Chemical Engineering Department, Campus Diagonal-Besòs, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av. Eduard Maristany, 16, 08019 Barcelona, Spain.
Mechanical Engineering Department, Campus Diagonal-Besòs, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av. Eduard Maristany, 16, 08019 Barcelona, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 May 4;18(9):4885. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18094885.
Additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing offers a new paradigm for designing and developing chemical reactors, in particular, prototypes. The use of 3D printers has been increasing, their performance has been improving, and their price has been reducing. While the general trend is clear, particular applications need to be assessed for their practicality. This study develops and follows a systematic approach to the prototyping of Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) reactors. Specifically, this work evaluates and discusses different printable materials in terms of mechanical and chemical resistance to photo-Fenton reactants. Metallic and ceramic materials are shown to be impracticable due to their high printing cost. Polymeric and composite materials are sieved according to criteria such as biodegradability, chemical, thermal, and mechanical resistance. Finally, 3D-printed prototypes are produced and tested in terms of leakage and resistance to the photo-Fenton reacting environment. Polylactic acid (PLA) and wood-PLA composite (Timberfill) were selected, and lab-scale raceway pond reactors (RPR) were printed accordingly. They were next exposed to H2O2/Fe(II) solutions at pH = 3 ± 0.2 and UV radiation. After 48 h reaction tests, results revealed that the Timberfill reactor produced higher Total Organic Carbon (TOC) concentrations (9.6 mg·L) than that obtained for the PLA reactor (5.5 mg·L) and Pyrex reactor (5.2 mg·L), which suggests the interference of Timberfill with the reaction. The work also considers and discusses further chemical and mechanical criteria that also favor PLA for 3D-printing Fenton and photo-Fenton reactors. Finally, the work also provides a detailed explanation of the printing parameters used and guidelines for preparing prototypes.
增材制造（AM）或 3D 打印为设计和开发化学反应器，特别是原型提供了新的范例。3D 打印机的使用正在增加，其性能不断提高，价格不断降低。虽然总体趋势很明显，但需要根据实际情况评估特定应用的实用性。本研究开发并遵循了一种系统的方法来对高级氧化工艺（AOP）反应器进行原型制作。具体来说，这项工作评估和讨论了不同打印材料在耐机械和化学方面的性能，以抵抗光芬顿反应物。由于打印成本高，金属和陶瓷材料被证明是不切实际的。根据可生物降解性、化学、热和机械阻力等标准，对聚合物和复合材料进行筛选。最后，根据泄漏和对光芬顿反应环境的阻力等方面，生产和测试了 3D 打印原型。选择了聚乳酸（PLA）和木塑复合材料（Timberfill），并相应地打印了实验室规模的环流池塘反应器（RPR）。然后将它们暴露在 H2O2/Fe(II)溶液中，pH 值为 3±0.2，并进行紫外线辐射。经过 48 小时的反应测试，结果表明 Timberfill 反应器产生的总有机碳（TOC）浓度（9.6mg·L）高于 PLA 反应器（5.5mg·L）和 Pyrex 反应器（5.2mg·L），这表明 Timberfill 对反应有干扰。该工作还考虑并讨论了进一步的化学和机械标准，这些标准也有利于 PLA 用于 3D 打印芬顿和光芬顿反应器。最后，该工作还详细解释了所使用的打印参数，并提供了制备原型的指南。
