Catalyst loading is an important parameter that needs to be optimized in the operation of photocatalytic slurry reactors. In this study on photocatalytic degradation of phenol, the optimum catalyst loading was found to depend mainly on the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration in the aqueous solution, especially at higher irradiation intensities. The estimated Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) kinetics constants were found to vary with light intensity and dissolved oxygen concentration. The intermediate products of photocatalytic oxidation were identified. © 2008 Springer.

Aravamudan Kannan

Department Of Chemical Engineering

IIT Madras is a public technical and research university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1959, it is recognised as an Institute of National Importance.

IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering institute in India for four years in a row by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the MHRD

It currently offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees across 16 disciplines in Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Management. About 596 faculty belonging to science and engineering departments and centres of the Institute are engaged in teaching, research and industrial consultancy.

IIT Madras

Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering

Batch photocatalytic degradation studies of phenol were conducted in an annular slurry reactor, to evaluate its performance under different operating and design conditions. The reactor had two concentric cylinders with the inner one rotating at specified revolutions per minute. The reactor also had provisions for aerating the slurry present in the annular gap. The inner cylinder housed the UV-lamps. The effects of catalyst loading (0-8 g/L), inner cylinder rotation speed (0-50 rpm), annular gap-width (7.5, 17.5 and 32.5 mm), initial pollutant concentration (10-50 mg/L) and mode of illumination (continuous or periodic) were studied. Light intensity received by the slurry was measured using Actinometry. Depending on the catalyst loading, annular gap-width and number of illuminated lamps the intensity values ranged from 0.58×10-4 to 6.4×10-4 Einsteins/L min. Under well mixed conditions, the reactor performance was found to increase with increase in catalyst loading. At low/medium annular gap width configurations, agitation induced by continuous aeration was found to provide sufficient mixing even when the inner cylinder was stationary. Rotation of the inner cylinder was required only in the high gap width configuration at high catalyst loadings. Scale-up of the reactor was investigated by increasing the gap-width of the annulus and hence increasing the quantity of feed processed. Controlled periodic illumination created by Taylor vortices did not show any improved performance over the regular continuous illumination. Modeling of reaction kinetics was investigated with different approaches and their efficacy in fitting the concentration-time trends of both the primary pollutant and the intermediates are discussed. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical Engineering Science

Photocatalytic degradation of phenol in a rotating annular reactor

A review on UV/TiO2 photocatalytic oxidation process (Journal Review)

Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry

An approach to estimating photocatalytic activity of TiO2 suspension by monitoring dissolved oxygen and superoxide ion on decomposing organic compounds

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

Pathways and Kinetics on Photocatalytic Destruction of Aqueous Phenol

Analytica Chimica Acta

Determination of phenol in the presence of its principal degradation products in water during a TiO2-photocatalytic degradation process by three-dimensional excitation–emission matrix fluorescence and parallel factor analysis

Degradation of chlorophenol by photocatalysts with various transition metals

Effect of dissolved oxygen concentration and light intensity on photocatalytic degradation of phenol

Journal	Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering
ISSN	02561115
Open Access	No