A ROTATING FLUIDIZED BED PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTOR

A MAJOR ROADBLOCK TO THE WIDESPREAD APPLICATION OF PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF MOLECULES ON SOLID SURFACES IS THE INEFFICIENT USE OF LIGHT IN CURRENT TECHNOLOGY. THE BEST SYSTEMS USE ONLY 5-10% OF THE AVAILABLE LIGHT. OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO DEVELOP A ROTATING FLUIDIZED BED, WITH A LIGHT SOURCE AT THE CORE, AS A HIGH EFFICIENCY PHOTOCHEMICALREACTOR. IN ADDITION TO MORE EFFICIENT USE OF LIGHT THIS SYSTEM WILL HAVE MANY OTHER ADVANTAGES. FOR EXAMPLE, IT WILL HAVE HIGHER REACTION RATES, A LOWER PRESSURE DROP THAN PARALLEL PLATE BEDS, WILL NOT REQUIRE QUARTZ WINDOWS OR CYCLONES, AND WILL MINIMIZE POLLUTION PROBLEMS. OUR RESEARCH PLAN IS TO DESIGN AND BUILD A PHOTOCHEMICAL ROTATING FLUIDIZED BED REACTOR. WE WILL EVALUATE IT USING PHOTOSYSTEMS FOR TERMINAL CHLORINATION OF ALKANES ABSORBED IN ZEOLITES AND ISOTOPIC ENRICHMENT, BOTH PRESENTLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT AT INRAD. IN ADDITION, WE WILL EVALUATE THE USEOF ROTATING FLUIDIZED BED REACTORS FOR OTHER IMPORTANT REACTIONS, SUCH AS NITROGEN FIXATION.