Effect of the waveform of voltage pulses on the efficiency of ozone synthesis in corona discharges

The efficiency of ozone synthesis in pulsed corona discharge has been investigated for a system consisting of a plane electrode and a wire. The corona was sustained by positive and negative aperiodical pulses of microsecond and sub-microsecond duration as well as by alternating-sign pulses of microsecond duration of oscillation frequency 1.5-3.1 MHz. In a number of experiments, a fibre glass dielectric barrier was placed on the earthed plane. In the case in which the streamer crossed the discharge gap, employment of the dielectric barrier allowed us to estimate the relative contribution of the primary streamer to the overall production of ozone. It is shown that a combination of an alternating-sign pulse and a dielectric barrier permits one to obtain simultaneously the greatest ozone yield in a single pulse and the best plasma-chemical efficiency of ozone synthesis.