Photocatalytic inactivation of airborne bacterial spores in a fixed-bed reactor. Radiation absorption calculations

PIROLA, SILVANA; SATUF, M. LUCILA; MANASSERO, AGUSTINA; ZACARÍAS, SILVIA; ALFANO, ORLANDO

Almería

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

The photocatalytic inactivation of Bacillus subtilis spores in air was studied employing an annular, fixed-bed reactor filled with TiO2-coated glass rings. Experiments were carried out under artificial UV radiation. Calculations of the radiation effectively absorbed inside the reactor were carried out by Monte Carlo simulations. Two efficiency parameters were computed to assess the reactor performance: the photonic efficiency and the quantum efficiency of inactivation. The initial concentration of spores was reduced by almost one order of magnitude at the end of the experiment (5 h). Results of the efficiency parameters allow an objective comparison of the reactor performance under different experimental conditions and configurations.