Semi-active photocatalysis technology for abatement of urban air pollution.

The goal of this project is to develop semi-active photocatalytic systems for mitigating air pollution in urban environments. With semi-active systems is meant photocatalytic systems with (i) improved functionality (enhanced activity under solar light conditions), (ii) in which the transfer of pollutants to the photocatalytic surfaces is increased (by inducing natural or forced convection) and (iii) where the sunlight is optimally utilized by optimizing the received light intensity. The hypothesis is that systems that meet these conditions are superior to so-called passive photocatalytic systems. In this project, a promising plasmon-enhanced photocatalytic material, developed by our research group, will be characterized in terms of its sensitivity to sunlight. The relevant reaction kinetic parameters will hereby be determined and will be used for designing semi-active air purification systems based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models, thus limiting the need for extensive experiments. The most promising system will then be built on scale model and will be extensively tested under controlled conditions. Finally, a demonstration model will be built in a realistic environment. The ultimate goal of the IOF-POC project is to demonstrate the feasibility of semi-active photocatalytic systems and thus to awaken the interest of potential industrial partners and other stakeholders.

Keywords:URBAN POLLUTION, COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS, SEMI-ACTIVE SYSTEMS, PHOTOCATALYSIS

Disciplines:Atmospheric sciences, challenges and pollution not elsewhere classified, Environmental chemistry, Heterogeneous catalysis, Heat and mass transfer, Modelling and simulation