastewater treatment and effluent monitoring, the release said.
In comparison to reagent-type analyzers that come with multiple components, which first must be installed and then require field calibration, the OZ80 Analyzer is factory-assembled and factory-calibrated, prior to arrival, the release said. All the technician needs to do is mount the panel and connect the drain lines, plug in the power cord and select the outputs on the display as 0 to 2.0 ppm for water disinfection or 0-20.00 pm for oxidation and bleaching operations, the release added.
According to the release, dual-range measurement of both ozone parameters also is available with the OZ80 Analyzer. O3 is a colorless to pale blue gas that, in low concentrations, gives off an irritating acidic odor. It is a strong oxidizer, stronger than either chlorine (Cl) or chlorine dioxide (ClO2), the release said. O3 reacts quickly and disintegrates into oxygen gas without the formation of harmful disinfection byproducts (DPBs) common to chlorine disinfectants that require additional costly treatment, the release said. It also increases the amount of oxygen in the water, the release said.
According to the release, O3 is gaining ground as a disinfectant and bleaching agent in multiple industrial processes. It has been used for years in municipal drinking water and wastewater treatment plants, the release pointed out. It is useful at several points in the drinking water treatment process as an oxidizer for removing metals from well water as well as organics, odors and color from surface water, too, the release said.
The OZ80 Analyzer features powerful amperometric sensors to detect and monitor O3 levels, the release said, adding that the sensors are manufactured with a gold cathode, a silver anode and a rugged microporous membrane. Unlike many other analyzers, there are no reagents required with the OZ80 Analyzer, the release said. Its O3 sensor technology and pH measurement are reagent-less designs, the release said. These sensors, the release added, keep the cost of ownership low by not requiring expensive reagents.
According to the release, the O3 sensors are smart sensors, with their identity and calibration information stored internally. Communication between the OZ80 Analyzer’s T80 Transmitter and the O3 sensor is via MODBUS, the release said. The sensors are flow-sensitive requiring a minimum flow rate of 0.5 ft/sec; above this flow rate, the reading is virtually independent of the flow rate, the release said.
According to the release, the OZ80 Analyzer’s constant head flow control device (CFD) maintains the optimum flow rate moving past the sensor for sampling purposes. The CFD’s automatic flow control capability, the release said, eliminates the need for pressure regulators and rotameters, which are required by many other H2O2 analyzers to reduce system maintenance and lifecycle operating costs. The minimum flow rate required by the CFD, the release said, is 10 gal/hr, and the maximum flow rate is 80 gal/hr, with the sample draining at atmospheric pressure.
