Colorimetric assessment of the ozone-air mixture content during grain drying

BACKGROUND: The development of agriculture based on the use of modern technical means and environmentally friendly technologies is an urgent problem in our country. The issues of plant protection, crop conservation and improving the quality of agricultural products through the introduction of innovative technologies are considered. One of the promising methods of influencing seeds is ozone treatment. This is due to the effectiveness of the effect of ozone as an oxidant on biochemical processes and metabolism. In this regard, it becomes relevant to conduct research aimed at identifying the optimal concentration of the ozone-air mixture and evaluating the effectiveness of ozonation during drying of grain material. AIM: creation of test strips for determination of various concentrations of ozone-air mixture in the air. METHODS: In the course of the research, methods of qualitative chemical interactions and mathematical processing of the results were used. The chemical method is based on the indirect determination of the ozone content by the amount of reagent that reacts with ozone. Thus, when potassium iodide interacts with ozone, iodine is reduced, and its amount is proportional to the concentration of ozone in the gas mixture passed through the solution. RESULTS: A technique is proposed to determine the concentration of an ozone-air mixture by colorimetric method. Test strips were created, and numerical values were assigned to each color in the program, which correspond to a certain concentration of the ozone-air mixture. CONCLUSIONS: The conducted research allowed us to create a methodology for determining the concentration of ozone in an ozone-air mixture by colorimetric method. The concentration dependence requires a linear ratio of the analytical signal to the exposure time. Five minutes is enough for this, while a twofold change in concentration corresponds to a twofold increase in response. The obtained test strips allow us to determine the concentration of ozone necessary for effective drying of the seed material.