Standard reporting of Electrical Energy per Order (<i>E</i> _EO) for UV/H₂O₂ reactors (IUPAC Technical Report)

TLDR

Electrical Energy per Order (E EO), introduced in 2001 as a figure of merit for UV‑based advanced oxidation processes, quantifies the energy needed to achieve a ten‑fold reduction of a target contaminant but is often reported without key details such as contaminant concentration, identity, or hydrogen‑peroxide dosage, limiting comparability. This report calls for standardized reporting of E EO, including all experimental parameters, to enable meaningful comparisons of bench‑, pilot‑, and full‑scale UV/H₂O₂ reactors across studies and manufacturers. The authors propose using the artificial sweetener sucralose (C₁₂H₁₉Cl₃O₈) as a standard substrate for benchmarking UV/H₂O₂ reactor performance.

Abstract

Abstract The concept of Electrical Energy per Order ( E EO ) was introduced in 2001 as a figure of merit for evaluating the energy requirements of ultraviolet-based advanced oxidation processes (UV AOPs) used for the degradation of various organic contaminants. The E EO parameter represents the energy input into the reactor that can achieve an order of magnitude decrease in the concentration of a target contaminant in a unit volume. Since the introduction of this parameter, it has become increasingly popular among UV AOP researchers and practitioners. However, the E EO is often reported without important details that affect the parameter, making its interpretation difficult. The E EO depends on a variety of factors ( e.g. the concentration and identity of the target contaminant and the amount of hydrogen peroxide added). Therefore, the E EO parameter needs to be reported in the literature with several other experimental details affecting the reactor performance and in a way that proper comparisons can be made between reactors across studies or manufacturers. This paper discusses the proper application of the E EO parameter for bench-, pilot-, and full-scale studies. Sucralose (artificial sweetener, C 12 H 19 Cl 3 O 8 ) is proposed as a standard substance for reactor comparison.