Faculty Publications
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Item CFD modelling of an immobilised photocatalytic reactor for phenol degradation(IWA Publishing, 2023) Devipriya, B.; Mohanan, S.; Surenjan, A.Photocatalysis is an advanced oxidation process, which has been gaining attention as a sustainable technology for tackling pollution. Optimum design, fabrication and scaling up of novel photocatalytic reactors are faced with problems such as fabrication cost and numerous experimental trials for optimisation. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), a computer simulation technique can ease the process of scaling up photocatalytic reactors. The current study focuses on CFD modelling of a serpentine flow path photocatalytic reactor with curved baffles for phenol degradation. The investigation compared different reactor configurations to finalise the optimum design with maximum removal efficiency. Initially, a simple cuboidal reactor was chosen with an efficiency of 27%. However, with a serpentine flow path being introduced, the reactor displayed an improved efficiency of 42%. The addition of baffles improved flow homogeneity and degradation efficiency. The investigation showed that serpentine flow increased the residence time and fluid mixing, while the curved baffles prevented flow channelisation, which enhanced the degradation efficiency. Efficiencies corresponding to different baffle types and geometry were also compared and the final reactor design chosen was a horizontal curved baffled serpentine flow reactor with a flow rate of 0.3 L/s and improved efficiency of 43.1% for a residence time of 18.44 s. © 2023 The Authors.Item CFD MODELLING OF NON-ISOTHERMAL PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL (PEMFC): ROLE OF BAFFLES(University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, 2024) Ali, A.A.; Ganta, N.Through oxidation (H2 ) and reduction (O2 ) reactions, the chemical energy of the fuel is converted by proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) into electricity and is therefore considered an energy converter. In this work, performance of a PEMFC is numerically investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). To characterize the non-isothermal behavior of PEMFC, 3D transient CFD simulations are performed. The distribution of H2 and O2 mass fractions, temperature, and current density profiles are analyzed for various operational conditions. The optimum condition (voltage = 0.1 V; thickness of gas diffusion layer (GDL) = 0.0127mm; thickness of catalyst layer (CL) = 0.014mm) for an operation of PEMFC is identified Trapezoidal and rectangular baffles are proposed into the flow channels to enhance the performance of PEMFC. The rectangular baffle configuration supports maximum conversion of reactant gases (H2 = 24.16 %, O2 = 41.72 %) in comparison with the trapezoidal baffle. A significant increase in conversion is reported when the number of baffles in the gas flow channel is increases. Thus, PEMFC performance is enhanced with baffle configuration. © (2024), (University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy). All Rights Reserved.Item Photocatalytic degradation of metformin on a rectangular baffled reactor: CFD modeling and validation investigation(Elsevier B.V., 2024) Pandey, P.; Mohanan, S.; Surenjan, A.Solar-irradiated photocatalysis is an advanced oxidation process (AOP) commonly used for water purification due to its excellent potential to break down a diverse range of persistent organic compounds into non-toxic byproducts. Reactor design is crucial in the photocatalysis process's efficiency, effectiveness, and scalability. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is an effective tool to study and comprehend reactor designs, reduce system cost, design time, and optimise reactor performance. This investigation focuses on designing and developing a rectangular baffled photocatalytic reactor that can effectively degrade metformin (MTF). The experimental study optimized the value of pH and catalyst dosage for efficient removal. The photoreactor demonstrated an efficiency of 58.14 % and was validated. The CFD results, including velocity profile and mass fraction of metformin, strongly agreed with the experimental results with an R2 value of 0.9826. The combination of various baffle sizes and spacing configurations was modeled and analyzed to develop a rectangular baffled photocatalytic reactor with maximum removal efficiency. The inclusion of baffles increased the flow path, improved mixing and enhanced the degrading efficiency. The investigation findings indicated the highest degradation efficiency of 78.03 % with the seven number of baffles. © 2024