Experimental and CFD analysis of photocatalytic gas phase vinyl chloride (VC) oxidation

Photocatalytic destruction of gas phase vinyl chloride (VC) was examined using experimental and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approaches. Experimental work involved using a differential photoreactor for determining kinetics of oxidation and an annular flow photoreactor for overall removal investigations as well as comparison with CFD models. The kinetic data obtained from differential photoreactor were used to model and predict the performance of the annular photoreactor using CFD. The photocatalytic oxidation of VC followed first order kinetics for inlet concentrations up to about and CFD was able to predict the removal of VC in the system. Both experimental and CFD modeling showed the removal of VC in the system increased with increasing the VC loading rate. CFD analysis of the photoreactor also provided insight into the detailed concentration gradient of VC within the reactor. The modeling results indicated significant radial VC concentration gradient and non-uniform flow distributions in the annular photoreactor. This non-uniform flow distribution, in turn, resulted in short circuiting of the VC contaminated gas and may have resulted in less than optimum removal efficiency for VC in the annular reactor over the entire range of inlet VC concentrations. Overall, the information provided by CFD modeling and simulation showed to be valuable for reactor design modification and for improving the reactor performance.