Vacuum-UV Radiation at 185 nm for Disinfecting Water
Djamel Ghernaout, Noureddine Elboughdiri
Abstract
The vacuum-UV (VUV) radiation of water leads to the in situ formation of hydroxyl radicals. Low-pressure mercury vapor lamps which emit at 185 nm are potential sources of VUV radiation. Zoschke et al.<sup>[1]</sup> presented an excellent discussion of the utilization of VUV radiation at 185 nm for treating water comprising the conversion of inorganic and organic water constituents, and the disinfection performance. One more focal point stays on the production of ozone via VUV radiation from oxygen or air and the usage of the formed ozone in integration with VUV irradiation of water in the VUV/O<sub>3</sub> method. This work focuses on the merits and restriction of the VUV technology at 185 nm as well as likely usages in disinfecting water is outlined. Practically, VUV irradiation stays not a true stand by to traditional methods in water treatment, like adsorption on activated carbon, or to diverse advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) because of the inherent restrictions of the VUV technology. Nevertheless, VUV irradiation bids fresh potentials for particular utilization such as the provision of ultrapure water or as a principal treatment method for decentralized setups. Like for many AOPs, the most suitable use in (large-scale) water treatment remains the implementation as a pre-treatment to improve bio-decomposition.<sup>[1]</sup>