The use of electronic ceramics and magnetic treatment to prevent fouling on UV lamp sleeves.

摘要

The fouling of quartz sleeves induced by the heat of ultraviolet (UV) lamps remains as an operational barrier for UV disinfection technology although cleaning mechanisms exist, but they are unsuccessful or add to the operational complexity.; In this research, two scale mitigation technologies are evaluated for minimizing or preventing inorganic UV lamp fouling. The devices are Electronic Ceramics (ELCE) and ScaleFreeRTM, a conventional magnetic treatment. Both devices were tested under accelerated scaling conditions by adjusting tap water for pH, calcium, iron, and alkalinity concentrations which are conducive to scale formation; and passing the water through a customized medium pressure lamp reactor. The fouling material, which accumulated on the surface of the quartz, was analyzed for the decrease in quartz UV transmittance and by digesting the minerals and determining the calcium and iron concentrations using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Results show the incapability of the ScaleFreeRTM to alter pH and alkalinity or fouling behaviour, while the ELCE has shown otherwise. Also, the ELCE device has demonstrated many effects that are observed for magnetically treated water.