• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.952-959
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• 2012

The photocatalytic reactor was designed to have improved efficiency by enhancing a light intensity of photocatalytic reactor using a reflector coated on the surface at the outer radius of annular shaped photocatalytic reactor. The improved photocatalytic reactor performed to treat waste air containing malodor and VOC with the enhanced light intensity, of which the effect on their removal efficiency was investigated. The intensities of illumination of the improved photocatalytic reactor filled with porous silica-based media and nonporous glass bead media carrying photocatalyst were observed to increase by 28.5% and 30.1%, respectively, compared to those of photocatalytic reactor without any reflector. Using the improved photocatalytic reactor filled with porous silica-based media and nonporous glass bead media carrying photocatalyst, the removal efficiencies were enhanced by 2~3% and insignificantly, respectively. The removal efficiencies of the optimized photocatalytic reactor with reflectors, filled with porous silica-based media carrying photocatalyst, were observed to increase by 26% and 60%, compared to those of photocatalytic reactor (i.e., 19% and 53%), without any reflector, filled with nonporous glass bead media carrying photocatalyst, for hydrogen sulfide and toluene, respectively. The roughness of used reflector surface was measured to be ca. four times as big as that of a commercial mirror. However, their removal efficiencies are expected to be enhanced by increasing an light intensity resulting from lowering the roughness of used reflector coated on the improved photocatalytic reactor in the future.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.945-951
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• 2012

The effect of photocatalyst-carrying media porosity on the photocatalytic removal efficiency of malodor and VOC of waste air was evaluated when the photocatalytic removal efficiency of porous silica-based media was compared with that of glass bead as control. The amount of photocatalyst coated on the surface of porous silica-based media was observed to be $1,716.3{\mu}g/cm^2$, which was 250% as much as that of nonporous glass bead (control) of $670{\mu}g/cm^2$. The removal efficiencies of hydrogen sulfide and toluene in case of porous silica-based media were observed to be 22% and 82%, respectively, while the removal efficiencies of hydrogen sulfide and toluene in case of nonporous glass bead media were observed to be 19% and 53%, respectively. Therefore, the removal efficiencies of hydrogen sulfide and toluene increased by 16% and 55%, respectively, when the removal efficiencies of porous silica-based media were compared with those of nonporous glass bead media. Thus the increment ratio of the removal efficiency of toluene was observed to be 3.4 times higher than that of hydrogen sulfide.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.584-595
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• 2021

In this study, the correlation between operating stages of waste air-treating system composed of two alternatively-operating UV/photocatalytic reactors, and the deactivation of photocatalyst used in each operating stage, was investigated by instrumental analysis thereon. The repeated deactivation and subsequent re-generation of photocatalyst used in the waste air treating system of previous investigation performed by Lee and Lim (Korean Chem. Eng. Research, 59(4), 574-583(2021)), were characterized on virgin photocatalyst-carrying porous SiO₂ media (A4), used photocatalyst-carrying porous SiO₂ media (A1, A2 and A3) collected from the corresponding photocatalytic reactor upon 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd run, respectively, regenerated photocatalyst-carrying porous SiO₂ media upon 1 time-run (AD1) and 3 times regenerated photocatalyst-carrying porous SiO₂ media upon 3 time-runs (AD3) by instrumental analysis including BET analysis, SEM, XPS, SEM-EDS and FT-IR. As a result, the proper regeneration-temperature for deactivated photocatalyst to be regenerated several times (more than 3 times), was suggested below 200 ℃. Such temperature of deactivated photocatalyst-regeneration was almost consistent to the one, according to BET analysis, at which tiny nano-pores blocked by adsorbed ethanol-oxidative and degraded intermediates (AEODI), were regenerated to be reopened through almost complete mineralization of AEODI. In particular, the results of XPS analysis indicated an incurrence of insignificant deactivation of photocatalysis upon 1^st run of UV/photocatalytic reactor (A or C) of the previous investigation. In addition, the results of XPS analysis were consistent with the experimental results of the previous investigation in that 1) deactivation of photocatalyst incurred during 2^nd run of the UV/photocatalytic reactor (A or C) resulted in decreased removal efficiency, by ca. 5% and 5%, of ethanol and hydrogen sulfide, respectively, compared with its 1^st run; 2) there was insignificant difference between the removal efficiencies of its 2^nd run and 3^rd run. Furthermore, the removal efficiencies of ethanol and hydrogen sulfide for hypothetical 4^th run of photocatalytic reactor in the previous investigation, using AD3, were expected to decrease, compared with its 3^rd run, by much more than those for 2^nd run in the previous investigation did, compared with its 1^st run.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.80-86
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• 2013

In this study, the photocatalytic reactor system equipped with photocatalyst-carrying-silica-media cartridges [photocatalytic reactor system (1)] was used to perform the treatment of waste air containing malodor and volatile organic compound (VOC). The result of its performance was evaluated and compared with that of the photocatalytic reactor system equipped with commercial photocatalyst-carrying-nonwoven filter-media cartridges [photocatalytic reactor system (2)]. In case of photocatalytic reactor system (1), at the 1st stage of run the removal efficiencies of ethanol and toluene continued to be 80% and 20%, respectively. However, unlike toluene, the removal efficiency of ethanol dropped to 40% at the end of the 1st stage of run. The removal efficiency of hydrogen sulfide decreased from 100% to 90%. At the 2nd stage of its run the removal efficiency of ethanol decreased to 10% while the removal efficiencies of hydrogen sulfide and toluene remained as same as 90% and 20%, respectively, even though the inlet load of toluene increased by factor of four. In the 3rd stage of its run, as the result of application of aluminium-coated reflector film to the inner wall of photocatalytic reactor system, the removal efficiencies of ethanol and toluene increased by 5% to be 15% and 25%, respectively. In case of photocatalytic reactor system (2), at the 1st stage of its run, the removal efficiencies of ethanol, hydrogen sulfide and toluene continued to be 10%, 97% and 100%, respectively. However, at 2nd stage of its run their removal efficiencies became 5%, 95% and 2~3%, respectively, which showed that the removal efficiencies of ethanol and hydrogen sulfide decreased insignificantly while the removal efficiency of toluene dropped significantly from the perfect elimination. Moreover, the reflector film did not affect the performance of photocatalytic reactor system (2) at all. Therefore the removal of ethanol, hydrogen sulfide and toluene by photocatalytic reactor system (2) was mainly attributed to hydrophobic adsorption of its nonwoven filter media and its extent of photocatalytic removal turned out to be negligible, compared to that of photocatalytic reactor system (1).

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.574-583
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• 2021

Waste air containing ethanol (100 ppmv) and hydrogen sulfide (10 ppmv) was continuously treated by waste air-treating system composed of two annular photocatalytic reactors (effective volume: 1.5 L) packed with porous SiO₂ media carrying TiO₂-anatase photocatalyst, one of which was alternately operated for 32 d/run while the other was regenerated by 100 ℃ hot air with 15 W UV(-A)-light on. As its elimination-behavior of ethanol, the removal efficiencies of ethanol at 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd operation of the photocatalytic reactor system(A), turned out to be ca. 60, 55 and 54%, respectively, at their steady state condition. Unlike the elimination-behavior of ethanol, its hydrogen sulfide-elimination behavior showed repeated decrease of hydrogen sulfide removal efficiency by its resultant arrival at a lower level of steady state condition. Nevertheless, the removal efficiencies of hydrogen sulfide at 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd operation of the photocatalytic reactor system, turned out to be ca. 80, 75 and 73%, respectively, at their final steady state condition, higher by ca. 20, 20 and 19% than those of ethanol, respectively. Therefore, assuming that adsorption on porous SiO₂-photocatalyst carrier was regarded to belong to a reversible deactivation and that decreased % of removal efficiency due to the reversible deactivation of photocatalyst including the adsorption was independent of the number of its use upon regeneration, the increments of the decreased % of removal efficiency of ethanol and hydrogen sulfide, due to an irreversible deactivation of photocatalyst, for the 3^rd use of regenerated photocatalyst, compared with the 2^nd use of regenerated photocatalyst, were ca. 1 and 2%, respectively, which was insignificant or the less than those of ca. 5 and 5%, respectively, for the 2^nd use of regenerated photocatalyst compared with the 1^st use of virgin photocatalyst. This trend of the photocatalytic reactor system was observed to be similar to that of the other alternately-operating photocatalytic reactor system.