Turbulence intensity in an electrochemical cell: Effect on reactor performance

In order to study the improvement in reaction efficiency associated with the improved flow characteristics over static or quasi static cells, a dynamic electrochemical reactor is designed and tested. Experimental results are compared to a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the cell, based only on turbulence characteristics. We intend to identify the optimal geometrical configuration, using CFD to determine how the electrodes, inlet and outlet tubes should be positionned. It is found that the overall reaction efficiency of the cell correlates almost perfectly with the volumetric turbulence intensity. The incidence angle (IA) formed by the inlet and the position of the electrodes governs the overall reaction rate.