Influence of Ar addition on ozone generation in nonthermal plasmas

Inconsistency regarding the influence of Ar addition on ozone generation in a corona discharge has been found in relevant studies. Unlike in the literature to date, a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor is adopted in this study. In addition to clarifying whether using Ar as an additive would lead to different types of behavior in a DBD and a corona discharge, this study is also motivated to explore the possible causes leading to the inconsistency. The experimental results show that adding Ar into the O2 plasma would lead to the same influence on ozone generation in the DBD and corona discharge. Moreover, all types of controversial behavior caused by Ar addition reported in the relevant literature are observed in this study as well, indicating that the results of this study are comprehensive enough to interpret the inconsistency. By examining the experimental results in detail, it is found that the controversial influences of Ar addition on ozone generation were found using different assumptions. At a fixed applied voltage, the ozone generation might increase as the Ar concentration is increased, which results from a higher discharge power. Nevertheless, for a certain specific input energy (the ratio of discharge power to gas flow rate), the ozone concentration is lower as the Ar concentration is increased. Therefore, adding Ar is not a good way to enhance ozone generation from an economic point of view.