G. Camera Roda, F. Santarelli
Research in this area is the development of activities started since a long time in the area of photochemical-photocatalytic processes and is focused both on modeling of photo-activated processes and on experimental analysis of their feasibility.
With regard to the modeling, the focus is on the role of the participating radiation, particularly with the objective of making the treatment of the radiative transport easily comprehensible even by those who are not familiar with its basic and uncommon features.
Photons are considered as immaterial reactants which have furthermore the peculiar feature of not being involved in diffusive transport. So the only mixing-like processes, in which they are involved, are due to scattering within the material medium or to reflection by boundary surfaces.
Following this approach the photochemical processes can be analyzed on the basis of parameters which are well established in "conventional" reaction engineering and criteria are given both for obtaining reliable kinetic data and for improving the design of a photocatalytic reactor.