Modeling of radiation absorption in a flat plate photocatalytic reactor

The radiation field inside a flat-plate photocatalytic reactor has been modeled. The solid-liquid heterogeneous reactor is irradiated by two tubular lamps and two parabolic reflectors. The model accounts for absorption and scattering effects by the solid suspension. From the lamp and reflector characteristics, the catalyst properties and concentration, and the reactor dimensions, the model provides a detailed description of the spatial and angular direction distributions of radiation intensities inside the reactor. These results permit to calculate at each point of the reactor the local value of the volumetric rate of radiation energy absorption (LVREA), a property that is always required to formulate the initiation rate of any photocatalytic process.