Simultaneous and Sequential Photosonolysis of TCE and PCE

Aqueous solutions of trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) were treated in a flow-through reactor equipped with ultrasound and ultraviolet light sources. The reactor was operated as sonolysis (US), photolysis (UV), and simultaneous photosonolysis (UV/US) reactors; then as US, UV, and sequential UV/US reactors with the installation of a partition in the reactor. The reactor without the partition was simulated by using one continuously stirred-tank-reactor (1CSTR) model, and the reactor with the partition was simulated by using the sequential CSTR model. Through model calibration, the decomposition rate constants and reactor efficiencies for the removal of TCE and PCE were evaluated. The results suggest that the combined effect of UV and US on the decomposition of TCE and PCE is synergistic in both the simultaneous and sequential UV/US modes, that the rate constants of sonolysis and photolysis are greater with the sequential combination than with the simultaneous combination, and that overall efficiency is higher for the reactor with the partition than for the one without it.