Ozone-contactor flow visualization and quantification using three-dimensional laser-induced fluorescence

Ozonation for the primary disinfection of drinking water is typically carried out using a contactor consisting of multiple vertical or horizontal chambers connected in series. Nonideal mixing conditions in these chambers can strongly reduce the overall efficiency of the disinfection process and can lead to excessive formation of disinfection by-products such as bromate. This research is the first to use a new technique-three-dimensional laser-induced fluorescence (3D LIF)-to visually and quantitatively examine the unsteady, three-dimensional flow and mixing inside an ozone contactor. This analysis provides information that has not been possible to supply with traditional tracer methods. The technique developed in this study is a new tool for designing and optimizing ozone contactors to achieve regulatory compliance and is also expected to be highly useful when evaluating, optimizing, and designing other disinfection reactors.-NLP