:: Chlorine Dioxide Generator Comparisons ::

A. Acid / Chlorite System

This is the most common method of releasing chlorine dioxide through the action of Hydrochloric Acid on Sodium Chlorite.

Chemistry:

5 NaClO2 + 4HCI à 4CIO2 + 5 NaCI + 2H2 O

The maximum efficiency of this reaction is 80% because 5 parts of Chlorite are needed to yield 4 parts of Chlorine Dioxide.

The method also suffers in terms of yield by the fact that all Acid / Chlorite generators operate at higher than the stoichiometric quantity of acid, i.e. they are acid driven.

Typically these generators operate at 50-80% yield with high levels of free chlorine in the Chlorine Dioxide solution

As stated this is the most common method of manufacturing chlorine dioxide but it has a number of inherent problems:

		::	The reaction product is at pH of 1.8 to 2.6
		::	The reaction product is very corrosive
		::	Reaction time of 5 -10 minutes is critical
		::	The generators typically require pre-dilution of the precursors which adds to costs
		::	The generators are very sophisticated in terms of electronics
		::	The capacity is restricted to maximum of 5 kg chlorine dioxide per hour from a safety aspect