Puritor offers UV Systems for various applications, including UV water treatment and disinfection. Here, you can find comprehensive information on UV fundamentals, systems, and their applications.
UV or Ultraviolet light spans the wavelengths that lie between visible light and X-rays on the electromagnetic spectrum. This spectrum can be categorized into four distinct regions: Vacuum UV (VUV), Short Wave UV (UV-C), Middle Wave UV (UV-B), and Long Wave UV (UV-A).
UV Lamp Types
Usually, UV lamps come in the form of tubular structures that have an outer envelope made of quartz. Within this quartz envelope, electrodes emit electrons that lead to the ionization of an inert gas. The ionized gas forms a plasma that becomes heated, causing mercury atoms to vaporize and collide with high-energy plasma electrons. This collision causes the mercury atoms to oscillate between various excited states and a ground state. During this process, the mercury atoms release energy in the form of UV light.
Low Pressure (LP) and Medium Pressure (MP) are the two commonly used types of UV lamps for water purification. MP lamps produce a broader range of UV energy across multiple wavelengths, but they require more energy to function. On the other hand, Low Pressure UV lamps are monochromatic, with around 82% of the UV light emitted at 253.7 nm and approximately 7% at 184.9 nm, also known as 254 nm and 185 nm peak wavelengths, respectively.
Generally, low pressure lamps are more efficient than Medium Pressure lamps as they require less energy to produce a certain level of UV output. Moreover, LP lamps have longer lifespans. So they are not required for a replacement quite often. They also produce lower levels of heat, and are less costly to both own and operate when compared to MP lamps.
Medium Pressure lamps, known for their broad-spectrum UV and higher intensity, are frequently utilized in high-volume applications (> 300 gpm), such as municipal water treatment systems where heat is not a major concern.
UV Water Disinfection
UV radiation is a highly effective in UV water treatment as it eliminates the ability of microorganisms to reproduce and infect their hosts. While UV disinfection is more commonly employed in wastewater treatment, it is increasingly being used in drinking water treatment as well. In the past, it was believed that UV water treatment was more effective against bacteria and viruses, which have more exposed genetic material, and less effective against larger pathogens with outer coatings or those that form cyst states (e.g., Giardia) that protect their DNA from UV light. However, recent findings indicate that UV radiation is also effective in treating Cryptosporidium, a type of microorganism. Moreover, studies have shown that Giardia is highly susceptible to UV-C when based on infectivity rather than excystation. UV is also effective to kill Legionella which once broke out in the USA.
UV for Ozone Generation
UV light can be utilized to produce ozone in the air, which is beneficial for air purification purposes. To generate ozone, a lamp designed to transmit 185 nm through its envelope is needed. 185 nm lamps can both create and destroy ozone simultaneously, but ozone creation happens at a faster rate, resulting in an overall propagation of ozone in the air. While UV lamps are also employed for producing ozone in water, they do so at very low production rates.
UV for Ozone Destruction
Germicidal ultraviolet light can rapidly destroy ozone in water. As a result, in the process of UV water treatment, the 254 nm wavelength generated by low-pressure germicidal UV lamps is particularly effective in eliminating ozone from water. This is achieved through dissociation, a process whereby 254 nm UV energy “breaks” one of the oxygen bonds in an ozone molecule. This reaction converts each ozone molecule into one oxygen atom and one oxygen molecule. The free oxygen atoms then combine with each other to form oxygen molecules.
Even though UV can efficiently destroy ozone, it demands more UV energy than the inactivation of microorganisms (approximately 90 mJ/cm² compared to 30 mJ/cm²). As a result, UV systems are often sized for effective ozone destruction using a “flow-rate adjustment” of 40% of the flow-rate for a disinfection system. For instance, a system intended for a disinfection flow-rate of 100 gallons per minute (gpm) would need to achieve 40 gpm to accomplish ozone destruction.
UV for Dechlorination
Ultraviolet (UV) treatment has emerged as a popular dechlorination technology with few drawbacks. UV dechlorination has been successfully applied across various industries, including pharmaceuticals, aquaculture, food and beverage processing, semiconductor fabrication, and power generation. The limitations of conventional dechlorination methods in these industries have prompted the exploration of alternative methods. Please continue following the update on our website and find more applications of UV.
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