Performance of a multipurpose research electrochemical reactor

This paper reports on a multipurpose research electrochemical reactor with an innovative design feature, which is based on a filter press arrangement with inclined segmented electrodes and under a modular assembly. Under bipolar connection, the fraction of leakage current is lower than 4%, depending on the bipolar Wagner number, and the current distribution is closely uniform. When a turbulence promoter is used, the local mass-transfer coefficient shows a variation of ±10% with respect to its mean value. The fluidodynamics of the reactor responds to the dispersion model with a Peclet number higher than 10. It is concluded that this reactor is convenient for laboratory research.

► For this reactor configuration the current distribution is uniform. ► For this reactor configuration with bipolar connection the leakage current is small. ► The mass-transfer conditions are closely uniform along the electrode. ► The fluidodynamic behaviour can be represented by the dispersion model. ► This reactor represents a suitable device for laboratory trials.