The role of mixing in ozone dissolution systems

The mixing efficiency of four alternative ozone dissolution systems, includ ing conventional bubble diffusion and pipeline injection/diffusion reactors , were compared by measuring the variability of ozone residual measurements at the outlet of each reactor. The standard deviation and coefficient of v ariation of a time series of residual measurements were used to provide a q uantitative measure of the level of mixing in the reactor. The results indi cate that properly designed pipeline dissolution systems provide significan tly improved mixing over oxygen-fed or air-fed bubble diffusion systems. Mi nimum mixing criteria for bubble diffusion systems cited in the literature may underestimate the level of mixing required to achieve stable ozone resi duals downstream of the dissolution chamber of conventional bubble diffusio n chambers.