Photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange in a triphasic fluidized bed photoreactor

A new photoreactor and its experimental system was designed and established. It was a typical triphasic fluidized bed photocatalytic reactor. The effective reaction volume of the reactor was 18 L and the separation volume was 9 L. The radial distance from the UV lamp to the fluidized bed was 35 mm and the thickness of the annular fluid was 65.3 mm. The reactor and its flow process can be used for both batch and continuous process. The photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange solution was investigated in this photoreactor. Compared with the removal of TOC, the removal of the residual absorbency showed the degradation of the organic solution. The influence of the gas flow rate and reactant liquid flow rate of this triphasic photoreactor on the degradation rate was studied and the results showed that the feasible flow rate value was 200-250 L·h^-1 and 30 L·h^-1, respectively. The experimental results coincided with the theoretical calculation data. The photocatalytic degradation rate was almost constant within 100 h. The experiment results showed that the photocatalytic degradation reaction in the triphase fluidized bed photoreactor was highly efficient. Compared with traditional reactors, the triphasic fluidized bed photoreactor is a new and potential reactor and can be used for the photo-degradation of other organic pollutants in wastewater.