engleski

Non-ideal flow in an annular photocatalytic reactor

The objective of the present work was to analyze the effect of different flow modes on the performance of the photocatalytic reactor used for purification of air. For this purpose photocatalytic oxidation of toluene was used as the model reaction. Photocatalytic reactor was operated in two different flow modes: classic type of an annular reactor with basically ideal (plug) flow with some extent of dispersion (reactor A) and annular flow reactor acted as stirred tank reactor with mixing of reaction mixture accomplished by recirculation (reactor B). The present work comprises two sections. In the first one, hydrodynamics inside the reactor without presence of the chemical reaction is examined. Stimulus- response technique was applied and some flow models were tested to describe real fluid flow through the reactors. It was found that the axial dispersion model fits well the response data for reactor A. Flow through the reactor B is well described by the simple model of ideal mixing with the mean residence time as adjustable parameter. Also, the CFD modeling results indicated the non-uniform flow distribution in the both actual annular reactors, especially in the entrance region. The second part of paper deals with investigation of the photocatalytic oxidation at various reaction conditions and performed in two different reactor configurations (reactor A and B). Several reactor models are applied, 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 the continuous non-stationary stirred tank reactor. Numerical methods necessary for solving model equations and parameter estimation were described. Finally, the validation procedure for the all models used in this study was presented and the obtained results are discussed.

annular photocatalytic reactor ; toluene oxidation ; TiO2 ; CFD reactor modelling

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