(49b) Oxidation of High Molecular Weight Dye Using Ozone Isotopomers

Ozone has several isotopomers ranging in mass from ⁴⁸O₃ and ⁵⁴O₃. These isotopes can be formed in different proportions in the corona discharge process depending on the distribution of oxygen isotopes ¹⁶O: ¹⁷O: ¹⁸O, in the feed gas. The symmetric ozone molecules ⁴⁸O₃, ⁵¹O₃, and ⁵⁴O₃ can have different reactivities than the asymmetric ozone molecules ⁴⁹O₃, ⁵⁰O₃, and ⁵²O₃. An anomalous distribution of ozone isotopomers has been found in the upper atmosphere and has been investigated to some extent. Laboratory corona discharge studies have shown that there is an anomalous enhancement of certain ozone isotopes in the product gas when natural oxygen is used as feed gas for ozone generation. The goal of this research is to evaluate the effects of an isotopically enriched oxygen feed gas on the enhancement of oxidation of a high molecular weight dye. Experiments were conducted in stirred tank reactors and tubular porous electrode ozonators with ozone generated using different proportions of ¹⁸O₂ and/or ¹⁷O₂ along with ¹⁶O₂ to determine the impact of the ozone isotopomers on oxidation efficiency. Comparative results with ozone generated from natural oxygen isotopes will be provided.