Modelling and Experimental Validation of a Reaction Chamber Simulating Indoor Air Decontamination by Photocatalytic Paint

SALVADORES, F,; ALFANO, O.M.; BALLARI, M.M.

Congreso; 4to Congreso Colombiano de Procesos Avanzados de Oxidación (4 CCPAOx); 2021

A photocatalytic paint was developed for air decontamination under different operating conditions in a reactor chamber that simulates a room. An experimental design was used to be able to cover a wide range of indoor air conditions (irradiation level, air flow rate, relative humidity and inlet pollutant concentration). The new insight is the proposal of a model able to predict the outlet concentration of the pollutant from the reactor. The inputs for the model are: i) properties of the paint, ii) radiation source, iii) information related to the reactor (superficial area, flow rate, etc.), iv) intrinsic photocatalytic degradation kinetics of the pollutant. The lowest outlet pollutant concentration was found for the highest irradiation level, and low air flow rate and relative humidity. The model used to predict the experimental acetaldehyde outlet concentration presented a good agreement. Knowing the input information required by the model, the proposed methodology can be adopted to predict the air decontamination in real applications of photocatalytic paints.