HETEROGENEOUS MILLI-PHOTOCATALYTIC REACTOR SIMULATIONS EMPLOYING AVERAGE IRRADIANCE AND RADIATION FIELD DATA

The modeling of photocatalytic reactors is based on three main steps: the photon transport, the fluid dynamics and the kinetic modeling of the oxidation reactions. The kinetic equations are usually a function of irradiance values obtained over the catalyst surface. In the current work, the impact of considering irradiance levels dependent on the position and as independent average values was investigated employing ray tracing and computational fluid dynamics simulations. First, ray tracing simulations were performed for two illumination systems composed of 5 and 28 high power LEDs. Then, CFD simulations, employing radiation field data and average irradiation values, were performed and a comprehensive comparison of the results was carried out.