Lab-scale tubular LED UV reactor for continuous photocatalysis

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• Photocatalytic water treatment shows promise for removing environmental micropollutants.
• A lack of readily available lab-scale UV reactors hinders research into new photocatalytic processes and materials.
• Developing specialized equipment is crucial for advancing water purification technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and construct a modular, lab-scale tubular UV reactor for photochemical and photocatalytic experiments.
• To validate the reactor's performance using methylene blue degradation with a titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalyst.
• To demonstrate the reactor's utility for studying the degradation of pharmaceutical micropollutants.

Main Methods:

• A tubular UV reactor was engineered using 30 UV-LEDs (367 nm, 42 W total radiant flux).
• The reactor features a 300 mm irradiated length and accommodates transparent inner reactors (max. 28 mm diameter).
• Methylene blue degradation and pharmaceutical micropollutant degradation experiments were conducted to validate the reactor.

Main Results:

• Two functional UV reactors were successfully built and utilized for photocatalytic water treatment.
• The reactor demonstrated effective degradation of methylene blue using TiO2.
• The system proved capable of degrading various pharmaceutical micropollutants through photocatalytic and hybrid processes.

Conclusions:

• The developed tubular UV reactor is a valuable tool for lab-scale photochemical and photocatalytic research, particularly for water treatment.
• The reactor's design facilitates the study of novel photocatalysts and processes for micropollutant removal.
• This equipment supports advancements in environmental remediation and the development of sustainable water purification methods.