REACTION-KINETICS AND CHEMICAL QUASI-EQUILIBRIA OF THE OZONE SYNTHESIS IN OXYGEN DC DISCHARGES

The spatial distribution of ozone and of oxygen atoms was studied alon g the active and the passive zone of a de discharge (positive column, pressure: p = (4...10). 10(2) Pa, current: I = 2...50 mA, now rate: F = 5...100 seem) in flowing oxygen. The composition of the final output O-2/O-3-mixture is controlled by relaxation processes in the passive reactor zone. It is affected sensitively by the total number density a nd the gas temperature in the afterglow. Steady states meaning reversi ble chemical quasi-equilibria were observed and analysed extensively. Within a detailed kinetic model the formation of these equilibria can be explained quantitatively. The synthesis to ozone is controlled abov e all by the metastable O-2 (a(1) Delta(g)) species; which modify dras tically the results for the basic mechanism, considering the O atoms i n the P-3 and D-1 states.