Evaluation of a Photocatalytic spinning disk reactor for the degradation of phenol using TiO2 coated on stainless steel

The photocatalytic degradation of phenol by nanoTiO2 particles coated on stainless steel disc was investigated in a spinning disc reactor (SDR). Spin-coating method has been used for coating process and X-ray diffraction and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed that nano-size scale TiO2 were successfully deposited on disc. Phenol initial concentration was in the range between 30 and 90 mg l-1 while the liquid flow rate and disc angular velocity was kept constant at 2000 ml min-1 and 290 rpm. Experimental results showed that increasing the initial concentration from 30 to 90 leads to a decrease in phenol degradation ratio from 1 to 0.23. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) values of the solution for initial concentration of 30 mg l-1, indicates that the total amount of COD decreased gradually during the reaction. In addition, investigations were also carried out to determine the appropriate kinetics of phenol degradation.

Keywords:

Spinning disc reactor , Photocatalytic degradation , Chemical oxygen demand (COD) , phenol , kinetics