The hydrodynamic behavior of a parallel-plate electrochemical reactor

► The hydrodynamic behavior of parallel-plate electrochemical reactor was study. ► The experiments provide evidence of the plug-flow character of the reactor. ► The Brinkman equation was applied to describe the behavior of flow. The aim of this study was to characterize the hydrodynamic behavior of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Fuel (Guildford) 2013-08, Vol.110, p.162-170
Main Authors: López-García, Ulises Miguel, Hidalgo, Pablo Esau, Olvera, Juan Carlos, Castañeda, Federico, Ruiz, Hugo, Orozco, German
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative fuels. Production and utilization
Applied sciences
Computational fluid dynamics
Electrochemical reactor
Electrodes
Energy
Energy. Thermal use of fuels
Exact sciences and technology
Flow visualization
Fluid flow
Fuels
Hydrodynamics
Hydrogen
Mathematical analysis
Mathematical models
Parallel plate
Platinum
Reactors
Residence time distributions
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Summary:► The hydrodynamic behavior of parallel-plate electrochemical reactor was study. ► The experiments provide evidence of the plug-flow character of the reactor. ► The Brinkman equation was applied to describe the behavior of flow. The aim of this study was to characterize the hydrodynamic behavior of a parallel-plate electrochemical reactor (PPER) and its net-type spacer. Consequently, the residence time distributions (RTDs) and flow visualization (FV) of the PPER were measured. In addition, platinum was electrodeposited onto the surface of the titanium electrode (cathode) of the PPER. Subsequently, a complementary computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study was performed to aid in data analysis. The axial dispersion coefficient was found to increase linearly with the flow rate, and all data corresponded to a signal in the form of an instantaneous impulse at the reactor inlet that could be detected immediately at the reactor outlet. These experiments provided evidence that the plug flow predominated for all gaps that were tested, and the platinum coating showed a thickness distribution that corresponded to the concentration profile that was predicted by the CFD study. Thus, the experimental thickness distributions verified the results of the CFD study. The Brinkman equation for porous media flow was proposed to describe the behavior of the flow that was observed in the FV experiment, and we found that the PPER could be used in further research for hydrogen production.
ISSN:0016-2361
1873-7153
DOI:10.1016/j.fuel.2012.11.016