CFD modeling of a UV-LED photocatalytic odor abatement process in a continuous reactor

This paper presents a model study of a UV light-emitting-diode (UV-LED) based photocatalytic odor abatement process. It integrated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of the gas flow in the reactor with LED-array radiation field calculation and Langmuir-Hinshelwood reaction kinetics. It was applied to simulate the photocatalytic degradation of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in a UV-LED reactor based on experimentally determined chemical kinetic parameters. A non-linear power law relating reaction rate to irradiation intensity was adopted. The model could predict the steady state DMS concentration profiles by calculating the advection, diffusion and Langmuir-Hinshelwood reaction kinetics. By affecting the radiation intensity and uniformity, the position of the LED array relative to the catalyst appeared to be a critical parameter determining DMS removal efficiency. Too small distances might yield low quantum efficiency and consequently poor abatement performance. This study provided an example of LED-based photocatalytic process modeling and gave insights into the optimization of light source design for photocatalytic applications.