Photolytic reactors: Similitude in Taylor-Couette and channel flows

A similarity law is proposed for the yield from laminar photolytic reactors. In particular, the yield from a fast photolytic reaction is considered in the following three distinctly different reactor geometries: a square channel, an annular gap between concentric cylinders, and Taylor–Couette flow. The similarity law, based on the assumption of a self‐similar product concentration profile, demonstrates that the reaction rate can best be described with either zero (small λ) or first‐order (large λ) kinetics. Here, the distinction between both cases is determined by the radiation penetration depth, λ. Other geometric parameters affecting scale‐up are also discussed.