CFD modelling of an immobilised photocatalytic reactor for phenol degradation
Photocatalysis is an advanced oxidation process, which has been gaining attention as a sustainable technology for tackling pollution. Optimum design, fabrication and scaling up of novel photocatalytic reactors are faced with problems such as fabrication cost and numerous experimental trials for opti...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IWA Publishing
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Water Science and Technology |
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| Online Access: | http://wst.iwaponline.com/content/88/8/2121 |
| _version_ | 1827764984615010304 |
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| author | B. Devipriya Sreelal Mohanan Anupama Surenjan |
| author_facet | B. Devipriya Sreelal Mohanan Anupama Surenjan |
| author_sort | B. Devipriya |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Photocatalysis is an advanced oxidation process, which has been gaining attention as a sustainable technology for tackling pollution. Optimum design, fabrication and scaling up of novel photocatalytic reactors are faced with problems such as fabrication cost and numerous experimental trials for optimisation. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), a computer simulation technique can ease the process of scaling up photocatalytic reactors. The current study focuses on CFD modelling of a serpentine flow path photocatalytic reactor with curved baffles for phenol degradation. The investigation compared different reactor configurations to finalise the optimum design with maximum removal efficiency. Initially, a simple cuboidal reactor was chosen with an efficiency of 27%. However, with a serpentine flow path being introduced, the reactor displayed an improved efficiency of 42%. The addition of baffles improved flow homogeneity and degradation efficiency. The investigation showed that serpentine flow increased the residence time and fluid mixing, while the curved baffles prevented flow channelisation, which enhanced the degradation efficiency. Efficiencies corresponding to different baffle types and geometry were also compared and the final reactor design chosen was a horizontal curved baffled serpentine flow reactor with a flow rate of 0.3 L/s and improved efficiency of 43.1% for a residence time of 18.44 s.
HIGHLIGHTS
Photocatalytic degradation of phenol on different reactor geometries was investigated.;
Effect of serpentine flow path on photocatalytic degradation was studied using computational fluid dynamics.;
The effect of baffles on fluid flow and pollutant degradation was investigated.;
Optimum geometrical design for a serpentine flow baffled photocatalytic reactor for maximum photocatalytic degradation efficiency was obtained.; |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T11:12:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a2a04b220bcd4a84823ddf126012d1bd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0273-1223 1996-9732 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T11:12:41Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | IWA Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water Science and Technology |
| spelling | doaj.art-a2a04b220bcd4a84823ddf126012d1bd2023-11-11T12:15:00ZengIWA PublishingWater Science and Technology0273-12231996-97322023-10-018882121213510.2166/wst.2023.306306CFD modelling of an immobilised photocatalytic reactor for phenol degradationB. Devipriya0Sreelal Mohanan1Anupama Surenjan2 Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, P.O. Srinivasnagar, Mangalore 575025, India Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamilnadu 600036, India Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, P.O. Srinivasnagar, Mangalore 575025, India Photocatalysis is an advanced oxidation process, which has been gaining attention as a sustainable technology for tackling pollution. Optimum design, fabrication and scaling up of novel photocatalytic reactors are faced with problems such as fabrication cost and numerous experimental trials for optimisation. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), a computer simulation technique can ease the process of scaling up photocatalytic reactors. The current study focuses on CFD modelling of a serpentine flow path photocatalytic reactor with curved baffles for phenol degradation. The investigation compared different reactor configurations to finalise the optimum design with maximum removal efficiency. Initially, a simple cuboidal reactor was chosen with an efficiency of 27%. However, with a serpentine flow path being introduced, the reactor displayed an improved efficiency of 42%. The addition of baffles improved flow homogeneity and degradation efficiency. The investigation showed that serpentine flow increased the residence time and fluid mixing, while the curved baffles prevented flow channelisation, which enhanced the degradation efficiency. Efficiencies corresponding to different baffle types and geometry were also compared and the final reactor design chosen was a horizontal curved baffled serpentine flow reactor with a flow rate of 0.3 L/s and improved efficiency of 43.1% for a residence time of 18.44 s. HIGHLIGHTS Photocatalytic degradation of phenol on different reactor geometries was investigated.; Effect of serpentine flow path on photocatalytic degradation was studied using computational fluid dynamics.; The effect of baffles on fluid flow and pollutant degradation was investigated.; Optimum geometrical design for a serpentine flow baffled photocatalytic reactor for maximum photocatalytic degradation efficiency was obtained.;http://wst.iwaponline.com/content/88/8/2121bafflescfd modellingphenolphotocatalysisserpentine flow path |
| spellingShingle | B. Devipriya Sreelal Mohanan Anupama Surenjan CFD modelling of an immobilised photocatalytic reactor for phenol degradation Water Science and Technology baffles cfd modelling phenol photocatalysis serpentine flow path |
| title | CFD modelling of an immobilised photocatalytic reactor for phenol degradation |
| title_full | CFD modelling of an immobilised photocatalytic reactor for phenol degradation |
| title_fullStr | CFD modelling of an immobilised photocatalytic reactor for phenol degradation |
| title_full_unstemmed | CFD modelling of an immobilised photocatalytic reactor for phenol degradation |
| title_short | CFD modelling of an immobilised photocatalytic reactor for phenol degradation |
| title_sort | cfd modelling of an immobilised photocatalytic reactor for phenol degradation |
| topic | baffles cfd modelling phenol photocatalysis serpentine flow path |
| url | http://wst.iwaponline.com/content/88/8/2121 |
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