Arbitrarily located microwave discharges as a means of cleansing the atmosphere of impurities that destroy the ozone layer

Journal Article · Tue Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · Soviet Journal of Plasma Physics

OSTI ID:416186

Askar`yan, G A; Batanov, G M; Barkhudarov, A E; Gritsinin, S I; Korchagina, E G; Kossyi, I A; Silakov, V P; Tarasova, N M

It is proposed to use intense microwave beams to cleanse the atmospheric pool of freon contaminants (CF{sub 2}Cl{sub 2}, CFCl{sub 3}, etc.), which act destructively on the earth`s ozone layer. The possibility of exciting an arbitrarily located microwave discharge in the troposphere is considered. A relation is established between the amount of freon destroyed and the discharge parameters, the energy expended for this purpose is estimated, and the possible undesirable consequences of the associated phenomena (e.g., the formation of nitrogen oxides) are analyzed. The mechanism of dissociative attachment of electrons produced in the cold decaying plasma of the pulsed microwave discharge is assumed to be the main mechanism leading to the dissociation of chlorofluorocarbons. Results are presented from a model laboratory experiment, in which the efficiency with which freon impurities are dissociated under the action of the discharge excited in air by a beam of high-power microwave radiation is studied under conditions close to those in free space. The results of the experiment are consistent with the conclusions that follow from analyzing the elementary processes responsible for destruction of the freon components. 32 refs., 7 figs.

• OSTI ID: 416186
• Journal Information: Soviet Journal of Plasma Physics, Journal Name: Soviet Journal of Plasma Physics Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 18; ISSN SJPPDC; ISSN 0360-0343
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
MICROWAVE RADIATION
OZONE LAYER
PRODUCTION
REMOVAL
TROPOSPHERE