Inter-calibration of OH radical sources and water quality parameters

OH radicals are the key oxidants that control most Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) currently applied in water technology and that also occur in some natural systems such as cloud waters. The efficiencies of the various OH radical sources can be experimentally quantified and compared when they are calibrated by following the oxidation of inter-calibrated reference compounds that react during the process only with OH radicals. To apply and generalize the results, however, water quality parameters controlling the lifetime of OH radicals via OH-scavenging reactions by pollutants and further solutes must also be quantified by methods that allow for calibrations. (C) 1997 IAWQ. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.