Reactor scale-up in AOPs: from laboratory to commercial scale

A procedure to scale-up photoreactors employed in AOPs using laboratory information has been developed. Operating with a model compound the proposed procedure was applied to the decomposition of formic acid in water solution using hydrogen peroxide and UV radiation. With laboratory experiments the parameters of the kinetic equation were obtained in a small batch reactor operated within a recycling apparatus. The whole system was modeled employing radiation and mass balances. These balances were used together with a non-linear parameter estimator to derive the model kinetic constants. Then, these results were used in the modeling of the large-scale reactor to predict exit conversions in an isothermal, continuous, tubular flow reactor that is 2 m long and has a volume of 12 l. Once more, radiation and mass balances were used to predict formic acid output concentrations. Experimental data in the large-scale apparatus are in good agreement with theoretical predictions.