Study of Mass Transfer Influenced by Gas Sparging and Simulation and Simultaneous Gas-Liquid Flow

Abstract

The present work has been carried out in order to study rate of mass transfer by different modes of convection in a vertical parallel plate electrochemical reactor using copper electrodes. The modes of convection used were: (1) sparging of gas thorough stationary solution and (2) simultaneous gas and liquid f"low. Current distributions and mass transfer rates under different hydrodynamic conditions within the cell were obtained by measuring currents at different sections of the cathode by employing the copper deposition reaction from acidified copper sulphate solution. Mass transfer data were generated by using the limiting current technique. Correlations obtained for gas sparging through stationary electrolyte and simultaneous gas-liquid flow were KgcC ugO.4 and Ktp = 2.08X10-s(UgO.4/U10.2) respectively. The results were also correlated with the average bubble diameter (Sherwood number and Reynolds number based on bubble diameter). These results have been compared with relevent previous works. Average mass transfer correlation was obtained for gas sparging through stationary solution. An extensive literature survey of industrial electrochemical processes and electrochemical mass transfer in different forced convective systems has been included.