Is there anything to the many 'ozone generators' for sale or is it just pseudoscientific gimmicky nonesense?

[user801028]

I have seen ozone mentioned in various contexts when researching off grid living.

Some when discussing how all engines create it and it gives off a distinctive smell. From all industrial engines down to the model railway sets. I was told the sweet smell of the railway sets is ozone.

Another is that when I wanted to stop mold in my van I was advised to use an ozone generator.

The latest I have seen is to be used for water purification.

I have been assured that this is based on established and proper science not hocus pocus but I can't help but get the feeling it sounds like 'phlogeston' or the 'humours' or other pseudoscientific theories of old.

The only legitimate discussion of ozone I remember is when it used to be talked about in the 90s often when they would say there was a hole in the ozone layer. I had no reason to disbelieve the sources in that case but I don't know about these new uses of the term and reading the wiki on it I still do not understand it any better as to whither these other uses of it are legit or not.

The feeling I get is that it is like Deepak Chopras hideous misuse of quantum theory.

[exchemist]

Just now, user801028 said:

I have seen ozone mentioned in various contexts when researching off grid living.

Some when discussing how all engines create it and it gives off a distinctive smell. From all industrial engines down to the model railway sets. I was told the sweet smell of the railway sets is ozone.

Another is that when I wanted to stop mold in my van I was advised to use an ozone generator.

The latest I have seen is to be used for water purification.

I have been assured that this is based on established and proper science not hocus pocus but I can't help but get the feeling it sounds like 'phlogeston' or the 'humours' or other pseudoscientific theories of old.

The only legitimate discussion of ozone I remember is when it used to be talked about in the 90s often when they would say there was a hole in the ozone layer. I had no reason to disbelieve the sources in that case but I don't know about these new uses of the term and reading the wiki on it I still do not understand it any better as to whither these other uses of it are legit or not.

The feeling I get is that it is like Deepak Chopras hideous misuse of quantum theory.

Not entirely. Ozone, being a reactive form of oxygen, can be used as a disinfectant, for example in municipal swimming pools as an alternative to chlorine. I had not heard of it being used as a domestic water purifying agent but I'm sure this could work. However, like chlorine, it is an irritant to lungs and eyes, so not something you want to breathe!  What is nonsense is the popular, or literary, notion that the pleasant smell of seaside air is due to "ozone".   

[user801028]

49 minutes ago, exchemist said:

Not entirely. Ozone, being a reactive form of oxygen, can be used as a disinfectant, for example in municipal swimming pools as an alternative to chlorine. I had not heard of it being used as a domestic water purifying agent but I'm sure this could work. However, like chlorine, it is an irritant to lungs and eyes, so not something you want to breathe!  What is nonsense is the popular, or literary, notion that the pleasant smell of seaside air is due to "ozone".   

Thanks. Hmm interesting.

 

Even if the theory is valid the question also would be how effective commercial products using the technology would be.

 

I have never heard about the smell of the sea maybe it part because I never lived by it but I have heard about the sweet smell after rain but that is something else called patrichor right?

 

What about the sweet smell on model railways and also any engines. Is that right? I once posed the question what the sweet smell was when I run my diesel cooker as I was concerned it could be leaky diesel and someone suggested it could just be ozone.

[exchemist]

2 hours ago, user801028 said:

Thanks. Hmm interesting.

 

Even if the theory is valid the question also would be how effective commercial products using the technology would be.

 

I have never heard about the smell of the sea maybe it part because I never lived by it but I have heard about the sweet smell after rain but that is something else called patrichor right?

 

What about the sweet smell on model railways and also any engines. Is that right? I once posed the question what the sweet smell was when I run my diesel cooker as I was concerned it could be leaky diesel and someone suggested it could just be ozone.

Petrichor, yes. (cf. Latin Petra = rock)  Largely due to geosmin:

Electric sparks give off a pungent smell, which is at least partly due to producing ozone. However I think there may also be some nitrogen oxides (NOx) generated. In the case of internal combustion engines, I'm fairly sure the pungent smell will be from NOx, production of which is a well-known pollution issue with them.  

As for cookers, though I've never heard of a cooker running on diesel fuel again my bet would be NOx, unless you are using a diesel fuel with appreciable sulphur content, in which case there could be sulphur oxides (SOx). However almost all diesel today in the developed world is very low sulphur so this is unlikely. 

 

 

 

Edited July 7 by exchemist

[TheVat]

A diesel cooker sounds like an air quality issue, depending on where you use it, given its production of PM 2.5 particulates (AKA diesel soot) which are a serious health hazard.  A LNG or propane cooker may be a better option.