The process which takes advantage of the oxidizing properties of ozone is known as ozonation. Ozone can be used in a variety of applications including the treatment of drinking water, bottled water, beverages, wastewater, industrial wastes, air pollutants, swimming pool water, and cooling tower water. In addition, there are a number of proprietary processes that use ozone, ranging from carpet cleaning to the making of gourmet ice cubes. Ozonation consists of four fundamental tasks: drying and cleaning the oxygen-containing feed-gas; generating ozone in a silent corona discharge generator; bringing the ozone into contact with the material being treated; and finally destroying remaining ozone prior to releasing the waste gas to the atmosphere. All ozonation processes require ozone generation and contacting, but not all applications require feed-gas preparation and off-gas treatment.

Ozone can be generated by three processes: electrical discharge, photochemical reaction with ultraviolet radiation, and electrolytic reactions. The...