Numerical simulation of an oxygen-fed wire-

to-cylinder positive corona discharge

K. Yanallah
#1
, Y. Meslem
#2
, Y. Bekaoual
#3
and F.Pontiga
*1


#1,2,3
Laboratory of Electrical Engineering and Plasmas
1
yanallahkh@yahoo.fr
2
ymeslem@yahoo.fr
3
y.bekaoual@yahoo.fr
*1 Dpt
. Fsica Aplicada II, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain.
1
Pontiga@us.es

Abstract Positive corona discharge in flowing oxygen has
been numerically simulated for a wire-to-cylinder electrode
geometry. The corona discharge is modelled using a fluid
approximation. The 2D spatial distribution of charged and
neutral species is obtained by solving the corresponding
continuity equations, which include the relevant plasma-
chemical kinetics. Continuity equations are coupled with
Poissons equation and the energy conservation equation,
since the reaction rate constants may depend on the electric
field and temperature. The experimental values of the
current-voltage characteristic are used as input data into the
numerical calculations. The validation of the model is
achieved by comparing the ozone density measured in
experiments with that predicted by the numerical simulation.
The role played by different reactions and chemical species is
analyzed, and the effect of electrical and geometrical
parameters on ozone generation is investigated.

Keywords Corona discharge; Fluid model; Chemical
reactions; Ozone production; Gas flow.
I. INTRODUCTION
The importance of the ozone molecule its due to its
strong oxidant properties [1], its used for air cleaners,
water purification, gas treatment, etc. [2],[3] and [4].
That signifies that the efficiency of ozone production is
very important parameter. Many studies has been devoted
to understand the mechanism generation of ozone in
electric discharge [5],[6] and [7]. In order to contribute to
these works we present in this paper numerical study of
ozone production by electric positive corona discharge.
In the past, the authors have also investigated the
generation of ozone in wire-cylinder geometry using
negative [8] and positive [9] corona. The electrical
discharge was modelled as stationary and symmetrical
around the corona wire, as done by other investigators
[10-12]. However, in these previous studies, the corona
discharge reactor was assumed to operate in flow-stopped
conditions, that is, no gas flow was imposed along the
cylinder. Therefore, the numerical model was one-
dimensional, and the electric field and species distribution
were determined as a function of the radial distance. In
contrast, in the present work, an axial gas flow is assumed
to exist through the cylinder, and a two-dimensional
numerical model is used in order to determine the axial
and radial distribution of charged and neutral species.
Thus, the corona reactor will operate as an ionizer, where
pure oxygen enters the cylinder and ozone and other by-
products are collected at the exit. Contrary to other
studies [10-11], [13-15] the governing equations will be
simultaneously solved for all species, thus providing a
revealing picture of the interplay between electrons,
neutral species and the different types of ions.
In corona discharge, ozone is generated when an
electrical discharge occurs between two conductors
separated by discharge gap (wire and cylinder) Fig. 1, and
feed with oxygen flowing between the electrodes. The
corona discharge is initiated when the electric field near
the wire is sufficient to ionize the gaseous species. The
minimum electric field is a function of the wire radius, the
surface roughness of the wire, air temperature, and
pressure.


wire
positive ion
negative ion
electron
drift region
ionization
region
ionization
boundary
cylinder
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

+


Fi.1 Schematic of the structure of positive corona discharge between a
wire and a cylinder.

In the positive corona discharge high positive
voltage is applied to the wire discharge electrode and the
cylinder is grounded. The free electrons produced
naturally in the gas are accelerated by the high electric
field near the wire and causing the production of pairs
electron-positive ion through inelastic collisions. The new
electrons are accelerated by the electric field and produce
further ionization. Secondary electrons produced by
photonionisation process in the plasma region sustain the
discharge.
II. SIMULATION METHOD
A. The Model
In the present work, the electrical discharge will be
assumed to be stationary in time ( 0 / = c c t ) and
symmetrical about the corona wire. Therefore, the spatial
distribution of species, temperature and electric field will
be described in terms of cylindrical coordinates r and z
(2D problem), with r
0
< r < R and 0 < z < L (see figure).
The governing equations can then be rewritten as:
,
| |
1
i i i
i
i
S E N
e
e
r
r r
=

c
c
u
(1)
,
1
j
j
j
j
z
S
r
N
D
r r z
N
v =

c
c
c
c

c
c
(2)
( ) ,
1
ion v
J E
r
T
k r
r r
T c
z
v
z

c
c
c
c
=
c
c
p (3)
, with ,
1
) (
1
r
E N e rE
r r
i
i i
c
c
= =
c
c

o
c
(4)
Where N
i
stand for the density the ith species, and S
i

represents its net production rate, which is determined by
different gain and loss terms. E is the electric field, e
i
, u
i

and D
i
denote the electrical charge, mobility and diffusion
coefficient of the ith species. p and T stand for gas density
and temperature, c
v
is the specific gas heat capacity at
constant volume, and the last term accounts for Joule
heating due to the ion current density,
ion
J . c is the gas
permittivity.
The chemical model considered in this paper is identical to
the one described in [8]. It includes 15 chemical species
and 38 reactions of different type: electron impact
reactions (ionization, electron attachment, excitation,
dissociation, etc.), reactions between ions and neutral
particles (charge transfer, electron detachment) and
reactions between neutral molecules and atoms in their
ground and excited states. The selection of species and
reactions was based in previous studies [16-17].

Integration of (1)-(4) must be performed subject to the
appropriate boundary conditions. Due to Coulomb
repulsion, the densities of positive ions on the wire and
negative ions on the cylinder must vanish,
)
`

=
=
ions. negative for , 0 ) (
ions, positive for , 0 ) (
0
R N
r N
i
i
(5)
In our model, the process of photo-ionization is indirectly
taken into account through the boundary condition for the
current intensity. At the wire, the computed current
intensity is forced to match its experimental value, I,
. at , 2
0 0 0
r r E N Le r I
i
i i
= =

u t (6)
At the inlet of the cylinder, the gas composition is pure
oxygen, O
2
. Therefore, the number densities of all other
neutral species is taken as zero,
( ) . 0 0 , = r N
j
(7)
On the surface of the wire and of the cylinder, two
different situations can be found. On the one hand, the
neutralization of ions gives rise to the generation of
neutral species (e.g. O is transformed into O on the
anode). Therefore, the ion drift will be balanced by the
molecular diffusion of the neutral species,

. all for , and/or at , 0
0 0
z R r r r
dr
dN
D e E N e
j
j i i i
= = = u
(8)
However, the neutralization of O
3
on the anode must also
consider the possibility of ozone decomposition into
molecular oxygen. This decomposition reaction is
catalyzed by the presence of the electrode wall, and it is
characterized by a certain decomposition coefficient, o
[16]
. at ,
3 3
3
3
3 O O
O
O
O
R r E N N
dr
dN
D = + =

u o (9)
In this work, the value
4
10 88 . 2

= o cm/s will be taken
as representative for stainless steel [18].
For the rest of neutral species, a zero diffusion flux is
imposed on the wire and on the cylinder wall,
. all for , and/or at , 0
0
z R r r r
dr
dN
D
j
j
= = = (10) (14)
Regarding the gas temperature, the cylinder surface is
assumed to be at room temperature, since this electrode is
in direct contact with the ambient air,
K. 298 ) , ( = z R T (11)
On the wire, a zero heat flux is imposed along the
electrode,
. all for , at , 0
0
z r r
r
T
= =
c
c
(12)
Finally, boundary conditions are imposed on the electrical
potential. On the surface of the wire, the potential is equal
to the applied voltage, while the cylinder is grounded,
. 0 ) ( , ) (
0
= = R V r o o (13)

B. Experiment
The reactor discharge under study consisted of a wire-
to-cylinder coaxial electrode system, with total length L =
5 cm. The cylinder was made of plain steel, with inner
radius R, while the cathode wire was made of tungsten,
with radius r = 0.0625 cm. The wire was subjected to
positive DC high voltage, and the cylinder was connected
to ground. The discharge cell was fed with high purity
oxygen (99.995%).The discharge cell was placed inside
the UV-visible spectrophotometer and ozone
concentration was determined by applying Beer-Lambert's
law in the range of wavelengths 190-300 nm.

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The calculation was carried out under the experiment
conditions above at atmospheric pressure and room
temperature. The gas flow Q was 100 cm
3
.min
-1
,
corresponds to a gas velocity v
g
= Q / S0,5 cm/s (S: the
surface of the cylinder). So, the residence time of the gas
in the reactor volume is equal: T
r
= v
g
/L10 s.
The radial and axial distribution of the species
densities and have been computed for different values of
the applied voltages. Figure 2 shows the radial distribution
of neutral species at the outlet of the gas form the cylinder
for the case V = 6,2 kV and Q = 100 cm
3
/s, according to
the numerical simulation. Oxygen atoms are confined to
the region where the electron density is significant, that is,
the active region of the corona discharge. This is so
because this species is mainly produced by electron
impact with oxygen molecules,
e + O
2
O + O + e

, (R1)
O + O(
1
D) + e

, (R2)
and it is consumed in the generation of ozone molecules
via a three body reaction with oxygen,
O + O
2
+ O
2
O
3
+ O
2
, (R3)
Since O
2
concentration in weakly affected by the electrical
discharge, the source and sink rates of oxygen atoms are
constant along the axial direction. In addition, the
characteristic lifetime of oxygen atoms, t
k
~ (k
25
[O
2
]
2
)
-1
~
210
-4
s, is very short compared with diffusion time in the
radial direction, t
D
~ R
2
/D ~ 3 s, or the residence time of
the gas inside the cylinder, t
z
~ L/v
z
~ 10 s. Therefore,
radial diffusion and advection of oxygen atoms in the
direction of the flow are negligible.


0,01 0,1 1
10
4
10
6
10
8
10
10
10
12
10
14
10
16


N
(
c
m
-
3
)
Radial distance, r (cm)
O
O
3
O(
1
D)
O
2
(
1
A
g
)
O
2
(
1
E
g
)
O
3
*
O
2
*

Fig. 2 Radial distribution of neutral species at z = 5 cm,
V = 6,2 kV and Q = 100 cm
3
/min.


Ozone density distribution is shown in figure 3. At the
inlet of the gas (z < 10
-3
-10
-2
cm), ozone molecules are
concentrated in the active region of the electrical
discharge, where they are being generated according to
(R1). In the drift region, its number density is still low,
because the molecules have not had enough time to diffuse
in the radial direction, towards the anode. As the gas flows
towards the exit, molecular diffusion tends to reduce the
radial gradient of density, and there is a growth in
concentration in the axial direction due to the advection of
ozone.
0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0
0
1x10
15
2x10
15
3x10
15
4x10
15


O
3
(
c
m
-
3
)
Radial distance r (cm)
z =0 cm
z =0.05 cm
z =0.5 cm
z =2.5 cm
z =5.0 cm

Fig. 3 Radial distribution of ozone at different location along the axial
direction, for V = 6,2 kV and Q = 100 cm
3
/min.

The spatial distribution of O
2
(
1
A
g
), O
2
(
1
E
g
+
) and O
2
*

resemble each other (figures 4, 5 and 6), thus indicating
that these species probably share a similar chemical
kinetics. Indeed, the formation of these species occurs
primarily through electron-impact reactions with
molecular oxygen,


e + O
2
O
2
(
1

g
) + e (R4)
e + O
2
O
2
(
1

g
+
) + e (R5)
e + O
2
e + O
2
*
(R6)

0,02 0,04 0,06 0,08 0,10
0,0
2,0x10
12
4,0x10
12
6,0x10
12


O
2
(
1
A
g
)

(
c
m
-
3
)
Radial distance, r (cm)
z =0 cm
z =0.05 cm
z =0.5 cm
z =2.5 cm
z =5.0 cm

Fig. 4 Radial distribution of O2(
1
Ag), at different location along the axial
direction, for V = 6,2 kV and Q = 100 cm
3
/min.
0,01 0,1
0,0
5,0x10
12
1,0x10
13
1,5x10
13
2,0x10
13


O
2
(
1
E
g
)

(
c
m
-
3
)
Radial distance, r (cm)
z =0,0 cm
z =0,05 cm
z =0,5 cm
z =2,5 cm
z =5,0 cm

Fig. 5 Radial distribution of O2(
1
Eg
+
), at different location along the axial
direction, for V = 6,2 kV and Q = 100 cm
3
/min.

0,01 0,02 0,03 0,04
0,0
2,0x10
12
4,0x10
12
6,0x10
12
8,0x10
12
1,0x10
13


O
2
*
(
c
m
-
3
)
Radial distance r (cm)
z =0,0 cm
z =0,05 cm
z =0,5 cm
z =2,5 cm
z =5,0 cm

Fig. 6 Radial distribution of O2
*
, at different location along the axial
direction, for V = 6,2 kV and Q = 100 cm
3
/min.

At the inlet of the gas, where ozone concentration is still
low, generation dominates over losses, and O
2
(
1
A
g
),
O
2
(
1
E
g
+
) and O
2
*
start to form around the active region of
the electrical discharge. The advection of the gas makes
the number density of theses species to grow in the
direction of the flow. As the concentration of ozone rises,
these excited species start being quickly destroyed in
reactions with ozone,
O
2
(
1

g
) + O
3
O
2
+ O
2
+ O(
1
D) (R7)
O
2
(
1

g
+
) + O
3
O
2
+ O
3
(R8)
O
2
(
1

g
+
) + O
3
O
2
+ O
2
+ O (R9)
O
2
*
+ O
3
O
2
+ O
3
*
(R10)
Vibrationaly-excited ozone molecules, O
3
*
, are formed
from the de-excitation of O
2
*
with ozone (R10). Since the
reaction rate (R6) is slower than that of (R10), the rate of
generation of O
3
*
is limited by (R6). On the other hand,
de-excitation of O
3
*
occurs in collisions with molecular
oxygen,
O
3
*
+ O
2
O
2
+ O
3
(R11)
Therefore, both the generation and sink of O
3
*
are
controlled by reactions that involve, mainly, electrons and
O
2
, which are constant along the axial direction. This fact,
together with the short lifetime of O
3
*
, explain that this
species is spatially localized in the active region of the
corona. It is only at the entry of the cylinder, where ozone
concentration is still very low, that reaction (R10) limits
the formation of O
3
*
. In that region, O
3
*
increases with z as
ozone does too.
0,01
0,0
2,0x10
11
4,0x10
11
6,0x10
11
8,0x10
11


O
3
*
(
c
m
-
3
)
Radial distance, r (cm)
z =0,0 cm
z =0,05 cm
z =0,5 cm
z =2,5 cm
z =5,0 cm

Fig. 7 Radial distribution of O3
*
, at different location along the axial
direction, for V = 6,2 kV and Q = 100 cm
3
/min.

Since the ozone concentration increases in the axial
direction the concentration of O
3
+
also increases (figure
08) due to following reaction:
e + O
3
O
3
+
+ 2e (R12)
0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0
0,0
4,0x10
3
8,0x10
3
1,2x10
4
1,6x10
4


O
3
+
(
c
m
-
3
)
Radial distance, r (cm)
z =0,0 cm
z =0,05 cm
z =0,5 cm
z =2,5 cm
z =5,0 cm

Fig. 8 Radial distribution of O3
+
, at different location along the axial
direction, for V = 6,2 kV and Q = 100 cm
3
/min.
5,0 5,5 6,0 6,5 7,0 7,5 8,0
10
14
10
15
10
16
10
17


O
3
(
c
m
-
3
)
Applied Voltage (kV)
experimental
numerical

Fig. 9 Experimental and numerical results of ozone density as function of
the applied voltage for Q = 100 cm
3
/min.

The prediction of numerical simulation is compared with
the experimental measurements in Fig 9. In that figure the
average ozone concentration has been plotted as function
of the applied voltage for Q = 100 cm
3
/min. The results of
the simulation are in qualitative agreement with the
measured data.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper positive wire-to-cylinder corona discharge
with axial gas flow has been investigated using a fluid
model. In the model, the electric field is governed by
Gauss equation, and it is coupled with the species
densities and the reaction rates that are part of the
continuity equations. The 2D spatial distributions of
species have then been obtained by solving numerically
the differential equations. According to the results, the
radial average of ozone density always increases in the
direction of the flow. An acceptable agreement between
experiment and simulation was found for ozone
concentration.

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