Modular microplasma ozone generators for water treatment system

Compact and scalable ozone generator modules comprising multiple arrays of microchannel plasmas have been developed for commercial laundry and other water disinfection applications. Arrays consist of 24 channels each having a length and width of 1 ~ 5 cm and 250 ~ 500 μm, respectively. Modules consisting of 4 - 5 such arrays mounted into a plastic frame, produced ozone at a rate of 10 g-hr-1 and a concentration of 60 g-m-3 when O₂ served as the feedstock gas and its pressure and flow rate in the modular reactor were 1 atm. and ~4 liters/min. The overall dimensions of one module are ~5 cm × ~7 cm × ~10 cm (W×L×H). Ozone output is observed to scale linearly with the number of microchannel plasma devices and the applied gas flow rate. Heat due to ozone production in the module system was efficiently controlled by air fan cooling and a tandem flow design. Finally, ozone is efficiently produced up to commercial levels for laundry applications in a module system with ~90 v/v% oxygen provided by a portable oxygen concentrator. Reduction of an order of magnitude in weight and volume of modular ozone generator, relative to conventional dielectric barrier discharge systems, is offered by microplasma technology.