Microbubbles and their application to ozonation in water treatment: A critical review exploring their benefit and future application

Ozonation is a widely applied water treatment process, used for oxidation of contaminants, as well as for the disinfection of water. However, the conventional ozonation process demands a high energy requirement and deep tanks to ensure effective mass transfer and oxidation. Microbubble technologies have emerged which have the potential to improve gas-liquid contacting. Microbubbles have diameters of 1–100 µm, while conventional bubbles used in ozonation are between 2 and 6 mm. Microbubbles have many favorable characteristics that make them suitable for ozonation. In this review, the attributes of microbubbles for ozonation have been compared with those of conventional bubbles. The higher interfacial area and lower rise velocity of microbubbles compared with conventional bubbles means that ozone in the gas phase can be more efficiently transferred into the liquid phase. This is due to a higher contact time and increased contact area of the bubble with the bulk liquid. The analysis reveals that the volumetric mass transfer coefficient can be significantly enhanced through the use of microbubbles. In addition, the steady state dissolved ozone concentration was positively impacted by the use of microbubbles. Microbubbles were shown to be able to oxidize a broader range of organic compounds more quickly than for conventional bubbles. However, the review highlighted that comparison of microbubbles with conventional bubbles is not always carried out in a fair and consistent way with respect to reactor configuration. Requirements for future research, more consistent experimental comparisons and the steps needed to enable implementation of microbubbles have been discussed.