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DIY Ozone Reactor


Boret

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I recently acquired a Red Seas Ozonizer and I was going to attach it to my SWC300 skimmer. The skimmer is ozone safe, and I was going to add a hole in the silencer to inject the ozone. I started to look at possible mods to add active carbon on the top lid to absorb excess ozone and a carbon receptacle in the water output of the skimmer. But the more I thought about it the less convinced I was with this setup.

 

By adding the carbon on the water output I was going to put a dent on the performance of the skimmer (the skimmer is pretty sensitive there, and if the output is submerge it modifies the foam head -- some type of back pressure), really messing with its skimming capabilities. Adding the extra chamber on the lid for the active carbon also got difficult as I am unable to find a small piece of cylindrical acrylic with the proper dimensions to be added on top. I trashed the idea and started to look elsewhere for a solution.

 

I then realized that I still have my old GSA Shorty Prototype.

 

gallery_2631272_578_134051.jpg

 

I think that it will be easier to make it into a Ozone reactor. i don't have to worry about it skimming anything as the main skimmer takes care of that. I can transform the collecting cap into an active carbon chamber (as I won't be collecting skimmate in this device) and I can run the output through carbon.

 

This is the idea:

 

skimmer_into_ozone_reactor.jpg

 

The extra plate makes sense so I don't have to add a bunch of Carbon in there and just a couple of inches. The plate could be perforated to drain any liquid that might collect in there...

The Red Arrows represent the excess ozone escaping the reactor, going into the Active Carbon and leaving "cleaned" (blue arrow) through the top holes.

This Ozone "Reactor" will then sit in my second sump.

 

I have never seen an Ozone Reactor in person. I am also not very familiar on its operation.

 

Is this idea too crazy?

Am I missing something?

Anything else I should think about?

 

All the ideas are welcomed!

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An ozone reactor is basically any vessel that contacts ozone with water, obviously with varying degrees of efficiency. You can learn a lot from Randy Holmes-Farley's 3 part series on ozone (here is part 1)

 

What you are doing will work, but is considered to be the least efficient way to contact ozone with water. You will get crystal clear water with the skimmer method, but not pathogen/algae reduction.

 

You should consider controlling the ozone generator with an ORP controller, or at least monitoring ORP. A continual low dose (5-10 mg/hr) should polish water without significantly raising ORP or generating significant byproducts (bromine radicals or nitric acid)

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Thanks Justin. I was hoping that you would chime in as you are running Ozone and are very familiar with it. (Still waiting for the explanation of yours :) )

I have read those 3 articles several times (it takes me several reads to understand all the information in there). I have the ORP probe attached to the ACIII (you can see the reading in my signature) and I have been reading several articles and threads including this one with several inputs from A. Calfo.

 

I read that a pressurized chamber will make a better Ozone reactor (I still don't see how exactly), so I might have to look elsewhere. I was just hoping to scavenge parts from what I have in the garage instead of getting a new piece of equipment.

 

The Ozonizer that I have is the 50mg/h one, which based on the article means that even running it at 100% it will not add too much O3 in my 180-200 gal system.

Clarity of the water is definitely a plus, but I was leaning more towards achieving the death of pathogens, as well as increasing oxidation, improving skimmer performance and help with maintaining ORP of 350-400 while I start dosing a carbon source.

 

I have an extra ORP controller, the Milwaukee one, as a back up, but will rely on the ACIII for the time being.

 

In your opinion, should I just forget about using this skimmer completely and look for a reactor? or is it worth it to give it a try to get more use to Ozone operation even if I don't achieve all the goals of Ozone injection.

 

Do you foresee any problem with the above design?

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You will need an air dryer for the corona discharge red sea model.

The UV ozone generator type does not require very dry air.

I will be following along regarding how you will pass the water coming from the skimmer through carbon.

I have the red sea air dryer tube with the absorbtion beads if you need it send me a PM.

 

David

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Thanks David, I have two of the air dryer tubes.

I guess I will have to try it and see how it does.

At the very least, with that design I can get it going until I figure out a better system.

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Thanks Justin. I was hoping that you would chime in as you are running Ozone and are very familiar with it. (Still waiting for the explanation of yours :) )

I have read those 3 articles several times (it takes me several reads to understand all the information in there). I have the ORP probe attached to the ACIII (you can see the reading in my signature) and I have been reading several articles and threads including this one with several inputs from A. Calfo.

 

I read that a pressurized chamber will make a better Ozone reactor (I still don't see how exactly), so I might have to look elsewhere. I was just hoping to scavenge parts from what I have in the garage instead of getting a new piece of equipment.

 

The Ozonizer that I have is the 50mg/h one, which based on the article means that even running it at 100% it will not add too much O3 in my 180-200 gal system.

Clarity of the water is definitely a plus, but I was leaning more towards achieving the death of pathogens, as well as increasing oxidation, improving skimmer performance and help with maintaining ORP of 350-400 while I start dosing a carbon source.

 

I have an extra ORP controller, the Milwaukee one, as a back up, but will rely on the ACIII for the time being.

 

In your opinion, should I just forget about using this skimmer completely and look for a reactor? or is it worth it to give it a try to get more use to Ozone operation even if I don't achieve all the goals of Ozone injection.

 

Do you foresee any problem with the above design?

 

It will work, but not for pathogen (protozoan) reduction. From what I have learned, you need ORP values nearing 600-700 mv in the reaction chamber with a dwell time approaching a minute or two. You can't get that without a high pressure reactor and lots of ozone. Honestly I'm not sure how to properly calculate ozone input for a given flowrate, dwell time and ORP target because a lot depends on air/water surface area and pressure. P.R. Escobal's book has basic calculations, but I only have the first edition, the second might have more- dan lichens has 2nd ed, let's ask him.

 

I haven't even put my reactor together yet, that is on my to-do list in the next month. I am targeting 1000 gph at 10 PSI with 1.3g/hr ozone input. I arrived at these numbers based on Escobal's book and some basic consulting with ozone equipment mfg's and other knowledgeable reefers. Will it hit 600+ mv inside? I'll find out. I'm not really looking for protozoan reduction, I'll just be happy to get decreased bacteria and algae load and cleaner water.

 

Dan built a small prototype pressure reactor, you might PM him and see if you can borrow/buy it from him if you are interested in going the pressure reactor route.

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Thx Justin. I am going that route.

 

Had a long talk with Dan and I will get a pressurized reactor. Given my total volume (170-190 gal) we estimated that I need about 150 gph with about 5 psi with 50 mg/hr O3 input. That will do nicely. He also had some suggestions to improve the GSA Shorty prototype, so I will get those done and keep it as a backup skimmer. I will let you know how it all works out.

Would love to see your setup one of these days too! ;)

BTW, I am considering UV as well. Do you have anything used in the 40-60w range?

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I think it will be fun document the building of this reactor, I haven't done a build thread in this forum for quite a while. I hope we can continue the engineering and chemistry discussions in this thread too. I have spent many hours with Escobal's book and charting. Even in the second edition nothing was talked about how dwell time, flow rate and pressure are tied together I have been trying to form my own calculations. 600mv is pretty much the targeted number in the reactor in a perfect operating situation. We pretty much have to start there and work our way backwards. After 600mv we determine pressure at flow rates. Once we have flow rates at desired psi then we can determine dwell time at that flow rate. Once we determine dwell time at flow rate we can use Escobal's turnover calculations to rate the reactor for a tank size.

 

Right now I have a pretty good estimate of the size reactor I need to build for a 200 gallon system but really the only way to tell is by doing it. If I oversize then there is no harm, if it is undersized then someone with a smaller system will be happy and Boret sad :P

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That's a fantastic idea Dan.

 

I was thinking that if you put a pre-filter in the water input before it reaches the Ozone reactor it will help reducing maintenance. If you get detritus free water you won't have to worry about cleaning the bio-media that often. The filter doesn't need to be very fine, just enough to catch larger impurities. What do you think?

 

Also, do you know of a specific air pump that will provide the necessary 5 psi air pressure? I have a Hurricane 5 Air pump but I have no way of measuring the max psi, and I cannot find the info online. Maybe you have an air pump in mind already?

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(edited)

I was also thinking that we might need to use rigid 1/4" tubing to maintain the pressure. And the tubing needs to be Ozone resistant. Unless silicone tubing will expand a bit but still maintain the 5 psi. We need to get Tom (Origami) on this thread! :)

 

Either Teflon, Norprene pressure or Polyethylene tubing will work. Teflon and Norprene will be too expensive.

 

This one might work: LINK

 

T041M.jpg

Edited by Boret
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You should never have to clean the bio media, the ozone will break down just about everything it touches, especially particulates like detritus.

 

Flex tubing will work fine, PTFE (teflon) or PVDF (kynar) are the best choices. Also, PVDF fittings can be found at mcmaster.com for a few bucks each. Dan, I ordered a set of these to connect the ozone generator to the air pump to the reactor.

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Norprene or Hypalon tubing is the way to go here. It does cost a little more but is the right tool for the job. Luft pump is what most people use for this, check ebay for best pricing. I agree with Justin that the reactor should pretty much never need to be opened to clean, I actually built the prototype with a glued on lid. I don't think this is the way to go for a production type model but is worth noting. I am not planning on putting thumbscrew or twist-loc flanges on this reactor, bolts will be more appropriate. As an added bonus this will make it easier to reproduce at the DIY level.

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I found this one:

 

ES01655_99.jpg

 

Max: 7.0 PSI

From $49 to $65 (at different vendors)

 

This is a great pump. A true workhorse. I went through several pumps before I got recommendations for the luft pump. I ran it 24/7 for 2 years in my discus tank and it had not failed once.

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This is a great pump. A true workhorse. I went through several pumps before I got recommendations for the luft pump. I ran it 24/7 for 2 years in my discus tank and it had not failed once.

 

Still using it?? Maybe is just sitting abandoned in a corner of your garage.... :)

 

I found it for $50. I will look in eBay see what I find, I will also keep an eye on RC.

 

If I don't have to pre-filter one less expense. Thanks Justin. I am just not that familiar with O3 reactors so all of this info is great to get a sense on how to use it, what to expect etc...

 

Dan, are you talking about Nylon screws or stainless steel?

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Stainless. Not that it needs to be or anything but it will look good and not cost any more than glass filled nylon or fiberglass. Last thing you want is after 3 years of being closed, trying to open up your reactor, find the bolts have set in the plastic (plastic swells with water a bit over time) and strip out the screws.

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Boret,

 

I am tagging along on this. My 156 gallon build is coming together. I used ozone in my last setup. I injected it straight into my ASM G6. This time I was planning on going straight into my ASM G4+ but I am not as confident the ozone will be depleted before it leaves this smaller skimmer.

 

Send me a PM if you order any tubing or fittings. I will be looking for a few bits. I hate to place a $5 order with $10 shipping.

 

By the way, if you have not run ozone you will love it. It is better than a lighting upgrade.

 

Bill

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  • 3 weeks later...

Seems like the ss pressure gauge is a non stock item. I ordered a few of them 2 weeks ago and nothing. I have most of the other parts together but I hate starting a project like this without everything layed out. I do have an idea about how to use a brass pressure gauge which would trim a little of the cost and lead time down, the sacrifice is it would make the unit a little more bulky with the extra plumbing to prevent the water that touched the brass from entering the aquarium. Upside to this is I can have plumbing and brass gauges in a day.......

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Dan or someone with some knowledge base with Ozone on here -

 

I just added Ozone via my skimmer venturi intake without an air dryer. The reason for this is that it is a 300mg/hr unit, and there is no way I can use all that it produces - actually I am having a hard time using it at all since my ORP stays up in the 400's already.

I can see how a 50mg unit would benefit from an air dryer and pressurized reactor, but am a little lost on why I would need all that if you just skipped the efficiency and went with a bigger unit.

I'm assuming, there is a saturation point where you can't kill anymore freeborne's in the water and the ORP will be too high to run the ozone anyway.

My thought process is to run the ozone more often, with less efficiency and you will get more time of it disinfecting the water, without raising the ORP too fast so it will shutdown the reactor or ozoneator.

 

I haven't read anything about ozone really. (I have, but not enough to speak on it) So take my thoughts more from just me throwing some thoughts together with the 3 brain cells I have left ;)

 

I'm just trying to figure out this whole ozone thing and where it stands in the application to my tank with the setup I have. I just added it last night, so I am definitely still learning. But it seems like the practical part came out the same as my thought process - ie. - the ozone generator is only on for ~10 min before it reaches 425. I'm sure the more it is run it will run even less. So I'm trying to figure out why I would even add an air dryer.

Unless of course it makes the "disinfecting" part of the ozone equation more efficient and kills more stuff, while raising the ORP the same amount. Then I can see where I would want to make it more efficient at that.

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Ideally you want the o3 generator to run 100% of the time. You are limiting your sterilization by ORP value. ORP is not what kills things, ozone is. By pushing a ton of o3 into the reactor (skimmer in your case) for a short time (until ORP reaches 425) and then turning it off you are killing stuff in your reactor "really dead" and then everything that passes through the reactor until your tank drops in ORP is non-processed water. This is probably the least effective way to use ozone.

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Ideally you want the o3 generator to run 100% of the time. You are limiting your sterilization by ORP value. ORP is not what kills things, ozone is. By pushing a ton of o3 into the reactor (skimmer in your case) for a short time (until ORP reaches 425) and then turning it off you are killing stuff in your reactor "really dead" and then everything that passes through the reactor until your tank drops in ORP is non-processed water. This is probably the least effective way to use ozone.

 

How do you get it to stay on for a longer period of time without raising the ORP? Are you saying that a 50mg/hr unit will kill stuff, but raise the ORP slowly.

 

What is the pressurization of the reactor going to do then? It seems that if it is too effective, then it won't stay on long enough.

 

I'm still trying to figure this out. I guess I'll hit up some white pages online and read a little more about this.

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I think I am in the same boat as Sikrd. I bought an Enaly rated at 300mg and no way to turn it down. I should have known better because my old system was bigger an I rarely dosed more than 100mg. Before I toss this unit and buy a more expensive smaller one, I think I will try to limit the ouput by running a minute on and a minute off with my AC3.

 

Smaller is better with ozone. I knew that, but hey it was cheap!

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I think I am in the same boat as Sikrd. I bought an Enaly rated at 300mg and no way to turn it down. I should have known better because my old system was bigger an I rarely dosed more than 100mg. Before I toss this unit and buy a more expensive smaller one, I think I will try to limit the ouput by running a minute on and a minute off with my AC3.

 

Smaller is better with ozone. I knew that, but hey it was cheap!

 

Sell it here or on ReefCentral, there is always someone that might need exactly 300mg/hr.

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