Wonders of Ozone

What is Ozone?

Ozone (O3) is a highly reactive odorless gas made of oxygen. I think a lot of people will be interested to know that ozone occurs quite readily in nature, a result of lightning that occurs during thunderstorms.

How does ozone do wonders on the environment?

Ozone is biocidal, meaning it can disinfect harmful contaminants present in the environment and rendering them harmless while also removing odor. Let me explain further. Remember Ozone is composed of 3 atoms, when one of those atoms spots a contaminant such as odor, viruses and bacteria, the said atom breaks away from the other 2 atoms and attaches itself to the contaminant.  The explosion between the two changes the contaminant into carbon dioxide and hydrogen, which we can breathe. The other two atoms left behind became a pure oxygen (O2) without the presence of the contaminant. This process is called oxidation, you may check the image below to get the picture of it.

How is ozone made? 

There are 2 ways to produce ozone: ultraviolet rays (UV) and corona discharge (CD). With UV ozone generation, the light that passed over a UV lamp splits oxygen molecules making it reattach into ozone (O3).

While Corona Discharge ozone generation is accomplished by passing air through an electrical field. Ozone is produced by the used of electric current that splits oxygen molecules then creates ozone.

What sets the two method apart? UV generators cannot produce high concentration of ozone so air needs to be exposed on UV lamps for a longer period of time making it more time consuming. And here's corona discharge generator  that  can produce 90% higher concentrations of ozone. With that you don't need much time and energy in order to produce a high ozone level making it more cost effective.

Where can we use ozone?
Ozone can be used for tons of application. I will enumerate some of the application wherein ozone can be beneficial for you.

Water purification
>Ozone is known for its excellent disinfection capability that is why it is widely used for water purification. Ozone can oxidize metal in water such as iron and manganese and turn it into a soluble particles. And the best thing about using ozone is that there is no chemical added to the water; ozone reverts back to oxygen after it is used.

Odor elimination in indoor environment
>Have you noticed the fresh air after a thunderstorm? Fresh air is a result of nature's creation of ozone every time there is thunderstorm . Ozone breaks down odor-causing molecules spotted in an indoor environment may it be a smell of tobacco, pets odor and garbage.

Food Sterilization
> There are a lot of people that is surprised to know that they can actually use ozone for food sterilization. Using a tube, ozone is infused on the water where the fruits and vegetables are placed for cleaning and ozone destroys the bacteria and pesticides on the surface of any vegetable and fruits. Not only that ozone also helps extend the shelf-life and maintain the quality of freshness of seafoods, meats and vegetable.

Fish pond
>For the fish hobbyist out there, ozone can be a big help on your aquarium or Fish Pond! Ozone is proven to help oxidize dissolve organics that can discolor the water making the water in the fish pond and aquarium crystal clear. Addition to that ozone can be used to control algae growth in your pond.

The above mention applications requires something called an ozone generator, you may check the available Ozone Generators on GXPRODUCTS at your disposal.

NOTE: We would also like to remind everyone that we must be careful when using ozone in an occupied environment, more ozone doesn't mean it will be more effective. Ozone can work even when humans are not able to smell it. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), have stipulated that the safe allowable level of residual is 0.1 ppm (parts per million) throughout an entire 8 hour day.

So there all the information that you need to know about ozone! You may also share via comments below what you think about ozone and what are the benefits ozone has brought to you.

References:
http://inspiredliving.com/airpurifiers/ozone.htm#sthash.qGDNrMCY.dpuf
http://ozonegeneratordirect.com/blog/uv-vs-corona.html
https://www.osha.gov/dts/chemicalsampling/data/CH_259300.html