| What is chlorine dioxide? |
| Chlorine dioxide is an orange-yellow-colored, poisonous and penetrative smelling gas. The chlorine dioxide molecule consists of an atom chlorine and two atoms oxygen (ClO2). |
| Chlorine dioxide is an oxidating biocide, like ozone and chlorine, and is not a metabolic toxin. This means that chlorine dioxide destroys microorganisms by interrupting the transport of nutrients in the membrane of the cell and not through interruption of a metabolic process.
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| The stabilized chlorine dioxide is ClO2
buffered in an aqueous solution. Adding acid with the required concentration activates the disinfectant.
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| Application: |
| Specific characteristics of the disinfectant make sure that ClO2 works where other disinfectants fail. |
| Chlorine dioxide plays a special role in disinfection of swimming pools, cooling towers, airwashers or bleaching textiles and paper as well as microbe-precaution and –monitoring, that can cause legionnaires’ disease. |
| Unpleasant odor- and flavor-additives in the water, that descend from phenols, algae or its decomposition products for example, are oxidated by chlorine dioxide and transformed into odorless- and tasteless substances. |
| Contrary to chlorine, the degermination-speed of chlorine dioxide is not reduced with increasing pH-value. Chlorine dioxide is consistent in water. After the attrition is completed excess is held up for a length of time so that an excess can be held up to the end-line even in spacious tubing and therefore a renewed water-infection can be encountered effectively in the tubing. |
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| General advantages: |
| - high power output (up to 250% higher oxidation-energy than chlorine) |
| - effective removal and prophylaxis of biofilms |
| - constant bactericidal efficiency in a large pH-area (4-10) |
| - high efficiency against all water-common microorganisms
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| - no formation of chemical resistance of microorganisms |
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| Exposure: |
| Chlorine dioxide is an unstable radical compound that is highly explosive in pure condition as well as in air-concentration down until 10 Vol. %. It collapses under light and by heightened temperature of 102.6 kJ/mol to chlorine and oxygen. |
For these reasons a conventional production of chlorine dioxide is bound to an expensive industrial- and building-system and a high risk-potential which makes it harder to spread the substance as an universal applicable disinfectant, especially in small or medium applications.
See also chlorine..
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©2005 WaterVitt |
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