DESIGN AND EXPERIMENTAL-VERIFICATION OF A TUBULAR MULTILAMP REACTOR FOR WATER AND WASTE-WATER TREATMENT

A model for the design of a multilamp tubular photoreactor employed for water and wastewater treatment was developed. A test reaction was used to achieve an experimental corroboration of the model. It was shown that under normal conditions a two-dimensional mass balance is sufficient to describe the system and that the additional numerical complexity required by a three-dimensional model is not justified. Deviations between model predictions with constant and variable radiation attenuation coefficients were also studied. For low values of the flow rate (conversions higher than 10%), good predictions were obtained only with the second approach. By use of the well-known oxalic acid-uranyl sulfate actinometer, the reactor model was successfully verified, showing good agreement with the experimental data. The results thus obtained indicate that the proposed procedure can be used to improve the design and operation of this type of reactor. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.