CFD Modeling and Analysis of the Effect of Baffles in an Immobilized Annular Photocatalytic Reactor for Ethylene Degradation

Abstract

In recent years, the adverse effect of indoor air pollution on human well-being has become a topic of concern. Although conventional treatment approaches have demonstrated success in pollutant degradation, they often prove inadequate when dealing with persistent pollutants. Photocatalysis is a sustainable technique which can degrade such pollutants without harmful by-products. The study focuses on the photocatalytic degradation of ethylene in an annular photocatalytic reactor with different baffle configurations using computational fluid dynamics. The results indicate that the use of Longitudinal baffles in reactors has improved the reactor efficiency owing to the flow uniformity and Longer flow path length. Different baffle configurations were modeled using ANSYS Fluent, and the flow, species concentration, distribution, and reaction rates were studied. The novel design of a four-baffled reactor was found to have an efficiency of 68.96% for a hydraulic retention time of 5.597 s and a flow rate of 58.34 L/min. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.