PULSED CORONA AND DIELECTRIC-BARRIER DISCHARGE PROCESSING OF NO IN N-2

Experimental results on pulsed corona and dielectric-barrier discharge processing of very dilute concentrations of NO in N-2 are presented. These NO reduction experiments measure the G value for electron-impact dissociation of N-2 and are used to infer the effective electron mean energy in an N-2 discharge plasma at atmospheric pressure. The data h ave been obtained from three different laboratories using widely diffe ring electrode structures, voltage wave forms, power measurements, and chemical analyses. The NO reduction yields from the discharge reactor s tested are all similar, corresponding to an electron mean energy of 4.0+/-0.5 eV. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.