mesoporous SiO₂ intermediate layer for improving light propagation in a bundled tube photoreactor

A photoreactor comprising a bundle of TiO₂-coated quartz tubes was studied by varying its tube wall thickness and tube configuration as well as introducing a mesoporous SiO₂ intermediate layer between the TiO₂ coating and quartz tube. The bundled tube photoreactor (BTP) performance was assessed base...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemical engineering science 2011-08, Vol.66 (16), p.3641-3647
Main Authors: Denny, Frans, McCaffrey, Paul, Scott, Jason, Peng, Gang-Ding, Amal, Rose
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Catalysis
Catalytic reactions
Chemical engineering
Chemistry
ethylene
Exact sciences and technology
General and physical chemistry
photolysis
quartz
Reactors
surface area
Theory of reactions, general kinetics. Catalysis. Nomenclature, chemical documentation, computer chemistry
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Summary:A photoreactor comprising a bundle of TiO₂-coated quartz tubes was studied by varying its tube wall thickness and tube configuration as well as introducing a mesoporous SiO₂ intermediate layer between the TiO₂ coating and quartz tube. The bundled tube photoreactor (BTP) performance was assessed based on tube light propagation and photocatalytic degradation rate of ethylene. Increasing the tube wall thickness improved the tube light propagation and the degradation rate of ethylene. An array of eight 6-mm tubes was found to be the best BTP configuration in this work. The findings from varying the tube configuration suggested an effectively illuminated surface area as a second important parameter to consider when comparing different BTP performances. Introducing a mesoporous SiO₂ intermediate layer with a thickness between 210 and 400nm between the TiO₂ coating and quartz tube improved not only the tube light propagation but also the ethylene photocatalytic degradation rate by up to 70%. This improvement was attributed to controlled light refraction from the quartz tube, which can be achieved under the conditions of frustrated total internal reflection.
ISSN:0009-2509
1873-4405
DOI:10.1016/j.ces.2011.04.037