Effect of transparent colloidal particles on availability of light energy in a photochemical reactor

Abstract Photoreactors form an essential component of many industrial processes. The absorption strength of a photoreactor is a measure of its reaction efficiency. In this work, we study the distribution of light inside an emulsion of transparent particles dispersed inside a photoreactor, by using Monte Carlo simulations, with the aim of increasing the reaction efficiency. The system is characterized in terms of dimensionless parameters, which depend on the (optical) scattering parameters while being independent of the physical length of the reactor. We show that in the presence of scattering particles, the total absorption in a photoreactor can be increased, especially in the case of a weakly absorbing catalyst. Our study provides important insights regarding the dependency of light absorption on the properties of the chosen suspended particles, and could be useful for achieving optimal efficiency in a variety of photochemical reactions.