Characteristics of the photocatalytic reactor with an annular array of glass tubes surrounding a light source: 1. Selection of a light source and photocatalyst support
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- Fukinbara Satoru
- Department of Biochemical Engineering and Science, Faculty of Computer Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology
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- Shiraishi Fumihide
- Department of Biochemical Engineering and Science, Faculty of Computer Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology
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- Nakano Katsuyuki
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Fukuoka University
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Description
In a series of two papers, the performance of a photocatalytic reactor, where a light source is surrounded by an annular array of 19 transparent glass tubes, giving a zigzag-flow path as a whole, has been studied both experimentally and theoretically. In this first paper, the kinds of light source and glass material for such a reactor have been investigated based on the photocatalytic decomposion of 2, 4-dinitrophenol (DNP) in batch-recirculation and continuous-flow modes. The UV light of a blacklight fluorescent lamp was found to permeate through not only a quartz glass tube but also a Pyrex glass tube without reducing its light intensity. The same result was obtained with a white fluorescent lamp. Similarly, the UV light emitted from a germicidal lamp permeated through a quartz glass without reducing its light intensity, but it did not permeate through a Pyrex glass, which resulted in a remarkable reduction in the rate of DNP decomposition. When Pyrex glass tubes were used as a support, the blacklight fluorescent lamp gave a maximum reactor activity. However, the use of the germicidal lamp caused a marked reduction in the rate of DNP decomposition because the Pyrex glass tube completely blocked off the UV light with a wavelength of 254 nm. In the photocatalytic reactor using quartz glass tubes as a support, a rapid DNP decomposition occurred with the germicidal lamp than with other light sources. The white fluorescent lamp gave a slower decomposition of DNP because of a low content of the UV light. Furthermore, when glass beads coated with titanium oxide were packed in Pyrex glass tubes, DNP was more rapidly decomposed using three kinds of the light sources. From the standpoint of the practical use, it is concluded that a combination of the blacklight fluorescent lamp with Pyrex glass tubes is reasonable for the type of the photocatalytic reactor investigated here.
Journal
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- Eco-Engineering
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Eco-Engineering 13 (2), 1-10, 2001
The Society of Eco-Engineering
