LIF based hydrodynamic studies in pilot-scale electrolytic cells

Carrying out electrochemical processes at high efficiency would require having optimal hydrodynamic conditions of the electrolyte liquids within the cell, forcing high mass transfer rates of the relevant components at the electrodes as well as through the membrane. Hence, the electrolyte residence time distribution (RTD) in the individual compartments is one of the key issues, affecting the performance. For the investigation of RTD and spatially resolved velocity profiles at different compartment levels of technical electrolytic cells, a new laser induced fluorescence (LIF) visualization method has been developed. Back-mixing effects of the electrolytes are quantified by axial dispersion coefficients using adequate dispersion models. Among the description of the measurement setup, the contribution mainly discusses the effects of liquid flow rate, spacer grids and pressure conditions in the compartments as well as the effect of gas evolution on RTD. The measurements provide an informative basis for optimization of the flow textures that diverge from expected symmetric flows. The aim of the research is to get a better understanding regarding the RTD behaviour and to draw conclusions on the cell behaviour as basis for optimization of the cell design as well as of the process parameters. Moreover, the experimental results can prove to be useful to evaluate modelling and simulation of hydrodynamics using CFD methods which is also shown by means of selected examples.