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Micro-structured packed bed reactors for solar photocatalysis: impacts of packing size and material on light harnessing

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Abstract

The application of photochemistry in larger scales relies on studies in photoreactor engineering. This report investigates the structural parameters of externally irradiated micro-structured photochemical packed bed reactors (PBRs). It reports on the impacts of the size and material of spherical packings on the reactor ability to harness incoming photons. Tubular reactors were built from borosilicate glass tubes of two outer diameters (20 and 30 mm) packed with soda-lime glass spheres of three average diameters (1.0, 3.0 and 6.0 mm), alumina spheres (6.0 mm dia.), and polished iron spheres (5.0 mm dia.). The aqueous-phase oxidation of benzoic acid by oxygen radicals generated by UV-A irradiation of nitrite ions was used as a model homogeneous photochemical reaction. It was observed that increasing the D/dp ratio for the narrower reactors led to improved specific yields (\({\tilde Y_{3.0mm}} = 1.05{\tilde Y_0}\)), suggesting that intensification is possible in these reactors. Lastly, it was found that glass spheres can be replaced by alumina spheres with considerably little loss in the light-collection efficiency (ca. 20%), indicating an attractive pathway for fixed-bed solar photocatalysis.

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Abbreviations

\({\bar \phi _{ + {\rm{SA}}}}\) :

Average (weighted) quantum yield of salicylic acid formation (mol SA absorbed-einstein−1)

\(\phi _{{\rm{ + SA}}}^\lambda \) :

Spectral quantum yield of salicylic acid formation (mol SA absorbed-einstein−1 nm−1)

\(\phi _{{\rm{P,0}}}^\lambda \) :

Spectral incoming photon flow (einstein s−1 nm−1)

ϕPabs:

Photon absorption rate (einstein s−1)

ϕP0:

Incoming photon flow (einstein s−1)

Ci:

Concentration of species i (mol dm−3)

L:

Length of the reactor (m)

LRS:

Length of the reaction space (m)

Q:

Volumetric flow rate (cm3 s−1)

t:

Elapsed time from irradiation start (s)

tm:

Average residence time (s)

tRS:

Time on the reaction space (s)

V:

Total volume of the system (cm3)

ṅSA:

Salicylic acid generation rate (mol s−1)

\(\bar Y\) :

Specific volumetric yield (mol m−3 einstein−1)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Group in Advanced Oxidation Processes (AdOx), Department of Chemical Engineering, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 05508-010, Brazil

    Bruno Ramos, Atieh Parisi Couri & Antonio Carlos Silva Costa Teixeira

  2. Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, O-okayama, Meguro Ward, Tokyo, 152-8552, Japan

    Shinichi Ookawara

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  1. Bruno Ramos
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  2. Atieh Parisi Couri
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  3. Shinichi Ookawara
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  4. Antonio Carlos Silva Costa Teixeira
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Correspondence to Antonio Carlos Silva Costa Teixeira.

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Ramos, B., Couri, A.P., Ookawara, S. et al. Micro-structured packed bed reactors for solar photocatalysis: impacts of packing size and material on light harnessing. Photochem Photobiol Sci 18, 577–582 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1039/c8pp00371h

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/c8pp00371h

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