Low Cost, Efficient Microchannel Plasma Ozone System for Point of Use Water Treatment

A team at EP Purification has performed research for the development and commercialization of low-cost microchannel plasma reactor modules capable of efficiently producing ozone for water treatment and other environmental applications in a slim form factor and size. The conservation of water resources for human consumption is a growing national priority. Ozone is a unique purification agent as it is the strongest oxidant and disinfectant available commercially. It is known to be extremely effective for neutralizing pathogens and the dissociation of toxic organic chemicals, making it ideal for the disinfection of water. Also, ozonation is generally regarded as being superior to traditional disinfection or cleaning methodologies (through a combination of chemical and thermal treatment processes) because the latter requires significant energy consumption to be effective (for heating water), and leaves a number of byproducts and chemical wastes after the process. The primary drawback of ozonation for utility and consumer applications at present is high cost (capital and operating), size and power consumption.In Phase I, EP Purification has developed and demonstrated a series of low cost and yet robust ozone generators based on massively-parallel plasmachemical processing of air or oxygen gases in large arrays of microchannel plasmas. Prototype modules have been realized that produce ozone at a rate of 10 g/hour and with an efficiency comparable to, or higher than, commercially available ozone generators. Furthermore, the size of the module is, at least a factor of 3 smaller than conventional units, and the reduction in production costs is expected be as much as a factor of two. EP Purification designed and fabricated basic modules (in the range of 10 g/h), including the pulse-power supply optimized for this unit, and modules can be combined to obtain the desired ozone production capacity. Currently, for example a ~100 g/hr ozone generation system has been designed by“stacking” basic modules. Additionally, an optimized power supply design was built and is being evaluated in field tests. In Phase II, EP Purification will develop and commercialize a system capable of ozone production at a rate higher than 100 g/hour. Designed for treating water in small/medium system applications, this system will be considerably smaller, more efficient, and more cost effective from both capital and operating perspectives than existing technologies. Also, EP Purification has identified immediate markets of this technology and intends to commercialize this product in point-of-use applications, such as commercial laundries and food preservation during this Phase II program.