Characterization of O3 species in a planar atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge reactor using Ar/O2 mixtures by a microsecond unipolar pulsed power source

Abstract

This work investigates the O 3 generated in a planar atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (APDBD) reactor using Ar/0.5% O 2 as the working mixture with a microsecond pulsed power to analyze detailed species and reaction variations in the discharge zone. The numerical model integrates both the 1D plasma fluid model (PFM) and 3D gas flow model (GFM) to predict the O 3 generation in conjunction with the analysis of dominant species and mechanisms. The discharge uniformity is confirmed by the ICCD photograph taken, which justifies the implementation of the 1D PFM. The experimental measurements validate the simulated current, power consumption, reactor surface temperature, and O 3 concentrations at different regions. The uniform APDBDs using Ar/O 2 mixtures provide a simplified platform for exploring reaction mechanisms in Ar discharges under atmospheric pressure in contrast to their typical filamentary features. The analysis shows that atomic oxygen is the dominant species of O 3 generation, while excited oxygen molecules (i.e. O 2 (a) and O 2 (b)) are the dominant species of O 3 consumption. The variations of dominant generation and consumption reaction distributions reveal detailed interactions among species presented, leading to the differences between those predicted by the 1D PFM with all reactions and the integration of 1D PFM and 3D GFM. The developed numerical model provides an appropriate process considering both discharge dynamics and species transport behavior to predict variations of reactive species generated in the discharge zone.