Design, modelling and experimentation of a new large-scale photocatalytic reactor for water treatment

Recent literature has demonstrated on a laboratory scale the potential of semiconductor photocatalysis technology to completely destroy organic pollutants present in water. However, to date no viable pilot plant exists using this technology. In this paper, a new reactor design is presented that addresses the two most important parameters; namely, light distribution inside the reactor and high specific surface area of catalyst. The reactor consists of several hollow tubes employed as a means of light delivery to the catalyst present on the outside surface of the tubes. Simple model calculations were performed to evaluate the radial light intensity profile as a function of input light intensity and angle of incidence, diameter, length, wall thickness and surface roughness of tubes. A reactor was designed and constructed based on the modelling results, and when experiments were conducted showed very promising results. The new reactor aims at developing a technical solution to the design of a commercial scale photocatalytic reactor. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.