Kinetic Modeling of Photodegradation of Water-Soluble Polymers in Batch Photochemical Reactor

Abstract

Synthetic water-soluble polymers, well-known refractory pollutants, are abundant in wastewater effluents since they are extensively used in industry in a wide range of applications. These polymers can be effectively degraded by advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). This entry thoroughly covers the development of the photochemical kinetic model of the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) degradation in UV/ H 2 O 2 advanced oxidation batch process that describes the disintegration of the polymer chains in which the statistical moment approach is considered. The reaction mechanism used to describe the photo-degradation of polymers comprises photolysis, polymer chain scission, and mineralization reactions. The impact of operating conditions on the process performance is evaluated. Characterization of the polymer average molecular weights, total organic carbon, and hydrogen peroxide concentrations as essential factors in developing a reliable photochemical model of the UV/H 2 O 2 process is discussed. The statistical moment approach is applied to model the molar population balance of live and dead polymer chains taking into account the probabilistic chain scissions of the polymer. The photochemical kinetic model provides a comprehensive understanding of the impact of the design and operational variables. confirms the adequacy of the developed photochemical kinetic model.