EFFICIENT PHOTO REACTOR FOR PHOTO OXIDATION OF ACETONE

Description

For a photocatalytic reaction, a simultaneous contact between the reactants, catalyst and light (photons) is necessary. In order to minimize the −/h recombination rate, the catalyst particles must be sufficiently small (tens of nanometers), which renders conventional mechanical filtration ineffective. For gas phase reaction applications, it is possible to monitor reactions spectroscopically as they proceed in situ. However, the catalysts have to be immobilized in order to achieve homogeneous illumination.
During the present work, a flow-type reactor was designed to achieve efficient degradation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of catalyst and light, using acetone as a model compound. Although several types of photo-reactors have been created and used in the literatures such as closed static reactors for gaseous reactants and solid catalyst which is either used as a free powder or immobilized on some supports such as quartz, wool, mesh etc., the light illumination in such photoreactors is less homogeneous. In such situations, the light illumination is improved, but the contact between the gaseous reactants and catalysts is significantly reduced.