A Kinetic Study on the Photocatalytic Degradation of Gas-Phase VOCs Using TiO$_2$ photocatalyst

• Kim, Sang-Bum (Department of Chemical Engineering, Korea University) ;
• Jo, Young-Min (Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kyunghee University) ;
• Hong, Sung-Chang (Department of Environmental Engineering, Kyonggi University)
• Published : 2001.09.01

Abstract

The present paper examined the kinetics of photocatalytic degradation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including gaseous trichloroethylene (TCE) and acetone. In this study, we examined the effects of the initial concentration of VOCs and the light intensity of ultra-violet (UV). A batch photo-reactor was specifically designed for this work. The photocatalytic degradation rate increased with the initial concentration of VOCs but remained almost constant beyond a certain concentration. It matched well with the Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) kinetic model. When the effect of light intensity was concerned, it was found that photocatalytic degradation occurs in two regimes with respect to light intensity.