Bacterial spores inactivation in a fixed bed reactor filled with TiO2 coated glass rings. Radiation absorption calculations.

SATUF MARÍA LUCILA; PIROLA SILVANA; ALFANO ORLANDO MARIO; ZACARÍAS SILVIA MERCEDES ; MANASSERO AGUSTINA

Almería

Congreso; 10th European meeting on Solar Chemistry and Photocatalysis: Environmental Applications (SPEA10); 2018

The photocatalytic inactivation of Bacillus subtilis spores in air was studied employing an annular, fixed-bed reactor filled with TiO2-coated glass rings. The experiments were carried out under artificial UV radiation. Calculations of the radiation effectively absorbed inside the reactor were carried out by Monte Carlo simulations. The photocatalytic reactor performance was analyzed with two efficiency parameters: the photonic efficiency and the quantum efficiency of inactivation. A notable decrease in the spores viability was observed by increasing the irradiation time. One order of magnitude of reduction of the initial concentration of spores was achieved at the end of the experiment (5 h). Results of the efficiency parameters will allow an objective comparison of the reactor performance under different experimental conditions and configurations.