Search results for "membrane reactor"
showing 10 items of 42 documents
Improvement of membrane performances to enhance the yield of vanillin in a pervaporation reactor.
2014
In membrane reactors, the interaction of reaction and membrane separation can be exploited to achieve a “process intensification”, a key objective of sustainable development. In the present work, the properties that the membrane must have to obtain this result in a pervaporation reactor are analyzed and discussed. Then, the methods to enhance these properties are investigated for the photocatalytic synthesis of vanillin, which represents a case where the recovery from the reactor of vanillin by means of pervaporation while it is produced allows a substantial improvement of the yield, since its further oxidation is thus prevented. To this end, the phenomena that control the permeation of bot…
Particle size distribution and biomass growth in a submerged membrane bioreactor
2006
Submerged membrane bioreactors (MBR)associate in a single treatment unit a process ofbiological treatment and a phase of solid/liquidseparation by membrane filtration. Due to reduced membrane porosity, suspendedsolids and large amount of bacteria and virusesmay be retained in the reactor; consequently, highbiomass concentration is generally established inthe system. Indeed, this latter circumstance leadsto obtain a system able to operate with a low F/Mand high SRT and hence, as a result, a low sludgeproduction. In technical literature, the definition of fou-lants in MBR systems is a controversial task.More specifically, the influence of TSS onmixed liquor filterability has not been yet full…
A PERVAPORATION PHOTOCATALYTIC REACTOR FOR THE GREEN SYNTHESIS OF VANILLIN
2012
Abstract Pervaporation is the ideal membrane separation process to be coupled with photocatalysis for the green synthesis of vanillin from ferulic acid. In fact the operative conditions of the two processes are absolutely congruent and the integration is straightforward even operating with separate equipments. The utilization of a highly selective membrane allows the continuous recovery of vanillin by pervaporation from the reacting solution, so that its oxidative degradation is largely avoided and the yield is substantially enhanced. The effects of the main parameters are analyzed resorting to a mathematical model, which is validated by a comparison with the experimental data. In particula…
Photocatalytic Processes in Membrane Reactors
2010
Conversion and degradation processes of various substrates in various types of matrices using both artificial and solar light are today very attractive by considering the scarcity and the expensiveness of the conventional energy sources. Coupling of membrane with light has shown to be very powerful and promising hybrid process, especially because a synergistic effect has been often observed. Some examples of reactions carried out to produce useful chemicals or to degrade noxious species in the framework of the green chemistry approach are reported. Fundamentals of heterogeneous photocatalysis, in general, and photocatalytic reactions in membrane reactors, in particular, are treated with a f…
Photocatalytic membrane reactors for degradation of organic pollutants in water
2001
Abstract Different flowsheets (batch and continuous) of photocatalytic membrane reactors, to be used for degradation of organic pollutants present in water, together to some experimental results, are reported. 4-Nitrophenol (4NP) was used as a probe polluting agent and titanium dioxide in suspension was the catalyst. The photodegradation tests in the batch system were carried out without membrane changing the characteristic variables of the process (light intensity, TiO 2 concentration, 4NP concentration, O 2 concentration, pH) to find their optimum values. The batch system consisted of a water jacket thermostatted and stirred beaker irradiated from above with a UV–Vis lamp (light intensity…
Studies on various reactor configurations for coupling photocatalysis and membrane processes in water purification
2002
General aspects and perspectives of heterogeneous photocatalysis for the treatment of polluted aqueous effluents are presented. Some experimental results obtained by using various configurations of photocatalytic membrane reactors (PMRs) are reported. The configurations studied were: (i) irradiation of the cell containing the membrane, with three sub-cases: (i1) catalyst deposited on the membrane; (i2) catalyst in suspension, confined by means of the membrane; (i3) entrapment of the photocatalyst in a PSF membrane; (ii) irradiation of the re-circulation tank and catalyst in suspension confined by means of the membrane. In the case “(i)”, a preliminary investigation of membrane stability und…
An Investigation into the Stability of Graphitic C 3 N 4 as a Photocatalyst for CO 2 Reduction
2018
The increasing CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere exerts a significant influence on global warming and climate change. The capture and utilization of CO 2 by conversion to useful products is an area of active research. In this work, the photodriven reduction of CO 2 was investigated using graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) as a potential photocatalyst. The photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 was investigated with g-C 3 N 4 powder immobilized on a glass support in a batch gas-phase photoreactor. The experiments were carried out under UV-vis irradiation at 70 °C and an initial pressure of 2.5 bar. The only gas-phase product detected during the irradiation of the g-C 3 N 4 in the presence of…
Coupling of membrane and photocatalytic technologies for selective formation of high added value chemicals
2020
Abstract This review presents a survey of some heterogeneous photocatalytic processes for the synthesis of high-value added compounds carried out in photocatalytic membrane reactors (PMRs). The two technologies can be easily integrated due to the similar conditions at which they usually operate. Furthermore, significant advantages derive from the coupling and in some cases also synergistic effects can be observed. These features have been highlighted for the photocatalytic syntheses reviewed along with engineering and design aspects investigated for some industrially relevant high-value added compounds. Notably, photocatalytic syntheses carried out in PMRs are still rare mainly because inte…
CO2 to Liquid Fuels: Photocatalytic Conversion in a Continuous Membrane Reactor
2018
The photocatalytic reduction of CO, into value-added chemicals using sunlight is a promising approach to promote energy-bearing products, mitigating the adverse effects of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. In this work, exfoliated C3N4 was incorporated into Nafion matrix and used in a continuous photocatalytic reactor for converting CO2 into liquid fuels. Comprehensive structural and morphological diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), FT-IR, ATR-IR, and SEM measurements were performed for C3N4-loaded Nafion membrane and then compared with those of a Nafion membrane without any catalyst. The synergic effect of C3N4 organic catalyst embedded in a Nafion dense matrix and a continuous operating mo…
CO2 reduction by C3N4-TiO2 Nafion photocatalytic membrane reactor as a promising environmental pathway to solar fuels
2019
Abstract We investigated CO2 photocatalytic reduction coupling, for the first time in literature, the assets offered by the continuous operating mode using C3N4-TiO2 photo-catalyst embedded in a dense Nafion matrix. The reactor performance was analyzed under UV–vis light in terms of productivity, selectivity and converted carbon. Reaction pressure was specifically investigated for its effect as a “driver” in determining reactor performance, modulating products removal from the reaction volume. In addition, the membrane reactor performance was explored as a function of H2O/CO2 feed molar ratio and contact time. The higher feed pressure (5 bar) led to a lesser MeOH production and a greater am…