Photocatalytic oxidation of ketone group volatile organic compounds in an intensified fluidized bed reactor using nano-TiO2/UV process: An experimental and modeling study

Abstract

The present study compares the photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) of the ketone group volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in an annular fluidized bed photo-reactor (AFBPR). For this aim, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) were chosen as model pollutants. The influences of initial concentration, superficial gas velocity and relative humidity (RH) were studied on both the conversion and mineralization of ketones. The findings showed that the degradation of the studied pollutants in the AFBPR was in a similar range. In contrast to VOC conversion, the mineralization of MIBK was lower than the two other ketones. In the simulation part, an integrated modeling procedure was applied in order to simulate the AFBPR. Simple two-phase (STP), dynamic two-phase (DTP) and generalized bubbling/turbulent (GBT) models were chosen as the hydrodynamic sub-models. These hydrodynamic models were integrated and combined with the desired reaction kinetic sub-models to describe the reactor behaviors. The accuracy of the models was evaluated by the experimental results obtained from this study and the data collected from the literature.