Numerical modeling of ozone production in a pulsed homogeneous discharge: a parameter study

The pulsed volume discharge is an alternative for the efficient generation of ozone in compact systems. This paper presents a parameter study of the reactions in this kind of homogeneous discharge by using a numerical model which solves plasma chemical kinetic rate and energy equations. Simulations are performed for 10^-9-10^-5 s single pulses and oxygen gas density in the range 1<n<10 amagat, initial gas temperature 100<T₀<300 K and normalized electric field of 100<E/n<200 Td. Results are presented of ozone generation efficiency versus ozone concentration for different parameter combinations. Two parameter regimes are identified and analyzed. In the plasma phase ozone formation regime, where significant amounts of ozone are produced during the discharge pulse, it is found that higher ozone concentrations can be obtained than in the neutral phase ozone formation regime, where most of the ozone is formed after the discharge pulse. In the two-step ozone formation process, the rate of conversion of atomic oxygen plays a key role. In both regimes the ozone generation efficiency increases as a is increased or T₀ decreased. The maximum concentration is 3% at 10 amagat and 100 K. The results on ozone accumulation in multiple pulse discharges are presented. In contrast to the single pulse case, higher efficiency is achieved at lower gas density. This scaling can be explained by losses due to ion currents