The world has been waiting for ozone

The world has been waiting for ozone

Mathieu Wolfs is founder-director of Blue Fish Chemicals & Consultants and his world revolves around ozone. He is quick to disclose a vast array of applications. They vary from purifying polluted surface water through to medical applications and the potential to make huge savings on the use of fossil fuels. ’Not only is this what the world has been waiting for, but it will also generate mass employment’, he claims.

‘It’s nothing new, Werner von Siemens was already using it; it’s always been around in the air. Ozone (O₃) has fantastic potential’, explains Wolfs. He refers to the ISS space station: ‘The washing machine in that station works on ozone. Oxygen is pervasive as a raw material for ozone: it determines the behaviour and properties of almost everything on earth. Changing the oxygen composition can have serious implications. Bringing things into contact with enriched oxygen (ozone)  heightens and speeds up their biodegradability.’

He has been working on the properties and potential of ozone for decades, along with the new possibility of using ozone  to make now in one step a concentrated and combustible gas mixture of oxygen (O₂) and ozone (O₃). ‘To put it simply, you to store energy in –oxygen- gas. It is already being used to propel rockets and torpedoes. All that remains after combustion is oxygen; no CO₂.’ Easy, safe and cheap ways of making enriched oxygen mixtures  have recently been developed. ‘This generate’s  huge savings on fossil fuels, and reduce emissions of pollutants. Just imagine what this means, right at the outset of this new plasma technology.’

Wolfs is working on refining the technology as well as focusing on cleaning/disinfecting polluted ballast seawater from maritime ships. These ships will soon be banned from discharging ballast water in foreign harbours. ‘It’s easy using ozone, even with seawater. The market is worth billions.’

Participating in VentureLab has helped him on his way. ‘I was advised to do it. I was initially sceptical as this isn’t the first business I’ve owned. But entrepreneurs have to be on the ball. I’ve learned a lot: it’s boosted my understanding of how businesses and organizations work and taught me to make better sense of what they’re asking. This will help even further.’