Method and apparatus for efficient surface generation of pure O3

An apparatus for generating ozone (O3) comprising;

• a chamber;
• a plasma source coupled to said chamber for producing an oxygen plasma from a supply of oxygen, the plasma including at least a mixture of O and O2 species;
• and
• a quencher disposed within said chamber primate an output of said plasma source for generation of ozone from the mixture of O and O2 species, said quencher configured to generate ozone by adsorption on a surface of said quencher, wherein the surface of said quencher includes a plurality of ozone generation surfaces located down-stream of said plasma source within a prescribed region of the oxygen plasma, the plurality of ozone generation surfaces including flow channels having inputs and outputs, the inputs disposed proximate the output of said plasma source, wherein the O and O2 species of the oxygen plasma operate to flow across the ozone generation surfaces, in which one of the O and O2 species of the oxygen plasma adsorbs to the ozone generation surfaces while the other of the O and O2 species of the oxygen plasma collides with the adsorbed species, to generate ozone;
• and
• means for controlling a temperature of said quencher in a prescribed manner for producing a desired form of liquid-phase or gas-phase ozone, said control means including at least one channel in thermal communication with said quencher suitable for passage of a prescribed coolant through the channel, said control means further including a controllable flow valve for controlling a flow rate of coolant through the channel.

A method for generating ozone (O3) comprising:

• providing a chamber;
• providing a plasma source coupled to the chamber for producing an oxygen plasma from a supply of oxygen, the plasma including at least a mixture of O and O2 species;
• and
• disposing a quencher within the chamber proximate an output of the plasma source for facilitating ozone generation from the mixture of O and O2 species, the quencher configured to generate ozone by adsorption on a surface provided by the quencher.

A method for generating ozone (O3) comprising:

• providing a chamber;
• providing a plasma source coupled to the chamber for producing an oxygen plasma from a supply of oxygen, the plasma including at least a mixture of O and O2 species;
• disposing a quencher within the chamber proximate an output of the plasma source for generation of ozone from the mixture of O and O2 species, the quencher configured to generate ozone by adsorption on a surface of the quencher, wherein the surface of the quencher includes a plurality of ozone generation surfaces located down-stream of the plasma source within a prescribed region of the oxygen plasma, the plurality of ozone generation surfaces including flow channels having inputs and outputs, the inputs disposed proximate the output of the plasma source, wherein the O and O2 species of the oxygen plasma flow across the ozone generation surfaces, in which one of the O and O2 species of the oxygen plasma adsorbs to the ozone generation surfaces while the other of the O and O2 species of the oxygen plasma collides with the adsorbed species, to generate ozone;
• and
• controlling a temperature of the quencher in a prescribed manner for producing a desired form of liquid-phase or gas-phase ozone, wherein controlling the temperature includes providing at least one channel in thermal communication with the quencher suitable for passage of a prescribed coolant through the channel and providing a controllable flow valve for controlling a flow rate of coolant through the channel.

A method of generating ozone (O8) comprising:

• supplying oxygen to a plasma source;
• igniting and producing an oxygen plasma with the plasma source, the oxygen plasma including a mixture of O and O2 species;
• and
• directing the oxygen plasma for movement over an ozone generation surface of a quencher, the ozone generation surface located down-stream of the plasma source within a prescribed region of the oxygen plasma, wherein the O and O2 species of the oxygen plasma flow across the ozone generation surface for generation of ozone from the mixture of O and O2 species, the quencher configured to generate ozone by adsorption on the ozone generation surface of the quencher.

An apparatus for generating a polyatomic form of a prescribed element comprising:

• a chamber;
• a plasma source coupled to said chamber for producing plasma of the prescribed element from a supply of the element in a gaseous state, the plasma including at least a mixture of single atomic and double atomic species of the prescribed element;
• and
• a quencher disposed within said chamber proximate an output of said plasma source for generation of the polyatomic form of the prescribed element from the mixture of single atomic and double atomic species of the prescribed element, said quencher configured to generate the polyatomic form of the prescribed element by adsorption on a surface of said quencher.

A system for processing media with ozone (O3) comprising:

• at least one processing vessel;
• means for disposing media to be processed into said at least one processing vessel;
• means for supplying ozone to said at least one processing vessel to facilitate a processing of the media by the ozone, said ozone supplying means including a chamber, a plasma source coupled to the chamber for producing an oxygen plasma from a supply of oxygen, the plasma including at least a mixture of O and O2 species, and a quencher disposed within the chamber proximate an output of the plasma source for generation of ozone from the mixture of O and O2 species, the quencher configured to generate ozone by adsorption on a surface of the quencher;
• and
• means for removing the processed media from said at least one processing vessel.

A method for processing media with ozone (O3) comprising:

• providing at least one processing vessel;
• disposing media to be processed into the at least one processing vessel;
• supplying ozone to the at least one processing vessel to facilitate a processing of the media by the ozone, wherein supplying ozone is provided by an ozone generator including a chamber, a plasma source coupled to the chamber for producing an oxygen plasma from a supply of oxygen, the plasma including at least a mixture of O and O2 species, and a quencher disposed within the chamber proximate an output of the plasma source for generation of ozone from the mixture of O and O2 species, the quencher configured to generate ozone by adsorption on a surface of the quencher;
• and
• removing the processed media from the at least one processing vessel subsequent to processing of the media by the ozone.