A dynamic model of ozone disinfection in a bubble column with oxygen mass transfer

Abstract

The dynamic process of disinfection with ozone in a bubble column is studied for model establishment. Bubble columns have been widely used for ozone disinfection in plants and laboratories. Ozone is produced by passing oxygen-enriched gas through an ozone generator, and introduced into the bottom of a column equipped with a gas-diffuser. There certainly exists a temporary and unsteady period before the ozone disinfection system reaches steady state. Available ozone disinfection models employed to describe dissolved ozone and surviving microorganism profiles have commonly been developed for steady state. Moreover, oxygen mass transfer has usually been neglected in previous ozone disinfection models. However, this information is desirable for the proper operation of ozone disinfection in a bubble column. Thus, the objective of this study was to model and investigate the dynamic ozone disinfection process in a bubble column with oxygen mass transfer. A dynamic axial dispersion model is proposed and was employed to predict the variation of the ozone, microorganism and oxygen concentrations along the column. The results of prediction were obtained based on the conditions of Marinas et al. (1993). E. coli was chosen as the model microorganism. The dynamic model of ozone inactivation is useful for proper prediction of the variables of an ozone disinfection system in a bubble column.