Ozone Generation Study for Indoor Air Purification from Volatile Organic Compounds Using a Cold Corona Discharge Plasma Model

Abstract

Human health is directly affected by indoor environmental quality, and researchers are still working on innovative techniques to remove several pollutants from indoor air, such as non-thermal plasma processes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanism of ozone production for air purification from volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using symmetric corona discharge. A numerical simulation is performed using COMSOL Multiphysics v.5.1. software based on an electrical and chemical model. The agreement between simulated current–voltage characteristics and experimental results is satisfactory. In addition, the distributions of the charged particle density, the electrical field, and ozone (O3) particle density are illustrated in symmetric geometry. The role of key parameters in determining ozone stability for reducing VOCs from indoor air is determined to enhance air purification using corona discharges. A 45% reduction in voltage reduces the ozone generation rate by nearly 90%. The total amount of ozone decreases with a rise in the temperature. At higher temperatures, a reduction in ozone density is observed in the drift zone. In addition, the ozone generation rate is reduced by 40%, using 0.1 mm tungsten discharge wire instead of 0.2 mm. Using air (80% N2) rather than pure oxygen in any commercial ozonizer produces lower ozone yields. Numerical results show significant findings indicating that ozone generation has a critical role in removing VOCs from indoor air.