Moisture measurement in an Ozone Generator Plant

Ozone (O3) is increasingly used to purify water as an alternative to chlorination. There are three principle applications:

· Production of drinking water
· Sterilization of swimming pools
· Sterilization of waste water after treatment and before release into the water cycle

Chlorination has fallen out of favour as the main purification method due to the significant health risks involved in transporting and handling chlorine. Because of this implementation of ozone sterilizers has gathered pace in recent years. Both chlorination and ozonation have the same basic effect, and are extremely powerful oxidising agents; however after doing its job attacking impurities Ozone breaks down to oxygen, which is totally harmless.

Why is moisture critical?
There are three main reasons to measure the moisture content of the feed air or oxygen to an ozone generator plant:

1. Prevent arcing in the generator electrodes, which will lead to damage to the electrodes and system walls, and eventually to failure of the ozone generator.

2. Prevent corrosion of system components due to nitric acid formation,
a by-product of arcing, which will lead to the eventual failure of the ozone generator.

3. Increase ozonation efficiency, because the dryer the feed gas, the more efficient the ozone generator. For example drying the gas by an extra 20°C dew point can improve efficiency by as much as 20%.

Measuring Moisture

Michell Instruments has developed hygrometers that can be used to monitor the moisture content of the feed gas either on-line (Easidew Transmitter or Easidew On-line, Transmet, Cermet II) or on a spot-check basis (Easidew Portable or Cermax). In conjunction with a dryer control system, an on-line hygrometer can be used to ensure that the feed gas is as dry as possible, maintaining generator efficiency and extending its life

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