L2M-A Novel Portable Ozone Generator Using Tunable Piezoelectric Transformer for Ocean Water Purification

Aquaculture and coastal water treatment facilities across Atlantic Canada and beyond are facing increasing challenges in maintaining reliable water quality. Marine environments are burdened by nutrient runoff, pathogens, and pollution that directly impact fish health, leading to frequent contamination events and yield losses of 10–30%. These losses translate into millions of dollars in damages annually and jeopardize the growth of Canada’s aquaculture sector, which already represents a $2 billion industry in Atlantic provinces alone.
Conventional disinfection methods are inadequate for this context. Chlorine-based systems leave harmful byproducts that threaten marine ecosystems, making them unsuitable for aquaculture. While ozone is recognized as a powerful and residue-free disinfectant, current ozone generation technologies are large, stationary, and energy-intensive, requiring stable grid electricity and costly infrastructure. This limits their accessibility for smaller operators, remote coastal communities, and mobile facilities. The gap is structural: there is no compact, renewable-powered ozone generation system designed for direct ocean water treatment.
The partner organization, Lab2Market Validate, focuses on bridging the gap between research excellence and commercialization outcomes. It provides training and entrepreneurial support to transform academic research into innovative, market-ready solutions. The innovation challenge in this project is to validate and commercialize a novel portable ozone generator based on tunable piezoelectric transformers (TPT) and wide bandgap (GaN) power electronics. Unlike conventional systems, this solution can deliver stable, efficient ozone generation directly from renewable energy sources such as PV, batteries, or fuel cells, enabling operation in off-grid and variable conditions.
The expertise required to solve this problem spans advanced power electronics, renewable energy integration, and applied ozone generation technology. My lab has extensive experience in designing compact, high-efficiency power converters, which are critical for driving dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) chambers. This technical expertise, combined with Lab2Market’s commercialization support, uniquely positions this project to overcome current market barriers and create a eco-friendly solution.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ashraf Ali Khan

Student:

Partner:

Springboard Atlantic Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Agriculture and Food; Green/Alternative Energy; Water

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program: