Aircraft bleed airflow is used as a source of air used on most commercial aircraft. This bleed air contains a significant amount of ozone at higher altitudes in which modern aircrafts operate. This bleed air can reach temperatures of upto 230⸰C, when subjected to compression inside air inlets.
An ozone converter is thus installed in aircraft cabins to convert harmful O3 into breathable O2. This is a process replicated from the naturally-occurring phenomenon where the Sun’s UV radiation splits O3 into O2 and a free oxygen atom.
In the ozone converter, the cores are coated with chemical compounds that, when combined with elevated temperatures of the bleed airflow (in lieu of ultraviolet light), become the catalyst of O3 to O2 conversion. The conversion takes place when the O3 is in intimate contact with the chemical coating.
“The development of this small but important part led to planes being able to fly at higher altitudes, saving fuel and preserving the overall health of passengers and most importantly the highly-prone pilots and flight crew by significantly reducing the exposure to ozone in the cabin”
Author – Mohammed Freihat