Influence of Gas Injection Pipe on CO2 Decomposition by CaCl2–CaO Molten Salt and ZrO2 Solid Electrolysis

• Published in: ISIJ International Vol. 56; no. 11; pp. 2093 - 2099
• Main Authors: Ozawa, Sumito, Matsuno, Hidetoshi, Fujibayashi, Akio, Uchiyama, Takuya, Wakamatsu, Takafumi, Sakaguchi, Norihito, Suzuki, Ryosuke O.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Iron and Steel Institute of Japan 01.01.2016
• Subjects: carbon; CO2 gas; electro-reduction; molten salt; ZrO2 solid electrolyte
• ISSN: 0915-1559; 1347-5460
• DOI: 10.2355/isijinternational.ISIJINT-2016-179

The electrochemical decomposition of carbon dioxide to form carbon and oxygen gas in CaCl2–CaO molten salt was studied. A water model experiment was carried out to study the influence of the tip shape of the pipe, the pipe diameter and the wettability of the gas injection pipe on the bubble shape in the molten salt. Bubbles were formed with both a horizontal tip and an oblique tip when the wettability of the gas injection pipe was good. The specific surface area of the bubbles when using the oblique tip was smaller than when using the horizontal tip. On the other hand, slug flows appeared when wettability was poor. In a hot model experiment, the current density was measured, and it was found that the CO2 gas concentration decreased. Precipitated carbon was detected from the sample after the experiment. With the same pipe, the decrease of the CO2 gas concentration when using the oblique tip was more remarkable than when using the horizontal tip. It is likely that the form of the CO2 gas in the molten salt was bubble-shaped.