The effect of salts on ozone oxidation processes

Much research on ozone oxidation is performed using model wastewaters, containing a number of organic compounds to be degraded. In some cases they contain low concentrations of inorganic buffers to stabilize the pH during the experiments. In practical applications, however, salts and detergents may be present as well. The effect of such compounds on the process has to be investigated to prevent unexpected results in pilot- or full-scale applications. To quantify these effects, experiments have been performed on model waste waters in the absence and the presence of high concentrations of several inorganic salts. The oxidation selectivity in these experiments was interpreted using Hammett free-energy relationships. The effect of the different salt concentrations on the oxidation selectivity when considering reactions in the bulk of the liquid was seen to be small. This implicates the design of an ozone-based oxidation system can often be based on literature or calculated data regarding reaction rates. However, the effect of increased salt concentrations on ozone solubility and bubble size distribution may have implications for the reactor design, as these factors affect the mass transfer efficiency.