NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATIONS OF DOSE DISTRIBUTIONS IN UV DISINFECTION SYSTEMS

Process behavior in UV disinfection systems is governed by the UV dose distribution. To date, available methods for estimation of dose distributions in continuous-flow systems require the use of complex numerical methods. While these methods are powerful and provide important insights into process behavior, it is desirable to have an experimental method by which dose distributions can be measured. To accomplish this goal, an experimental method based on dyed, magnetic microspheres is under development. Microspheres are impregnated with a dye that undergoes changes in fluoresence as the UV dose increases. A large number of particles are imposed on a system and collected downstream of the irradiated zone. Fluorescence behavior ismeasured on a bead-by-bead basis using a flow cytometer. Magnetic beads are used to facilitate harvesting of beads. Verification of the experimental method will be conducted by acombination of the numerical methods described above and pilot- or full-scale biodosimetry.