Gas phase reactions in silent electric discharges .1. Exact calculation of the charge passed through the discharge chamber and the electric field using the electrical parameters of the circuit

The rate of a chemical reaction occurring in a silent electric discharge is dependent on the electric charge passing through the gas. In the knowledge of the electrical characteristics of the circuit and its elements (i.e., the ohmic resistance and capacitance), the composition and the pressure of the gas, the electric charge involved in the discharge can be calculated. The application of a purely sinusoidal alternating current to the system allows deduction of the time dependence of the voltage drops across various circuit elements and also the time dependence of the current. Experiments were conducted with two reactor types (static and tubular now) and their electrical characteristics were varied to test the results of the calculations, which were thereby confirmed.