ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION Ozone was identified as a new chemical compound by Schonbein in 1839 (Schonbein, 1840). Its composition as a three-atomic version of the nor mally two-atomic oxygen molecule was suggested by Soret (1865). While Schonbein obtained traces of ozone by the electrolytic decomposition of water, Werner von Siemens (1857) found a method of reliably generating larger amounts of ozone by passing air or oxygen through a special electri cal gas discharge. This silent discharge, which is also referred to as the dielectric barrier discharge, is a high-pressure nonequilibrium discharge. It is still used for large-scale industrial ozone production.
