Simulation of UV Photoreactor for Degradation of Chemical Contaminants: Model Development and Evaluation

Models simulating the performance of UV reactors enhance our understanding of the fundamental principles governing the operation of these units. When modeling the performance of UV reactors, governing equations for all related phenomena are derived and solved. This research presents a step-by-step methodology to setup and solve the governing equations determining the performance of UV reactors and to evaluate the results. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model was developed in order to simulate UV photoreactors in the Eulerian framework for chemical removal using a UV-based hydroxyl radical initiated oxidation process. Verifying the results of the integrated CFD model, a novel method was developed using a modified planar laser-induced fluorescence technique for measuring tracer concentration profiles inside the UV reactor. In addition, the components of the CFD model-hydrodynamics and radiation-were evaluated using experimental profile throughout the entire reactor. This verified procedure can be applied to the simulation and optimization of UV photoreactors with various geometries and operating conditions.