Modeling Tetrachloroethylene Decomposition in Photosonolysis Reactor

Abstract

A mathematical model was developed for the decomposition of halogenated compounds in water and applied for tetrachloroethylene (PCE) in a flow-through photosonolysis reactor. To develop the model, a series of differential equations were formulated based on the principles of conservation of mass and mass action for hypothetical parent and daughter species, which were then solved analytically. The model sensitivity analysis was performed to determine if the model gives intuitive results. In support of the modeling effort, experiments were conducted. In a flow-through bench-scale reactor, simulated groundwater contaminated with PCE was irradiated with ultraviolet light and ultrasound concurrently in the presence of titanium dioxide