Brendan Van Wyk, Global Pulp and Paper Manager at Air Products SA, tackles the myths associated with ozone by highlighting its very real significance.
While the conventional applications of ozone as a powerful disinfector and oxidant are well documented, industry is starting to open its eyes to a myriad of new possibilities for ozone and ozone technology, all of which point to a healthier and cleaner physical world.
Ozone’s fall from favour and return to grace
Since its discovery in 1840, ozone has been the centre of debate in scientific circles, making the gas difficult to explain, isolate and classify. However, its usefulness was quickly recognised, and ozone was soon adopted as a means of treating water to drinking standards.
But ozone lost its position at centre stage in the water purification industry during the First World War when the cheap manufacture of chlorine gas lead to a decline in interest in ozone. Chlorine disinfection lasted longer, was easier to transport and cheaper to manufacture. This was despite the fact that the by-products of chlorination were already known to be harmful to both people and the environment.
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