Abstract—The photocatalytic reactors can operate using catalyst suspended in the solution or immobilized on various supports. Photocatalytic reactors with suspended catalyst give much better contact between the photocatalyst and dissolved impurities comparing to reactors with immobilized catalyst. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a promising photocatalyst, when exposed to sunlight or UV rays, it decomposes the phenol present in wastewater. The available reactors are not so efficient in terms of light contact pattern. The aim of the present study was to design the new reactor and analyze its performance for removal of phenol from water with Titanium dioxide as the photocatalyst. The various parameters were studied to observe the behavior of designed reactor like variations in the initial feed concentration of phenol, mass of catalyst, and change in the intensity of UV light & its source, and aeration of the system. The reactor performance was evaluated on the basis on change in concentration with respect to time. The performance of the reactor was studied by running the reactor in fluidized state for a known feed concentration of phenol. The designed reactor has given a better degradation of phenol up to 95.27 % within one hours of time, which when compared to existing conversion of 94 % in two hours.
Index Terms—Photo catalytic reactor, Phenol, Titaniumdioxide, UV light.
R.M. Abhang and Deepak Kumar, are with the Department of Chemical Engineering, Sir Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Chincholi, Nashik,(M.S.) India. (Corresponding author: Phone: +919604763202. E-mail:abhang387@yahoo.com).
S. V. Taralkar is with the Department of Chemical Engineering, MAEER, Maharashtra Academy of Engineering, Alandi, Pune (M.S.-India) (Email:suyogkumartaralkar@yahoo.co.in. Phone: +919011332500).
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Cite: R. M. Abhang, Deepak Kumar and S. V. Taralkar, "Design of Photocatalytic Reactor for Degradation ofPhenol in Wastewater," International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 337-341, 2011.
