Abstract
Phenolic compounds in wastewater (even at low levels) are found to be quite toxic to humans due to their carcinogenic effects. Photocatalysis has been widely studied for the removal of phenol from industrial wastewater. In this study, photocatalytic oxidation of phenol, under UV irradiation in the presence of TiO2, has been numerically investigated. Phenol mass balance and forward finite difference method (explicit) along with various assumed/calculated parameters, from previous works, were used to numerically plot phenol concertation profiles in water with different initial phenol concentrations. Phenol compounds were observed to be totally oxidized at the bottom of the reactor and the maximum conversion rates occur near the reactor walls. It was found that higher irradiation times increase phenol oxidation rates due to higher water hydrolysis. Oxidation rate of phenol (consumption) increases with the increase in initial phenol concentration.
Highlights
Photocatalytic reactor is a reactor in which a chemical reaction can take place when there is enough light and catalyst
Photocatalysis gets the benefits of light and utilizes its energy, using light irradiation, to activate the added catalyst substances that modify the chemical reaction rate without being involved and/or consumed [1, 2]
Kinetic developments normally depend on the perceived reaction mechanism which explicitly refers to the spatial variations of the local volumetric rate of photon absorption (LVRPA) produced by the inevitable radiation profiles existing in the photoreactor [33]
Summary
Photocatalytic reactor is a reactor in which a chemical reaction can take place when there is enough light and catalyst. Catalysis refers to the developments in chemical reaction rates for the transformation of reactants into products by the addition of an inert substance that does not get consumed and does not alter the desired product. Catalyst substances increase reaction rates by reducing the required activation energy for that reaction. Photocatalysis gets the benefits of light and utilizes its energy, using light irradiation, to activate the added catalyst substances that modify the chemical reaction rate without being involved and/or consumed [1, 2]. The difference between chlorophyll and synthesized titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalysts [4], is that chlorophyll molecules absorb energy from sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose, whereas TiO2 creates strong oxidation agents and electronic holes to breakdown the organic matter to carbon dioxide and water when light is available [3, 4]
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