A STUDY OF PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF TRICHLOROETHYLENE IN VAPOR-PHASE ON TIO2 PHOTOCATALYST

This investigation used a packed-bed reactor filled with coated titani um dioxide glass beads which was activated by a 365 nn UV light for he terogeneous photocatalytic decomposition of trichloroethylene under di fferent conditions of flowrate, oxygen content, moisture and light int ensity. For the flowrate of feed gas between 100-500 mL/min, the react ion rates increased with an increasing flowrate below 300 mL/min. When the flowrate was more than 300 mL/min, the reaction rate was not affe cted by the flowrate. For the oxygen content in the range of 0-20 %(v/ v), it indicated that under 10 %(v/v) oxygen content the reaction rate increased as the oxygen content increased. The increase of moisture c ontent lowered the reaction rates in the range of 230-30000 ppmv. The reaction rate of 6 mu M TCE increased as the light intensity increased , and was proportional to the 0.61 order of the light intensity. The d eactivation of the TiO2 described in the literature was not observed i n this study. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.