A photoreactor was designed, built,
and optimized to carry out the degradation of phenol. To achieve this,
phenol concentration was used as the reference to compare the photocatalysis
reaction efficiency obtained through this research with results from
other studies. Additionally, during the building process, different
types of glass were evaluated with the objective of finding a functional
and economic material to build the photoreactor. It was found that
Pyrex glass was the most suitable material to work with. As a UV light
source to build the photoreactor, a dry gel nail lamp was used with
9 W, λ = 365 nm bulbs. On the other hand, the effects of different
parameters (such as the catalyst mass (TiO2 Degussa P-25),
stirring speed (RPM), UV lamps, and temperature) over the photocatalysis
reaction rate were analyzed. Also, the reaction’s thermodynamic
parameters were determined and found to be similar to those found
in other investigations. Finally, the homogeneity in the distribution
of TiO2 particles inside the reactor when stirred at 475
rpm was verified using a COMSOL Multiphysics computer fluid dynamics
simulation, which showed the theoretical trajectory of particles inside
the reactor depending on the stirring rate of the reactor.
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