Validation of a Three-parameters Hydrodynamic Model to Describe the non-ideal Flow in a Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor of the Electro-Fenton Oxidation of Organic Pollutants in Wastewater

Abstract

This research deals with the effect of the electrolyte flow behavior on electrochemical continuous stirred tank reactor performance. The reactor was simulated to remove organic pollutants from the wastewater and to determine the conditions for removal that will examine the effect of the electrolyte flow through the reactor. The flow behavior has been investigated using the pulse tracer technique at selected operating conditions. A model comprises three hydrodynamic parameters (bypass, active volume, and recirculation fractions) that have been used to analyze the residence time distribution. The modeling results indicate that with the increasing of the space-time, the bypass and the active volume fractions were decreasing, while the active volume of the reactor was decreasing. The obtained non-ideal space-time of the reactor using the hydrodynamic parameters and the relationship of the tracer concentration with time was much less than the ideal space-time, because of the great effect of bypassing fraction. Finally, the experimental results for the organic removal were closeted to the results that simulated at non-ideal space-time. This comparison proving a significant impact of non-ideal flow on the reactor performance, and showing that the proposed model was well-describing the behavior of the electrolyte through the reactor.