Water Science & Technology: Water Supply–WSTWS Vol 8 No 2 pp 217–222 © IWA Publishing 2008 doi:10.2166/ws.2008.064

Chemical effects on UV irradiation absorption of fouled quartz sleeves in ultraviolet disinfection

Beibei Zhu Sun, Ernest Blatchley, Mike Oliver, Cheng Zheng and Kristofer Jennings

The effects of foulant chemical composition on ultraviolet (UV) absorbance of fouled quartz sleeves in UV disinfection systems were studied. Statistical analysis was conducted to examine the effects of nine fouling chemicals on the UV transmittance changes of fouled quartz lamp sleeves. The results demonstrated that the main effects were attributable to surface concentrations of iron and manganese. The surface concentrations of calcium and copper had no significant effects on the UV absorbance of fouled sleeves. The interaction effects of copper with iron and magnesium with manganese were also revealed from the statistical analysis. The model is able to give reasonable predictions of the UV absorbance characteristics of foulants from other UV systems. However, several limitations of this model were identified. First, the model does not accurately predict the absorbance at relatively high chemical surface concentrations. Second, the model does not account for the possible effects of anions and organics on UV absorption of fouled quartz sleeves.

Keywords: chemical composition effects; fouling; UV absorbance; UV disinfection

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