Ozone Generation With Directly Cooled Plasma Channels

Abstract

An ozone generator with a high voltage electrode and at least one counter electrode which limit a gap in which at least one dielectric and an electrically non-conductive structure are arranged and through which a stream of gas flows in a direction of flow. The high voltage electrode and the at least one counter electrode are provided with a connection for an electrical voltage supply in order to generate silent discharges. The electrically non-conductive structure contains pores with a nominal pore size (x) of 100 m<x<1 mm.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. An ozone generator with a high voltage electrode and at least one counter electrode which limit a gap in which at least one dielectric and an electrically non-conductive structure are arranged and through which a stream of gas can flow in a direction of flow, wherein the high voltage electrode and the at least one counter electrode comprise a connection for an electrical voltage supply in order to generate silent discharges, and wherein the electrically non-conductive structure includes pores with a nominal pore size (x) within a range of 100 m<x<1 mm, wherein the electrically non-conductive structure is a fabric.

12. The ozone generator according to claim 11, wherein the electrically non-conductive structure is a woven fabric or mesh.

13. The ozone generator according to claim 11, wherein the electrically non-conductive structure is at least partially in planar contact with the at least one dielectric.

14. The ozone generator according to claim 11, wherein the nominal pore size (x) is 100 m<x<750 m.

15. The ozone generator according to claim 11, wherein the nominal pore size (x) is 100 m<x<500 m.

16. The ozone generator according to claim 11, wherein the nominal pore size (x) is 100 m<x<250 m.

17. The ozone generator according to claim 11, wherein the electrically non-conductive structure is made of ceramic or glass.

18. The ozone generator according to claim 11, wherein the high voltage electrode is formed at least partially from a metallic fabric.

19. An electrically non-conductive structure for use in a gas flow of an ozone generator, wherein the electrically non-conductive structure includes pores with a nominal pore size (x) of 100 m<x<1 mm, wherein the electrically non-conductive structure is a fabric comprising either glass fiber or ceramic fiber.

20. The electrically non-conductive structure according to claim 19, wherein the nominal pore size (x) is 100 m<x<250 m.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

[0019] An embodiment of the invention is described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0020] In the drawings:

[0021] FIG. 1: shows an electrode arrangement of a single-gap ozone generator;

[0022] FIG. 2: shows a combined electrode and fabric arrangement; and

[0023] FIG. 3: shows a non-metallic fabric.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-section of an electrode arrangement of a single-gap ozone generator 1 in the construction form of a plate-type ozone generator without a fabric arranged in the gap. In this respect, FIG. 1 corresponds to the prior art. Such ozone generators 1 can be designed as plate-type ozone generators or tube-type ozone generators, depending on the field of application.

[0025] Plate-type ozone generators have a high voltage electrode 2 and at least one counter electrode 4 which are plate-formed in design. The electrodes 2, 4 limit a gap 5 through which an oxygen-containing gas 6 flows and in which a dielectric 3 is arranged. Conventionally, plate-type ozone generators are cooled on one or two sides by a cooling medium passed along the outer sides of the electrodes 2, 4. Air and water are used as cooling media.

[0026] Tube-type ozone generators are conventionally used in an ozone generator in groups. The ozone generators are thereby arranged parallel to one another between two tube plates in the manner of a tube bundle heat exchanger. Analogously to the plate-type ozone generators, tube-type ozone generators have a tubular-formed high voltage electrode 2, a tubular-formed dielectric 3 and a tubular-formed counter electrode 4. The arrangement is rotationally symmetrical. The high voltage electrode 2 and the counter electrode 4 are oriented concentrically to one another. They limit a gap 5 through which an oxygen-containing gas flows and in which the dielectric 3 is arranged. The externally-arranged counter electrode 4 is designed in the form of a stainless steel tube. The waste heat generated during the ozone production is cooled by means of cooling water (identified in FIG. 1 with H.sub.2O) which is passed along the outer side of the counter electrode 4. It is also possible for the generator 1 to be cooled on two sides in that cooling water also flows through the high voltage electrode 2 on the inner side.

[0027] In order to generate ozone, molecular oxygen is first dissociated into atomic oxygen, which then forms ozone through reaction with an oxygen molecule. The theoretical value of 1.47 eV required in order to generate an ozone molecule cannot be achieved in practice. Due to losses occurring during the course of the multi-stage reaction, the efficiency of the ozone generation is significantly lower. The dissociation of the oxygen molecule first takes place via different excitation states of the oxygen molecule. During the decomposition of the excited oxygen molecules or during the ozone formation, energy is released which is not available for the further dissociation of oxygen molecules, but leads to heating of the gas. These processes take place directly in the microdischarges.

[0028] According to the invention, an electrically non-conductive structure 7, represented in FIG. 2 in an exemplary embodiment, is introduced into the gas flow 6 of an ozone generator 1 (plate- or tube-type generator) or the discharge gap. The electrically non-conductive structure 7 consists of an efficiently thermally conductive and porous material. The porosity of the electrically non-conductive material is defined by the nominal pore size, which corresponds to the average pore size (arithmetic mean). The pore size is the diameter of the largest spherical ball which can pass through the pore. The nominal pore size of the electrically non-conductive material is matched to the size of the microdischarges in the discharge gap. The microdischarges have a diameter of around 100 m. The pore size of the electrically non-conductive materials therefore preferably amounts to between 100 m and 1 mm. The electrically non-conductive structure 7 thus represents a direct heat coupling to the discharge and the adjacent cool electrode and dielectric surfaces. The structure 7 is in contact with the dielectric 3 and the electrode 2 at numerous points, or at least partially in a planar manner. The contact surface is thereby as large as possible. The electrically non-conductive material is ozone and corrosion-resistant. It is thereby preferable if the structure 7 is a fabric made of glass fibre or ceramic fibre 9. As a result of the pores in the structure 7, heat is coupled directly to the microdischarges.

[0029] Such a preferred structure 7 is illustrated in FIG. 3, which shows a microscopic photograph of a woven fabric made of ceramic filaments.

[0030] All the described embodiments are used both in tube-type ozone generators as well as in plate-type ozone generators. The arrangement of the structure according to the invention is particularly preferable in multiple-gap systems, which have longer heat transmission paths than single-gap ozone generators. The electrically non-conductive structure 7 can thereby be provided in the outer gap and/or in at least one of the inner gaps.

[0031] The structure can be introduced into the discharge gap with or without carrier materials. The carrier materials can be designed in any form, for example as a rod, tube, plate, etc.

[0032] The high voltage electrode can be formed, completely or partially, of a metallic fabric. It can be seen in FIG. 2 that a number of electrical conductors 8 are woven together with the structure made from the ceramic fibres 9.

[0033] The ozone generator according to the invention and with it the electrically non-conductive porous structure improve the efficiency of ozone generators in that the transport of heat in the discharge gap is increased. In addition to the pores, which couple directly to the microdischarges and transport the heat away, the electrically non-conductive structure has the largest possible contact surface with the adjacent electrode and/or dielectric surfaces. In this way, a very high cooling efficiency can be achieved even with larger gap widths. Moreover, the efficient heat coupling allows ozone generation at high temperatures above 40 C.