Radial distribution modeling of liquid-phase phenol concentration in a liquid-solid fluidized bed photoreactor

A fluidized bed photoreactor with titanium dioxide-immobilized spherical activated carbon particles was examined. The light intensity profile was modeled using the Lambert-Beer rule for the modeling of the radial distribution of liquid-phase phenol concentration in the fluidized bed photoreactor, when considering the reactor composed of numerous differential annular drums and no mass transfer between drums. The model could be well matched with the experimental data which indicated the liquid flow rate of 13.8 L/min was the optimum in the balance of flow rate-related light penetration and photocatalyst concentration. By integration of liquid-phase phenol concentration along the radius, photocatalytic oxidation performance of the photoreactor was evaluated in comparison with the experimental data and model prediction. The results showed that the errors were less than 30% for most of the predictions. It is suggested that mass transfer and flow rate difference along the radial direction should be considered to obtain more precise prediction.