Abstract: The present invention relates to the corona discharge-induced cracking of hydrogen-containing gas into molecular hydrogen and at least one by-product, or the production of molecular hydrogen and at least one by-product, or the production of downstream products from the molecular hydrogen and/or the at least one by-product. To this end, hydrogen-containing gas is fed via a gas supply line into a gas-tight reaction chamber with exactly one plasma electrode. The gas-tight reaction chamber is enclosed by a wall that is designed to electrically insulate the plasma electrode from an outside of the wall. The plasma electrode is connected to a high-frequency generator that provides high-frequency alternating voltage and generates corona discharges in the reaction chamber by means of the high-frequency alternating voltage. This results in the cracking of hydrogen-containing gas into molecular hydrogen and at least one by-product. The molecular hydrogen is discharged from the reaction chamber via a gas discharge line.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of purifying water contaminated with at least one wastewater substance, wherein the wastewater substance has at least one compound with a binding energy that is lower than the binding energy of a simple hydrogen-oxygen bond. The method comprises the following steps: Providing the contaminated water to a specified fill level in an ungrounded water reservoir within a reaction chamber; applying a high-frequency alternating voltage to precisely one flat cooled plasma electrode arranged at a specified distance above the fill level of the water reservoir at atmospheric pressure, such that a plasma forms in the high-frequency field between the plasma electrode and a surface of the water, the energy input of the plasma being sufficient to dissociate compounds with a binding energy that is lower than or equal to that of a simple hydrogen-oxygen bond; and measuring the concentration of the at least one wastewater substance.