Characteristics of UV-MicroO3 Reactor and Its Application to Microcystins Degradation during Surface Water Treatment

The UV-ozone (UV-O-3) process is not widely applied in wastewater and potable water treatment partly for the relatively high cost since complicated UV radiation and ozone generating systems are utilized. The UV-microozone (UV-microO(3)), a new advanced process that can solve the above mentioned problems, was introduced in this study. The effects of air flux, air pressure, and air humidity on generation and concentration of O-3 in UV-microO(3) reactor were investigated. The utilization of this UV-microO(3) reactor in microcystins (MCs) degradation was also carried out. Experimental results indicated that the optimum air flux in the reactor equipped with 37 mm diameter quartz tube was determined to be 18 similar to 25 L/h for efficient O-3 generation. The air pressure and humidity in UV-microO(3) reactor should be low enough in order to get optimum O-3 output. Moreover, microcystin-RR, YR, and LR (MC-RR, MC-YR, and MC-LR) could be degraded effectively by UV-microO(3) process. The degradation of different MCs was characterized by first-order reaction kinetics. The pseudofirst-order kinetic constants for MC-RR, MC-YR, and MC-LR degradation were 0.0093, 0.0215, and 0.0286 min(-1), respectively. Glucose had no influence on MC degradation through UV-microO(3). The UV-microO(3) process is hence recommended as a suitable advanced treatment method for dissolved MCs degradation.