Photodegradation of phenol in rotating disk reactor and 3D CFD modelling

Phenol is a chemical that is associated with the regulations in place that control the release of contaminants to the water environment. The photocatalytic degradation as advanced oxidation process is seen among the promising routes for reduction of a wide range of organic pollutants. This work investigates the degradation of phenol in a rotating disc reactor (RDR) as process intensification approach and highlights the role of the process parameters and relevant impacts on both mass transfer effectiveness and reaction rate performance over the essential role of oxygen penetration in the liquid film, the surface reaction catalyzed by the intermediate hydroxyl radicals and the UV light activation. Ensuring a sufficient supply to the catalyst surface is achieved by the thin film subject to the dynamic operations of the rotating disk and the deep light penetration across the bulk liquid film. This work aims to assess via a laboratory work the impact of hydrodynamics generated by the rotational speed and flow dyna