Novel planar light-emitting diode reactor design for continuous photocatalytic indoor air remediation

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of key operating parameters, kinetics, and chemical degradation pathways of photocatalytic removal of ethyl acetate (EA) in a novel planar light-emitting diode (LED) reactor. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) degradation was performed using titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles immobilized on glass fiber tissue (GFT) in a pilot-scale continuous reactor. The performance of elaborated catalyst TiO₂/GFT was studied through the control of different parameters, such as EA inlet concentration (5, 10, 15, 20 mg/m³), flow rate (1, 2, 4 m³/h), relative humidity (5, 50, 90%), air gap (30, 50 mm), and LED intensities (15, 48, 95 W/m²). The exploitation of these parameters allows an understanding of the performance of the novel planar LED reactor, thus the different phenomena involved and the kinetics of the photocatalytic reaction. Monitoring the selectivity of CO₂ enables determination of the reactive oxygen species responsible and the reaction pathways of the photocatalytic degradation of EA. We evaluated the Langmuir–Hinshelwood with the mass transfer approach to obtain the kinetic constants. To get close to the real conditions, a simultaneous removal study was performed on TiO₂/GFT considering the optimal parameters. Therefore, the photocatalytic activity was followed in the presence of VOCs, EA and bacteria (Escherichia coli).