Indoor air pollution is a persistent problem found not only in buildings but . also in transportation vehicles, aircrafts and many other confined spaces. Photocatalytic air cleaning devices, in combination with source control and ventilation appears to be a promising method to reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) levels, which are among the most abundant indoor air pollutants. A major challenge this technology faces, is poor catalyst illumination efficiency. In general, effective photon utilization is a critical factor in determining the economic feasibility of a particular photocatalytic reactor design. A deficient use of light within a photocatalytic reactor will inherently lead to high operational costs, which in turn, will prevent the reactor to be implemented especially in cases in which catalyst activity is low. Consequently, the analysis of the radiation field in photocatalytic reactors is an essential step towards the optimization of photocatalytic air cleaners. This study focuses on the analysis and optimization of the geometry and radiation field in a multi-plate photocatalytic reactor (MPPR) irradiated by cylindrical UV lamps orthogonal to the plates, a reactor virtually not studied before. The MPPR aims to provide not only high light utilization, but also low pressure drop while treating large volumes of air. The MPPR presents a large photocatalyst surface area as well as a modular design, which facilitates scale up. All these characteristics could make the MPPR a costeffective alternative for indoor air remediation. The optimum design was validated by the oxidation of toluene in a humidified air stream. In addition, the performance of the reactor was evaluated with close to real concentrations using mixtures of trichloroethylene, ethanol, acetone, hexane and toluene.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:605585 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Zazueta, Ana Luis Loo |
| Publisher | University of Nottingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.104 seconds