About the Role of Ozone in Air Purification From Vapors of Volatile Organic Compounds by Pulsed Discharges

Air purification from vapors of volatile organic compounds by non-equilibrium plasma generated by discharges is always accompanied by the formation of ozone. Ozone is a highly toxic gas, so it is very important to know what part of it goes to destroy impurities, and which is in excess. Organic compounds have a wide variety of reactivity, so ozone reacts with them at different rates. Using the method of competing reactions by means of groups of model mixtures, the relative reactivity of compounds of different classes in relation to ozone was estimated. As an example, studies of the effect of a pulsed corona discharge with duration of 20–45 ns on air with admixtures of carbonyl, aromatic and unsaturated compounds are presented. It is shown that unsaturated compounds have the highest activity in relation to ozone. This research will be useful for the development of combined plasma-catalytic methods of air purification.