E3S Web of Conferences (Jan 2024)
Methylene blue removal via photocatalysis by continuous tubular photoreactor with TiO2
Abstract
The Indonesian batik industry has dominated the global market with an export value in 2022 of around US$ 25.31 million or Rp 392.74 billion. Environmental implications are also substantial, as 10–20% of the total dye products utilized in batik dyeing are typically lost in effluent and discharged into bodies of water. Photocatalysis with TiO2 has been widely studied as a method that can be applied to wastewater treatment because it has high photoreactive properties and chemical stability compared to other materials. A tubular photoreactor system with continuous flow for processing dye waste in the batik industry has been successfully developed. This equipment consists of five reactors arranged in parallel connected by a 1/2-inch pipe and equipped with a circulation pump, flowmeter, feed tank, panel box, and flow valve. This system is used for the photocatalysis process with a TiO2 catalyst dose of 1.5 gr/l with flow rate variation. The results show that the color of the solution changed and the results of measurements using UV-VIS showed that the concentration of methylene blue decreased from 4.871 ppm to 0.081 ppm with the flow rate of 3 L/min. The kinetic constant for this variable is 0.01762/min with R2 = 0.98675.