engleski

Non-ideal flow in an annular photocatalytic reactor

The objective of the present work was to analyze the effect of different operating variables and the reactor design parameters on the performance of the photocatalytic reactor used for air purification. For this purpose, photocatalytic oxidation of toluene was used as the model reaction. Photocatalytic reactor was operated in two different modes: classic type of annular reactor and annular flow reactor under recirculation mode. The present paper is comprised of two sections. In the first one, hydrodynamics inside the reactor without the presence of chemical reaction is described. Response data was monitored and analyzed using different models in order to describe fluid flow. It was concluded from the axial dispersion model that significant dispersion in experimental system was present. The CFD modeling results indicate non-uniform flow distribution in the actual annular reactor, especially in the entrance region. The second part of this paper deals with the photocatalytic oxidation at different reaction conditions by using different reactor configurations. Several reactor models are developed, such as one-dimensional (1D) model of tubular reactor at the steady-state conditions, axial dispersion model at non-stationary conditions and the model of continuous non-stationary stirred tank reactor corresponding to different operating conditions. Analysis of responses to the step input disturbance in the presence of chemical reaction by using the dispersion model has shown a significant effect of dispersion based on the estimated value of the Peclet number. Finally, the experimental validation procedure for all models proposed in this study was presented, and the obtained results are discussed.

air purification ; photocatalytic oxidation of toluene ; hydrodynamics ; reactor models

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