Practical Guidelines For Safe Operation Of Cooling Tower Water Ozonation Systems

Guidelines for the successful use of ozone as a stand-alone cooling tower water treatment method are discussed. Included are recommendations for system sizing, proper ozone residuals, mixing and distribution of the ozonated water, and potential problems and solutions. These include excessive or insufficient cycles of concentration, chemical contamination, low flow rates, high heat exchanger temperatures, and extended system turnover times. Also discussed are recommended maximum system downtimes, preferred types of towers and heat exchangers to treat with ozone, use of filtration systems, and elastomer compatibility with ozone. System monitoring and maintenance procedures are discussed along with ozonation safety considerations. With this information, two recently reported ozonation system failures are analyzed and the causes of failure are discussed.     

One Year Full-Scale Study Of Ozone Cooling Water Treatment At A German Electric Power Station

This paper presents operating results of ozone treatment of the water in a cooling system with open loop recycling containing the following elements:

- Main cooling water pumps

- Cooling water storage tanks

- Distribution manifold to cooling water users

- Cooling water collecting basins

- Cooling water recycling pumps

- Cooling tower.     

Effects Of Ozone As A Biocide In An Experimental Cooling Water System

Experimental work on a laboratory recirculating apparatus, for the simulation of a cooling water system has yielded information on the effectiveness of ozone as a biocide for biofouling control. Biofilms were developed within glass tubes of the simulated cooling water system using filtered mainswater and Pseudomonas fluorescens as the test bacteria. A summary of the results obtained is presented and an interpretation of these results relating to the full-scale application of ozone is provided.

Ozonated water was produced using a contact system specifically designed for these tests by Ozotech Ltd. Ozone residual concentrations in the order of 0.1 mg/L were found to be capable of removing 80-99% of the biofilm in single applications. However, effectiveness of ozone was dependent on morphology, thickness and age of the biofilms. Intermittent application of ozone, using residual concentrations < 0.1 mg/L, was found to be capable of weakening the biofilm, but a minimum period of 3-h was required for effective control.

The fluid velocity was found to affect the rate and amount of biofilm removed. The effects of fluid velocities in the range 0.5-2.5 m/sec were examined. In general, the higher the velocity the greater the initial rate of removal and the percentage of the biofilm removed; this suggested that ozone action was mass transfer dependent.

The effect of ozone on bacterial cell structure was investigated using scanning electron microscopy techniques. Changes in cell structure were revealed after contact with ozone and residuals above 0.4 mg/L were required for 100% kill of bacterial suspensions.

In conclusion, the effectiveness of ozone for full-scale application will vary depending on the morphology of the biofilm, the velocity of the fluid and the ozone dose applied. An ozone dosing regime for commercial application is suggested.     

The Use Of High Concentration Ozone For Water Treatment

The use of high concentration ozone (HCO) in potable water treatment has been examined at laboratory scale with a gaseous concentration of 19% w/w. This has been compared with conventionally generated ozone at 1.5% w/w. The results of the study have shown that greater transfer efficiencies and higher ozone residuals are possible with HCO. In addition, faster rates of atrazine removal and significantly greater reductions in color and trihalomethane formation potential (THMFP) were observed with HCO.