Light Absorption Rate in a Heterogeneous Photochemical Reactor

Abstract

To estimate the light absorption rate in a heterogeneous photochemical reactor, a new method based on the light path length distribution in the reactor was proposed. The locus of a ray of light traveling in the reactor was computed according to the rules of geometrical optics so that the probability distributions of the light path length and number of collision with dispersed phase could be obtained. The light absorption rate was derived theoretically from these distributions.
The photoreduction of potassium ferrioxalate was performed in a rectangular reactor with cylindrical glass pipes, glass rods or metal rods plated with nickel as dispersed phase, which were settled vertically to the incident light so that rays of light scattered within a horizontal plane. The experimental results agreed well with the theoretical values predicted and supported the validity of the derived light absorption rate.