Ozone generator

A continuous ozone generator, comprising:

• a container (7) having closed ends, a cooling inlet (11), a cooling outlet (12), a gas inlet (E) and a gas outlet (S);
• plural tubes (10) located within the container (7), the tubes (10) constituting an external electrode (2), each of the tubes (10) including an internal electrode (1) positioned therein;
• a dielectric (3) positioned between the internal electrode (1) of each tube (10) and an inside surface of each tube (10),
• wherein a space between the internal electrode (1) of each tube (10) and the inside surface of each tube (10) defines a discharge gap (4) for circulation of a gas charged with oxygen between the gas inlet (E) and the gas outlet (S),
• wherein the internal electrode (1) of each tube (10) is comprised of at least a first tubular segment (1.1a1) and at least a second tubular segment (1.1b1) with the at least second tubular segment being positioned downstream of the at least first tubular segment in a direction of flow of the gas, each of the at least first tubular segment and each of the at least second tubular segment having closed ends;
• an electrically insulating break (6) located within each tube (10) and separating each of the at least first tubular segment from each of the at least second tubular segment within each tube (10),
• wherein each of the at least first tubular segment within each tube (10) are electrically connected in parallel with the at least first tubular segment within each other tube (10) to define a first group of first tubular segments (1a), and
• wherein each of the at least second tubular segment within each tube (10) are electrically connected in parallel with the at least second tubular segment within each other tube (10) to define a second group of second tubular segments (1b),
• the first group of first tubular segments being electrically separated from the second group of second tubular segments by the electrically insulating break (6) located within each tube (10), and
• the first group of first tubular segments (1a) being closer to the gas inlet (E) and the second group of second tubular segments (1b) being closer to the gas outlet (S);
• a cooling system that supplies a coolant into the cooling inlet (11), into a space (13) surrounding the tubes, and out the cooling outlet (12), the cooling system for cooling the generator;
• a first electric supply stage (PSU1) connected to the first group of first tubular segments for supplying a first electric current for i) establishing a first voltage in a first region of the discharge gaps between the first group of first tubular segments (1a) and the inside surface of each tube (10) adjacent the first group of first tubular segments, and ii) bringing about discharges in the discharge gaps where the gas is circulating in the first region of the discharge gaps, wherein the first electric supply stage is one of the group consisting of a pulsed electric supply and a non-pulsed electric supply;
• a second electric supply stage (PSU2) connected to the second group of second tubular segments for supplying a second electric current for i) establishing a second voltage in a second region of the discharge gaps between the second group of second tubular segments (1b) and the inside surface of each tube (10) adjacent the second group of second tubular segments, and ii) bringing about discharges in the discharge gaps where the gas is circulating in the second region of the discharge gaps, wherein the second electric supply stage is one of the group consisting of the pulsed electric supply and the non-pulsed electric supply;
• a first control system (G1) connected to the first electric supply stage (PSU1), the first control system (G1) configured, based on a determined local concentration of ozone in the first region of the discharge gaps, to act on at least one of the group consisting of power, voltage, current, frequency, waveform, and cyclic ratio of the first electrical supply stage (PSU1);
• and
• a second control system (G2) connected to the second electrical supply stage (PSU2), the second control system (G2) configured, based on a determined local concentration of ozone in the second region of the discharge gaps, to act on at least one of the group consisting of power, voltage, current, frequency, waveform, and cyclic ratio of the second electrical supply stage (PSU2),
• wherein the first control system (G1) and the second control system (G2) are configured to independently respectively control each of the first and second electrical supply stages (PSU1, PSU2), said independent respective control of each of the first and second electrical supply stages (PSU1, PSU2) depending on different values of the determined local concentrations of ozone in each of the first region of the discharge gaps and the second region of the discharge gaps to provide respectively a first power (P1) and a second power (P2), the first control system (G1) and the second control system (G2) each being further configured to provide a respective relative percentage of a total power (P1+P2) of the first and second power (P1, P2) based on a total production of ozone from the generator, the first control system (G1) being configured to control greater than 50% percentage of the total power (P1+P2) during a first total production amount of ozone and the second control system (G2) being configured to control greater than 50% percentage of the total power (P1+P2) during a second total production amount of ozone, thereby optimizing respective power provided by the first electrical supply stage (PSU1) and second electrical supply stage (PSU2).