Enhancement of Energy Yield for Ozone Production via Packed-Bed Reactors

The present work aims to enhance the energy yield of ozone production via packed-bed reactors. It has been experimentally demonstrated that ozone concentration and corresponding energy yield achieved by packed-bed reactors are significantly higher than that achieved by DBD only. The so-called packed-bed reactor is constructed by packing granular dielectric pellets within a DBD reactor. Two kinds of dielectric materials including glass beads and Al₂O₃ pellets are tested. Experimental results indicate that an ozone generator packed with Al₂O₃ pellets results in a higher ozone production compared with one packed with glass beads. The maximum ozone production takes place when Al₂O₃ pellets with diameter of 2 mm are packed. The maximum ozone concentration, ozone production rate, and energy yield achieved in this study are 61 gO₃/m³, 3.7 gO₃/hr, and 173 gO₃/kWh, respectively. The highest ozone concentration and energy yield achieved with the packed-bed reactor are about 8 and 12 times high as those with DBD reactor, respectively. Although the packed-bed reactors have a shortcoming of high temperature, it can be solved by adding a cooling system and the ozone generation can be improved thereof. As a result, the packed-bed reactor is a promising and state-of-the-art technology for ozone generation based on this study.