TiO2:SiO2 thin film coated annular photoreactor for degradation of oily contamination from waste water

The sol-gel method was used for the preparation of TiO2:SiO2 thin film coated on the inner wall of the shell of an annular photoreactor and subjected at 400 °C for heat treatment. Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) is used for elemental analysis and indicate the presence of Ti, Si, O element and also a small amount of Na, Ca, Mg. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that there is only TiO2 crystalline in the anatase phase. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) were used for surface morphology of the thin film. Tubular photoreactor was used for degradation of oily contamination from aqueous solution. Results show that this photoreactor has an excellent performance in the degradation of oily contamination. Mathematical modeling was done and COMSOL software has employed to solve the model to investigate the best performance conditions of the photoreactor and find the optimum conditions of photocatalytic reaction in the annular photoreactor. The best results were achieved at 500 ppm normal paraffin starting concentration and pH equal to 5, where at this condition the conversion of normal paraffin was about 85 %.