The interaction of carbon dioxide and hydrogen in the corona due to alternating currents of high frequency

The development of the technique of the generation of alternating current by means of thermionic devices having rendered possible the production of currents of the order of five ampéres at frequencies of the order of ten million cycles per second, an investigation was planned of the chemical effects in gases due to the ionisation produced by such currents. The reaction between carbon dioxide and hydrogen appeared suitable for a preliminary investigation. All the experiments now to be described have been carried out at a frequency of fifteen million cycles per second. It will be recalled that earlier investigators using that exceedingly indefinite source of electrical energy, the induction coil, and others using low-frequency alternating current, have recorded the formation of formic acid and formaldehyde. Contrary to expectation, therefore, is the water-gas equilibrium which has been observed as the result of a high-frequency corona. This has been investigated from both sides over a considerable pressure range.