Pulsed power production of ozone in O/sub 2//N/sub 2/ in a coaxial reactor without dielectric layer

Very short duration pulsed streamer discharges have been used to produce ozone in a gas mixture of nitrogen and oxygen at atmospheric pressure. The ratio of nitrogen to oxygen in the mixture was varied in the range from 2.5/0.5 to 0.5/2.5, while maintaining a total flow rate of 3 l/min. The production of ozone was found to be higher for a specific mixture ratio of N/sub 2//O/sub 2/ than that in oxygen or in dry air. The production of ozone in O/sub 2/ was higher than that in dry air. The production yield of ozone (g/kWh) increased with decreasing nitrogen in the O/sub 2//N/sub 2/ mixture. It has been found that the peak of the streamer discharge current decreased with time after application of the pulsed power. This decrease in the current corresponded with the increase in the ozone production and is attributed to the loss of electrons in the discharge current due to their attachment to ozone to form negative ions.