Photocatalytic degradation of oil industry hydrocarbons models at laboratory and at pilot-plant scale

Journal Article · Mon Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Solar Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SOLENER.2009.12.005· OSTI ID:21285665

Vargas, Ronald; Nunez, Oswaldo ^[1]

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1. Laboratorio de Fisicoquimica Organica y Quimica Ambiental, Departamento de Procesos y Sistemas, Universidad Simon Bolivar, Apartado Postal 89000, Caracas (Venezuela)

Photodegradation/mineralization (TiO{sub 2}/UV Light) of the hydrocarbons: p-nitrophenol (PNP), naphthalene (NP) and dibenzothiophene (DBT) at three different reactors: batch bench reactor (BBR), tubular bench reactor (TBR) and tubular pilot-plant (TPP) were kinetically monitored at pH = 3, 6 and 10, and the results compared using normalized UV light exposition times. The results fit the Langmuir-Hinshelwood (LH) model; therefore, LH adsorption equilibrium constants (K) and apparent rate constants (k) are reported as well as the apparent pseudo-first-order rate constants, k{sub obs}{sup '} = kK/(1 + Kc{sub r}). The batch bench reactor is the most selective reactor toward compound and pH changes in which the reactivity order is: NP > DBT > PNP, however, the catalyst adsorption (K) order is: DBT > NP > PNP at the three pH used but NP has the highest k values. The tubular pilot-plant (TPP) is the most efficient of the three reactors tested. Compound and pH photodegradation/mineralization selectivity is partially lost at the pilot plant where DBT and NP reaches ca. 90% mineralization at the pH used, meanwhile, PNP reaches only 40%. The real time, in which these mineralization occur are: 180 min for PNP and 60 min for NP and DBT. The mineralization results at the TPP indicate that for the three compounds, the rate limiting step is the same as the degradation one. So that, there is not any stable intermediate that may accumulate during the photocatalytic treatment. (author)

• OSTI ID: 21285665
• Journal Information: Solar Energy, Vol. 84, Issue 2; Other Information: Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved; ISSN 0038-092X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
PILOT PLANTS
NAPHTHALENE
PHOTOCATALYSIS
TITANIUM OXIDES
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
PH VALUE
MINERALIZATION
REACTION KINETICS
NITROPHENOL
ADSORPTION
WATER TREATMENT
CATALYSTS
EQUILIBRIUM
ACTIVATION ENERGY
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
PHOTOLYSIS
AROMATICS
ORGANIC SULFUR COMPOUNDS
Degradation/mineralization
Organics contaminants