This work presents the photocatalytic degradation of the pharmaceutical drug clofibric acid in a fixed-bed reactor filled with TiO2-coated glass rings. Experiments were carried out under UV radiation. A kinetic model that takes into account radiation absorption by means of the local surface rate of photon absorption (LSRPA) has been developed. The LSRPA was obtained from the results of a radiation model. The Monte Carlo method was employed to solve the radiation model, where the interaction between photons and TiO2-coated rings was considered. Data from experiments carried out with rings with different numbers of catalyst coatings and different irradiation levels were used to estimate the parameters of the kinetic model. A satisfactory agreement was obtained between model simulations and experimental results.
Keywords: Clofibric acid; Fixed-bed reactor; Kinetic model; Monte Carlo method; Photocatalysis; TiO2-coated glass rings.