Open AccessHeterogeneous Catalytic Ozonation of Phenol over Iron-based Catalysts in a Trickle Bed Reactor
Author(s) -
Luis Briceño Mena,
Esteban Durán Herrera
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
ingeniería
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2215-2652
pISSN - 1409-2441
DOI - 10.15517/ri.v30i2.39236
Subject(s) - trickle bed reactor , mass transfer , catalysis , dispersion (optics) , chemistry , chemical engineering , phenol , residence time distribution , pellets , degradation (telecommunications) , adsorption , space velocity , continuous reactor , continuous stirred tank reactor , heterogeneous catalysis , materials science , chromatography , mineralogy , organic chemistry , selectivity , composite material , inclusion (mineral) , telecommunications , physics , computer science , optics , engineering
The use of continuous reactors for heterogeneous catalytic ozonation is yet to be investigated in order to develop a viable technology for industrial applications. This paper presents hydrodynamic and degradation studies on the use of a co-current down flow trickle bed reactor for heterogeneous catalytic ozonation of phenol (as model pollutant) over Fe-Diatomite pellets and Fe-coated glass beads. It was found that the reactor can operate under trickle or pulsing flow regimes, promoting mass transfer augmentation. Residence time distribution data, fitted with n-CSTR and axial dispersion (ADM) models, showed low axial dispersion and high flow distribution. Just the Fe-diatomite pellets showed important phenol adsorption (16 %). Degradation experiments demonstrated that phenol conversion was substantial when using both catalysts, up to 19,7 % pollutant conversion with liquid-phase space times of just 6 s. Compared to direct ozonation, the use of the Fe-diatomite pellets and Fe-coated glass beads enhanced the reactor performance by 48 % and 23 %, respectively. It was confirmed that mass transfer is an important factor that restricts this reaction system performance; consequently, further improvement in mass transport rate is necessary for system optimization.