FORM - 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
[39 OF 1970]
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See Section 10]
increase yield of Ozone in the treatment of water using Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation with Dissolved Oxygen in Water
Ace Hygiene Products Private Limited
1003A Peninsula Towers
Peninsula Corporate Park
Lower Parel, Mumbai 400013
An Indian Company
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

The instant invention relates to Ozone production,more particularly to Increase yield of Ozone in the treatment of water using Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation with Dissolved Oxygen in Water
Ozone is a powerful disinfectant and oxidant. It is commercially used in water treatment and effluent treatment applications for various industries. However, ozone being a relatively unstable and reactive gas, it is generated on-site and used. There are four recognized methods of ozone production:
1. Corona discharge (CD)
2. Ultraviolet radiation (UV)
3. Electrolysis
4. Radiochemical
Corona discharge is the most commonly used method. However, the CD systems are complicated and require an elaborate air preparation. Ozone is generated in the CD systems using air (from an air compressor) or oxygen (from an oxygen generator). The air/oxygen goes through an elaborate preparation to remove dust and other contaminants using filters. Any humidity / moisture is removed using dryers. The filtered and dried air/oxygen is then sent to a corona discharge unit where ozone is generated from oxygen as a direct result of electrical discharge. The discharge splits the stable oxygen molecule in to two oxygen radicals. These radicals then can combine with other oxygen molecules to form ozone. Typically, 10-14% of the available oxygen can convert to ozone. In an air stream, typically containing about 21% oxygen, the ozone concentration can be 2.1 to 2.9%.
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is the other popular way to produce Ozone on-site. For effective production of ozone using UV, it is necessary to utilize a short wavelength UV source; ~185nm. In theory, the yield of O3 from 185nm UV light is 130g/kWh of light. As lamp efficiencies are so low, ~1%, the production of ozone per kWh from the power source is extremely low. In practice, UV systems are commonly used with vacuum injection systems drawing atmospheric air over the UV lamp tube, and generate 1-2 g 03/kWh in concentrations of 0.1% w/w of air. The UV radiation systems are very simple in design, require no air preparation and are ideal for small applications such as small fishponds, laboratory work, and odor elimination. However, their usage is very limited due to the low efficiency of ozone production per kWh from the power source and due to low volume of production of ozone.

Still, the production of ozone using UV radiation offers several benefits over producing ozone using CD systems.
• The capital cost required for an UV ozone system is around 60% of that of an ozone generation system using CD.
• UV is simple to operate and maintain without requiring an elaborate training to purify and dry the incoming air; and to operate CD system.
• An UV generation system is safer to use and operate than a CD generation system. Ozone generated from an UV system is better contained than that from a CD system.
• UV is very reliable and is well established throughout industry.
• UV system has a significantly smaller foot print and hence considerably less space is required.
If the efficiency of ozone generation using an UV system can be improved, then, based on the above, an UV generation system can be more practical, economical, and safer to use.
In the present invention, we demonstrated how to improve the efficiency of ozone production from UV radiation. A description of how the efficiency can be improved, how we conducted the test, the outcome / results of the testing, a summary of invention, and potential applications for this invention are given below.
How the efficiency of the UV generation system can be improved?
We identified two areas that can be improved in a traditional UV based ozone generation system in order to produce ozone cost effectively, deliver ozone efficiently to the point of use (POU), and minimize the number of process steps required.
Improvement #1: Traditionally, ozone is generated in a gas phase - in air or oxygen phase. In addition, if ozone can be generated in liquid phase as well using the UV system, then more ozone can be generated per the given power input and the cost of ozone generated per unit power spent can be reduced.
In order to accomplish this, we can dissolve oxygen in water and expose it to UV. The UV can help generate oxygen radicals in the water and they in turn form ozone in water. The solubility of ozone in water is higher than that of oxygen. If the oxygen can be allowed to dissolve in water at a higher pressure (50-100 psig), more amount of oxygen can be dissolved in water and oxygen can be made available to UV in the form of micro bubbles (i.e., high surface area). With more number of micro bubbles of oxygen, more oxygen radicals can form when these bubbles are exposed to UV, and thus more ozone can be generated - in water phase.

Improvement #2: Traditional generation methods produce ozone in gas phase. Any application for ozone requires the ozone in gas phase to be dissolved in a water phase prior to its use. This requires a way to transport ozone from the generator to a dissolving tank, dissolve ozone in water and then send the ozone in liquid phase to the point of use. As discussed above, when oxygen is dissolved in water, ozone is generated in water phase, and used simultaneously at the point of use; then we can eliminate the need for the equipment to dissolve ozone in water phase.
The improvements, as discussed above, to a traditional UV based ozone generator can generate more ozone for a given power input, generate the ozone in liquid phase to apply simultaneously at the point of use, and thereby reduce the overall cost of the ozone application.
Description of testing:
1. A 185 nm UV source in quartz casing is used. The UV source in the casing is concentrically arranged in a stainless steel (SS) flow module as shown in Figure 1.
2. Prepared a test solution containing a red dye in water.
3. The test solution is pumped in to a SS sealed vessel to about 75% height level. Compressed oxygen from an oxygen cylinder is sparged in to the solution to develop a pressure of about 75 psig. This solution is then sent in to the flow module above. The flow rate can be controlled using a manual valve on the discharge line (please see Figure 2).
4. The power to UV source is turned on. First, the test solution without compressed air / oxygen is allowed to pass through the flow module and a sample of the treated solution is collected. Next, compressed air / oxygen is sparged through the sealed vessel to develop a pressure of about 75 psig and the test solution is allowed to pass through the flow module and a sample of the treated solution is collected. The flow rate for both the samples is kept the same at about 1 liter per minute.
5. What we expect is a color change in the test solution. The generated ozone is expected to bleach the color and depending on the quantity and concentration generated, the extent of color reduction is expected to vary.

Results:
Multiple tests were conducted and samples were collected. Pictures of samples collected from two tests are given below. The pictures (Tests #1 and #2) demonstrate the extent of color reduction with and without compressed oxygen.
Test # 1. Effect of Oxygen on Ozone generation with UV.
Notice how Oxygen along with UV reduced the red color in Bottle #3 (with 02) compared to the Bottle #2 (No O2)- UV alone generated some ozone to reduce the color in Bottle #2 (no 02) (i and ii) compared to the test solution containing red color. The color reduction with 02 (I and iii) indicates that 02 along with UV generated more ozone than UV alone.



Test # 2. Effect of Oxygen on Ozone generation with UV.
We added an additional amount of dye to the feed sample. Again, notice how Oxygen along with UV reduced the red color in Bottle #3 (with 02) compared to the Bottle #2 (No 02). UV alone generated some ozone to reduce the color in Bottle #2 {no 02) (I and ii) compared to feed containing red color. The color reduction with 02 indicates that 02 along with UV (i and iii) generated more ozone than UV alone.



Utilizing compressed air / oxygen is expected to increase its dissolution in water. The compressed air / oxygen is distributed / bubbled though water to be treated in a pressurized column or vessel. The intent is to increase the solubility of air / oxygen in water under pressure and create fine micro bubbles of gas in water. When the water from the pressurized vessel is released to the pipe containing UV source, a fine mist of air / oxygen bubbles is generated in the pipe surrounding the UV source. Thus the available concentration of air / oxygen bubbles is increased in the test solution exposed to UV radiation.
UV from the 180 nm UV source penetrates in to the liquid surrounding the quartz tube and comes in contact with the fine mist of air / oxygen bubbles. When exposed to UV radiation, the micro oxygen bubbles will absorb the light energy and dissociate to a degree dependent on the energy and the particular wavelength of the absorbed light. These oxygen atoms then react with other oxygen molecules from the surrounding micro bubbles to form ozone. Thus a combination of oxygen as micro bubbles and UV increase color reduction in the test solution. The increased color reduction is due to higher production / efficiency of ozone as a result of the presence of micro bubbles of oxygen present in water.
Summary of the invention:
The present invention:
1. Employs 180 nm UV source. The source is surrounded by a quartz tube. The source along with the quartz tube is concentrically arranged in a pipe that allows water flow along and around the quartz tube.
2. Compressed air / oxygen is sparged in to the test solution to generate a pressure of about 75 psig. The combination of air/oxygen and pressure increase its solubility in water to be treated. When released to the flow module containing UV source, the dissolved gas bubble form a fine

mist or micro bubbles that would increase the concentration of air/oxygen exposed for radiation to produce ozone.
3. UV from the 180 nm UV source penetrates in to the liquid surrounding the quartz tube and comes in contact with the fine mist of air/oxygen bubbles. When exposed to UV radiation, the micro oxygen bubbles will absorb the light energy and dissociate to a degree dependent on the energy and the particular wavelength of the absorbed light. These oxygen atoms then react with other oxygen molecules from the surrounding micro bubbles to form ozone.
4. Thus a combination of oxygen as micro bubbles and UV increase color reduction in the test solution. The increased color reduction is due to higher production / efficiency of ozone as a result of the presence of micro bubbles of oxygen present in water.
Potential Applications:
The present invention involving UV and in-situ generation of ozone has a potential to i) improve the efficiency of the existing UV applications for water treatment and disinfection, and ii) extend the range of the existing UV applications. Some example applications where the present invention can be used, but not limited to, are:
• Water purification and recycling
o Swimming pools
o Water from tertiary treatment {hotels, malls, cooperative societies, etc.)
• Reduction of TOC
o High purity water in pharma applications
• Removal of color from industrial waters
o Textile, paper, paint, etc.
• Removal of organic pollutants
o pharmaceutical
• Point of Use (POU) applications
Conclusion:
Our work strongly suggests that providing air / oxygen in micro bubble form in water to be treated with UV increases ozone production / efficiency. This was demonstrated as increased color reduction in water.

We claim:
l.An improved method of generating ozone comprising the steps of dissolving oxygen in water at a high pressure ,forming micro bubbles and subjecting the said micro bubbles to uv radiation in order to generate more ozone in water phase.
2. An improved method of generating ozone as claimed in claim 1 wherein the oxygen is allowed to dissolve in water at a higher pressure of 50-100 psig.
3. An apparatus for Increase yield of Ozone using Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation with Dissolved Oxygen in Water comprising a 180 nm UV source surrounded by a quartz tube,
the source along with the quartz tube concentrically arranged in a pipe having an inlet and an outlet that allows water flow along and around the quartz tube,
arrangement for introducing oxygen in to the pipe at high pressure such that that when released to the flow module containing UV source, the dissolved gas bubble form a fine mist or micro bubbles that increases the concentration of air/oxygen exposed for radiation to produce ozone and ultra violet radiations from the 180 nm UV source penetrates in to the liquid surrounding the quartz tube and comes in contact with the fine mist of air / oxygen bubbles.
4. An improved method of generating ozone as described herein with reference to the accompanied
figures in the drawing.