The hydrodynamic behavior of a parallel-plate electrochemical reactor

• Published in: Fuel (Guildford) Vol. 110; pp. 162 - 170
• Main Authors: López-García, Ulises Miguel, Hidalgo, Pablo Esau, Olvera, Juan Carlos, Castañeda, Federico, Ruiz, Hugo, Orozco, German
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2013; Elsevier
• 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; Flow visualization; Residence time distributions; Computational fluid dynamics; Electrochemical reactor; Parallel plate; Visualization; Data analysis; Residence time; Cathode; Hydrodynamics; Platinum; Titanium; Hydrogen production
• ISSN: 0016-2361; 1873-7153
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2012.11.016

► 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.