RU2092614C1 - Electrolyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: electrochemical processes. SUBSTANCE: invention aims at electrochemically splitting liquid, mainly aqueous solution to produce hydrogen. Purpose is achieved with that electrolyzer is constructed with separate cathode and anode chambers wherein, respectively, cathode and anode electrodes are placed, whereas one more electrode pair is made from one common short-circuited oxygen- resistant ruthenium oxide electrode. The latter is installed in such a manner as to be inserted into liquid and to be taken out from it. EFFECT: improved design. 1 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to electrochemical technology and can be used to decompose a liquid, mainly an aqueous solution, in order to produce hydrogen.

 There are electrolyzers for decomposing water in the presence of a background electrolyte to produce hydrogen.

 Their disadvantage is that the electrolyzer is composed of separate bipolar cells, consisting of two bipolar electrodes and a porous diaphragm, dividing the internal cavity of the cell into the anode and cathode spaces. Therefore, due to the permeable diaphragm, the electrolysis of an aqueous solution and the separation of the cathode and anode products occur essentially in the same space, i.e. the interpenetration of decomposition products occurs. Therefore, the hydrogen produced in the existing electrolyzer has a low degree of purity, which is aggravated by a side reaction in the volume of the electrolyte, as well as contamination of the electrolyte with fibers of the asbestos diaphragm. All these negative phenomena lead to the need for complex devices for cleaning decomposition products.

 The purpose of the invention is to increase the purity of the resulting hydrogen.

 This goal is achieved by the fact that the electrolyzer is additionally equipped with pairs of electrodes as a whole of ruthenium oxide, placed in adjacent anode and cathode chambers and which are conductors of electric current between the chambers and installed with the possibility of their movement.

 The drawing shows a sketch of the proposed cell in the context.

 The electrolyzer consists of the following nodes: 1 chamber body, 2 cathode space, 3 cathode electrode, 4 oxide-ruthenium electrode common to the cathode and anode spaces, 5 impermeable to electrolyte and, accordingly, for electric current, separation and insulating partition, 6 anode electrode, 7 anode space.

 The proposed device operates as follows. The aqueous solution supplied to the electrolyzer differs in separate chambers for hydrogen and oxygen in order to eliminate side electrochemical reactions / or significantly reduce them / at the anode in the cathode chamber, and therefore increase the purity of the resulting hydrogen. An electric current conductor between the cathode and anode chambers / spaces / 2 and 7 is an integral electrode 4, common to the cathode and anode spaces with a solution, made of oxide-ruthenium material that does not react with oxygen. The side reaction in the volume of the electrolyte is also significantly weakened, since the cathode space is separated from the anode by an insulating partition, impermeable to the electrolyte and breaking the electrical circuit between these spaces. In the drawing, the septum is shown under the number 5. In addition, the absence of porous asbestos diaphragms also eliminates contamination of the electrolyte, and hence hydrogen, by asbestos fibers.

 If necessary, the electrolyte can circulate moving between the electrolyzer and the separators, in which the gaseous products of electrolysis are separated from the liquid, joining the hydrogen pipe and oxygen pipe. In the proposed electrolyzer, the resulting oxygen also has a high degree of purity. It goes without saying that a high degree of purity of the electrolysis products obtained in the proposed electrolyzer eliminates the need for complex devices for cleaning electrolysis products.

 The electrode 4, made of ruthenium oxide, is designed to be movable and allows you to adjust the electrolysis process by immersing it in the electrolyte or lifting from it and controlling the changes in the specific resistance of the electrolyte, which depends on temperature, as well as the overvoltage of hydrogen and oxygen on the electrodes, which also depends on temperature electrolyte mode.

 In order to increase productivity, the electrolyzer can be made up of several tens or hundreds of separate anode and cathode chambers, electrically connected between them are moving pairs of electrodes made of ruthenium oxide, in this case, the electric connection between chamber spaces will become cheaper and easier, since there will be no need for a bus over electrolyzers and installation of cable channels.

Claims (1)

 An electrolyzer containing anodes and cathodes separated by an insulating non-conductive baffle with the formation of anode and cathode chambers, characterized in that it is further provided with pairs of ruthenium oxide electrodes interconnected, placed in adjacent anode and cathode chambers and installed with the possibility of movement.