During the ozonation of wastewater, hydroxyl radicals
(•OH) induced by the reactions of ozone (O3) with effluent
organic matters (EfOMs) play an essential role in degrading ozone-refractory
micropollutants. The •OH yield provides the absolute •OH formation during ozonation. However, the conventional
“tert-Butanol (t-BuOH) assay” cannot
accurately determine the •OH yield since the propagation
reactions are inhibited, and there have been few studies on •OH production induced by EfOM fractions during ozonation. Alternatively,
a “competitive method”, which added trace amounts of
the •OH probe compound to compete with the water
matrix and took initiation reactions and propagation reactions into
account, was used to determine the actual •OH yields
(Φ) compared with that obtained by the “t-BuOH assay” (φ). The Φ were significantly higher than φ, indicating
that the propagation reactions played important roles in •OH formation. The chain propagation reactions facilitation of EfOMs
and fractions can be expressed by the chain length (
n
). The study found significant differences in Φ for EfOMs and fractions, precisely because they have
different
n
. The actual •OH yield can be calculated by
n
and φ as Φ = φ (1
+ n)/(
nφ + 1),
which can be used to accurately predict the removal of micropollutants
during ozonation of wastewater.