US20100258436A1 - Electrolysis apparatus - Google Patents

Electrolysis apparatus Download PDF

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Publication number
US20100258436A1
US20100258436A1 US12/739,024 US73902408A US2010258436A1 US 20100258436 A1 US20100258436 A1 US 20100258436A1 US 73902408 A US73902408 A US 73902408A US 2010258436 A1 US2010258436 A1 US 2010258436A1
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Prior art keywords
electrolyte
electrolysis
restraining member
space region
electrode unit
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Abandoned
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US12/739,024
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English (en)
Inventor
Yoshinori Takeuchi
Dalsuke Sakaki
Tadashi Ohashi
Hisashi Matsumura
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Kinotech Solar Energy Corp
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Kinotech Solar Energy Corp
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Assigned to KINOTECH SOLAR ENERGY CORPORATION reassignment KINOTECH SOLAR ENERGY CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: SAKAKI, DAISUKE, TAKEUCHI, YOSHINORI, MATSUMURA, HISASHI, OHASHI, TADASHI
Publication of US20100258436A1 publication Critical patent/US20100258436A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25C—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC PRODUCTION, RECOVERY OR REFINING OF METALS; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25C7/00—Constructional parts, or assemblies thereof, of cells; Servicing or operating of cells
    • C25C7/005—Constructional parts, or assemblies thereof, of cells; Servicing or operating of cells of cells for the electrolysis of melts
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25C—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC PRODUCTION, RECOVERY OR REFINING OF METALS; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25C3/00—Electrolytic production, recovery or refining of metals by electrolysis of melts
    • C25C3/34—Electrolytic production, recovery or refining of metals by electrolysis of melts of metals not provided for in groups C25C3/02 - C25C3/32
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25C—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC PRODUCTION, RECOVERY OR REFINING OF METALS; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25C7/00—Constructional parts, or assemblies thereof, of cells; Servicing or operating of cells
    • C25C7/06—Operating or servicing

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an electrolysis apparatus and, more particularly, to an electrolysis apparatus having an evaporation restraining member.
  • an electrolysis apparatus for melting metal compound such as zinc chloride or the like to carry out electrolysis of the same for producing metal such as zinc or the like.
  • metal compound filled in a crucible (electrolysis cell) made of graphite, is heated up to a temperature above a melting point of meal to obtain electrolyte. Then, applying electric current electrodes immersed in the resulting electrolyte enables electrolyte to be decomposed respectively into compound such as chloride and metal such as zinc.
  • Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication 2005-200758 discloses an electrolysis cell structure body, comprised of an air space provided in an area above a liquid surface of electrolyte to cause by-product gas to convect, and a gas exhaust tube provided above such an air space.
  • a temperature of the spacing at an upper area of the air space is set to be lower than a temperature of electrolyte to cause by-product gas and electrolyte mist to convect in the air space, causing electrolyte mist to drop into electrolyte to allow only by-product gas to be delivered to the exhaust pipe.
  • the temperature for heating metal compound set at a lower level to lower the temperature of electrolyte the amount of evaporated electrolyte can be reduced.
  • the lower the temperature of electrolyte the higher will be a voltage required for electrolysis and the greater will be liquid resistance of electrolyte with a resultant increase in electric power needed for electrolysis.
  • the low temperature results in an increase in viscosity of electrolyte and an electrolysis product is separated from electrode surfaces at slow speeds with a resultant difficulty of efficiently continuing electrolysis reaction. That is, there is a certain limitation in setting the temperature for heating metal compound to be lowered to maintain electrolyte at the lowered temperature.
  • the present invention has been completed with the above studies conducted by the present inventors in mind and has an object of the present invention to provide an electrolysis apparatus that can minimize the amount of evaporated electrolyte and prevent the occurrence of the clogging of an exhaust pipe without lowering a temperature of electrolyte.
  • an electrolysis apparatus comprising an electrolysis cell accommodating therein electrolyte, a heating section located around the electrolysis cell to heat the electrolysis cell, an electrode section having an electrode unit immersed in the electrolyte and a power-conducting electrode portion supporting the electrode unit to apply the electrode unit with electric power, a lid body defining a space region in an area above the electrolysis cell, an exhaust section located in the lid body to allow the space region to communicate with an outside for exhausting by-product gas, resulting from electrolysis of the electrolyte, from the space region to the outside, and an evaporation restraining member floating on a liquid surface of the electrolyte so as to cover the liquid surface of the electrolyte for permitting the by-product gas, resulting from electrolysis of the electrolyte, to escape to the space region while restraining the electrolyte from evaporating.
  • the amount of evaporated electrolyte can be decreased and the clogging of an exhaust pipe can be avoided without lowering a temperature of electrolyte.
  • FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an electrolysis apparatus of a first embodiment according to the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a view as viewed in a Z-direction of FIG. 1 and represents an enlarged top view of an evaporation restraining member used in the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line A-A of FIG. 1 .
  • FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an electrolysis apparatus of a second embodiment according to the present invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a view as viewed in the Z-direction of FIG. 4 and represents an enlarged top view of an evaporation restraining member used in the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line B-B of FIG. 4 .
  • FIG. 7 corresponds to a positional relationship of FIG. 5 and represents an enlarged top view of an evaporation restraining member of a modified form of the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 8 corresponds to a positional relationship of FIG. 5 and represents an enlarged top view of an evaporation restraining member of another modified form of the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of an electrolysis apparatus of a third embodiment according to the present invention.
  • FIG. 10 is a view as viewed in the Z-direction of FIG. 9 and represents an enlarged top view of an evaporation restraining member used in the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line C-C of FIG. 10 .
  • FIG. 12 corresponds to a positional relationship of FIG. 11 and represents an enlarged top view of an evaporation restraining member of a modified form of the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 13 corresponds to a positional relationship of FIG. 11 and represents an enlarged top view of an evaporation restraining member of another modified form of the present embodiment.
  • an x-axis, a y-axis and a z-axis represent a three-axis orthogonal coordinate system with the z-axis having a positive direction referred to as an upper direction and a negative direction referred to as a lower direction.
  • FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the electrolysis apparatus of the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 2 is an enlarged top view of FIG. 1 , as viewed in the Z-direction that is parallel to the z-axis, for representing an evaporation restraining member forming part of the electrolysis apparatus of the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line A-A of FIG. 1 .
  • the electrolysis apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes an electrolysis cell 10 , a heating section 20 , an electrode section 30 , a lid body 45 , an exhaust section 50 and an evaporation restraining member 60 .
  • the electrolysis cell 10 is a cylindrical member, made of graphite, which is bottomed for internally accommodating electrolyte 70 composed of melted metal compound such as zinc chloride or the like.
  • the electrolysis cell 10 has an inner surface 10 a , coated with a glass-like carbon layer, with which electrolyte 70 is held in contact.
  • the electrolysis cell 10 has, for instance, an inner diameter d 1 of 400 mm with a wall thickness t 1 of 20 mm.
  • the heating section 20 is a bottomed cylindrical member located around the electrolysis cell 10 so as to surround the same.
  • the heating section 20 has an upper end formed in an open end that is folded inward to be brought into contact with an outer wall 10 b of the electrolysis cell 10 at an upper open end thereof to fixedly retain the electrolysis cell 10 . Further, the electrolysis cell 10 has the open end protruding upward from a contact position with the heating section 20 .
  • Electrolyte 70 is maintained at a given temperature to reduce liquid resistance and when electrolyte 70 includes, for instance, zinc chloride, electrolyte 70 is maintained at a temperature of approximately 550° C.
  • the electrode section 30 supplies electric current to electrolyte 70 for making electrolysis of electrolyte 70 .
  • the electrode section 30 includes an electrode unit 30 a entirely immersed in electrolyte 70 , and a power-conducting electrode portion 30 b.
  • the electrode unit 30 a takes the form of a structure comprised of a plurality of plate-like graphite electrodes 33 unitarily juxtaposed by given distances on a ceramic base member 35 made of alumina to be fixedly retained in place.
  • the electrode unit 30 a is of a bipolar type formed in an electrode pair in which adjacent ones of the plurality of plural electrodes 33 have different polarities but may be of a unipolar type.
  • the power-conducting electrode portion 30 b are a pair of columnar electrode bars each made of iron and each covered with a protector tube (not shown) made of mullite.
  • the pair of iron electrode bars 37 is connected to the electrodes 33 on both sides of the electrode unit 30 a.
  • the lid body 45 includes a cylindrical member with an upper portion being closed and is located on the electrolysis cell 10 at an upper portion thereof.
  • the lid body 45 has a lower end portion formed with an open end portion having an inner surface 45 a kept in contact with the outer wall 10 b protruding upward from a contact area held in contact with the heating portion 20 of the electrolysis cell 10 .
  • the lid body 45 and the outer wall 10 b are hermetically sealed with each other by means of a seal member (not shown) such that the lid body 45 and the electrolysis cell 10 are formed in a unitary structure. This allows the electrolysis cell 10 to have an upper area formed with a space region 40 in a closed space.
  • the exhaust section 50 includes an exhaust pipe 53 connected to the top surface portion, closing the upper area of the space region 40 , of the lid body 45 at an area apart from the area in which the electrode bars 37 are inserted, and a filter 57 fitted in the exhaust pipe 53 .
  • the exhaust pipe 53 is connected to an exhaust system (not shown) to allow by-product gas, generated during electrolysis of electrolyte 70 , to be exhausted from the space region 40 to the outside through the exhaust system.
  • the evaporation restraining member 60 is placed on a liquid surface of electrolyte 70 in a floating state so as to cover a nearly greater part of the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 . More particularly, the evaporation restraining member 60 is comprised of a circular plate-like member, having a pair of vertically extending first through-bore 60 a , and a plurality of vertically extending second through-bores 60 b.
  • the evaporation restraining member 60 is shaped in a plate-like configuration similar to a shape of the open end of the electrolysis cell 10 because of enabling the plate-like configuration to cover the greater portion of the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 and, hence, comprised of the circular plate-like member.
  • the present invention is not limited to such a configuration and the evaporation restraining member 60 may take a variety of shapes depending on a structure, such as a rectangular shape, of the electrolysis cell 10 at the open end thereof.
  • the evaporation restraining member 60 may be preferably made of graphite on the standpoint of tolerance and specific gravity against electrolyte 70 . By so doing, the evaporation restraining member 60 can be reliably placed on the liquid surface such that the evaporation restraining member 60 partly protrudes from the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 in a floating state.
  • the pair of first through-bores 60 a is formed in circular holes, penetrating upper and lower surfaces of the evaporation restraining member 60 , through which the pair of electrode bars 37 is inserted.
  • Each of the through-bores 60 a has an opening diameter d 2 that is greater than a diameter d 4 of each electrode bar 37 involving the protector tube.
  • the pair of electrode bars 37 is fixed to a support body (not shown) in an area above the evaporation restraining member 60 and connected to a D.C power supply (not shown).
  • the plurality of second through-bores 60 b are formed in circular holes, penetrating the upper and lower surfaces of the evaporation restraining member 60 so as to allow a part of the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 to be exposed to the space region 40 , which are formed in given distances in a cyclic pattern as to the x-y plane.
  • the evaporation restraining member 60 is disposed so as to cover the electrode unit 30 a immersed in electrolyte 70 .
  • the plurality of second through-bores 60 b of the evaporation restraining member 60 are necessarily disposed in a region involving a projection geometry, projected onto the evaporation restraining member 60 , of the electrode unit 30 a which is immersed in electrolyte 70 .
  • Each of the first through-bores 60 a has an opening diameter d 2 of, for instance, 60 mm and each of the second through-bores 60 b has an opening diameter of, for instance, 20 mm Further, each of the electrode bars 37 , involving the protector tube, has a diameter d 4 of 50 mm In addition, the evaporation restraining member 60 has an outer diameter of, for instance, 90 mm with a thickness t 2 of 5 mm.
  • electrolyte mist is present in the space region 40 at a rate varying in proportion to the amount of evaporated electrolyte 70 .
  • the amount of evaporated electrolyte 70 varies in proportion to a surface area of a liquid phase relative to a gas phase when the liquid phase and the gas phase are held in contact with each other, i.e. in proportion to a surface area in which the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 is held in direct contact with the space region 40 .
  • the evaporation restraining member 60 is placed on the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 so as to cover the greater part of the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 in the floating state with a part of the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 being exposed to the space region 40 via the second through-bores 60 b .
  • the amount of evaporated electrolyte 70 can be reduced while appropriately permitting by-product gas, generated upon electrolysis of electrolyte 70 , to escape to the space region 40 .
  • the evaporation restraining member 60 is placed on the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 in the floating state. Even if the liquid surface moves upward or downward depending on an increment or decrement of electrolyte 70 , the evaporation restraining member 60 can cover the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 following the movement thereof. This allows the liquid surface to have a minimized exposed surface area, reliably decreasing the amount of evaporated electrolyte 70 .
  • applying the evaporation restraining member 60 reliably enables a reduction in the amount of evaporated electrolyte 70 while realizing electrolysis reaction with high efficiency at high temperatures.
  • liquid surface of electrolyte 70 is appropriately exposed to the space region 40 via the second through-bores 60 b .
  • the reduction occurs in the amount of evaporated electrolyte 70 and the rate of generating electrolyte mist is decreased.
  • This allows the filter 57 to be less subjected to the occurrence of electrolyte mist adhered thereto to minimize a risk of clogging.
  • This enables by-product gas such as, for instance, chlorine gas, generated in electrolysis of electrolyte 70 to be efficiently exhausted from the space region 40 , resulting in improvement in safety of the electrolysis apparatus.
  • the power-conducting electrode portion 30 b is not provided to extend above the electrode unit 30 a but provided to extend laterally to or beneath the electrode unit 30 a , of course, it is not needed that the pair of first through-bores 60 a is formed in the evaporation restraining member 60 , and such a situation is applicable to the following embodiments.
  • FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the electrolysis apparatus of the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 5 is an enlarged top view of FIG. 4 , as viewed in the Z-direction that is parallel to the z-axis, for representing an evaporation restraining member used in the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line B-B of FIG. 4 .
  • the electrolysis apparatus 2 of the present embodiment mainly differs from the first embodiment in that the evaporation restraining member 60 is replaced by an evaporation restraining member 80 with other structures being identical to each other. Therefore, the present embodiment will be described below with a focus on such a differing point and like or corresponding component parts bear like reference numerals to suitably simplify the description or to omit such a description.
  • the evaporation restraining member 80 is a circular plate-like member placed on the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 in a floating state so as to cover a nearly greater part of the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 .
  • the evaporation restraining member 80 has the same structure as that of the evaporation restraining member 60 of the first embodiment and includes a pair of first through-bores 80 a inserting the electrode bars 37 of the electrode section 30 , and a plurality of second through-bores 80 b but differs from the evaporation restraining member 60 of the first embodiment in respect of a detailed structure of the second through-bores 80 b .
  • the pair of first through-bores 80 a of the evaporation restraining member 80 has the same structure as the pair of first through-bores 60 a of the evaporation restraining member 60 of the first embodiment.
  • the plurality of second through-bores 80 b is provided in a limited way in an inward area surrounded with a circle 85 , having a diameter composed of a distance between respective center axes of the pair of first through-bores 80 a and 80 a (i.e. between respective center axes of the pair of electrode bars 37 and 37 ), which passes across respective center points of the pair of first through-bores 80 a and 80 a as to the x-y plane.
  • the plurality of second through-bores 80 b is provided in a limited region involving a projection geometry, projected onto the evaporation restraining member 80 , of the electrode unit 30 a which is immersed in electrolyte 70 .
  • the evaporation restraining member 80 has a structure having the plurality of second through-bores 80 b provided in the limited way only at the region corresponding to an upper area of the electrode unit 30 a immersed in electrolyte 70 . Meanwhile, a remnant area, in which none of such through-bores 80 b is provided in the evaporation restraining member 80 , realizes a structure for reliably covering the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 .
  • the evaporation restraining member 80 is capable of minimizing an exposed area of the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 to reliably decrease the amount of evaporated electrolyte 70 while enabling by-product gas, generated upon electrolysis initiated at the electrode unit 30 a , to be directly exhausted to the space region 40 at high efficiency in an area immediately above the electrode unit 30 a . This reliably prevents by-product gas from accumulating at a lower area of the evaporation restraining member 80 .
  • electrolyte 70 can have an increased heat retention effect with resultant improvement in heating efficiency of the heating section 20 .
  • the pair of first through-bores 80 a are provided for inserting the pair of electrode bars 37 , respectively, and, in addition thereto, the second through-bores are provided in the evaporation restraining member 80 to allow the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 to be exposed in the limited region involving the projection geometry, projected onto the evaporation restraining member 80 , of the electrode unit 30 a immersed in electrolyte 70 .
  • the evaporation restraining member 80 may be conceivably applied in various modified forms as typically described below in detail.
  • FIG. 7 shows a positional relationship corresponding to that of FIG. 5 and represents an enlarged top view of an evaporation restraining member of a modified form of the present embodiment.
  • the evaporation restraining member 80 A of the modified form has a single second through-bore 80 Ab having a contour continuous with that of a pair of first through-bores 80 Aa through which the pair of electrode bars 37 are inserted, respectively, with the pair of first through-bores 80 Aa and the second through-bore 80 Ab providing a single through-bore in a continuous contour as a whole.
  • the second through-bore 80 Ab has an opening configuration which is formed in a limited region involving a projection geometry, projected onto the evaporation restraining member 80 A, of the electrode unit 30 a immersed in electrolyte 70
  • the second through-bore 80 Ab has an opening configuration which corresponds to the projection geometry of the electrode unit 30 a , i.e. which matches the projection geometry of the electrode unit 30 a.
  • FIG. 8 shows a positional relationship corresponding to that of FIG. 5 and represents an enlarged top view of an evaporation restraining member of another modified form of the present embodiment.
  • first through-bores 80 Ba With an evaporation restraining member 80 B of another modified form shown in FIG. 8 , in particular, four second through-bores 80 Bb are juxtaposed in an area sandwiched between a pair of first through-bores 80 Ba.
  • the pair of first through-bores 80 Ba have the same structures as those of the pair of through-bores 60 a of the evaporation restraining member 60 of the first embodiment.
  • the four second through-bores 80 Bb have opening configurations formed in limited regions involving a projection geometry, projected onto the evaporation restraining member 80 A, of the electrode unit 30 a immersed in electrolyte 70
  • the four second through-bores 80 Bb have opening configurations respectively corresponding to four gap portions each of which is defined as a gap portion between an adjacent pair of five electrodes 33 of the electrode unit 30 a . That is, the second through-bores 80 Bb have opening configurations matching the projected shapes of the gap portions of the five electrodes 33 , respectively.
  • FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the electrolysis apparatus of the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 10 is an enlarged top view of FIG. 9 , as viewed in the Z-direction that is parallel to the z-axis, for representing an evaporation restraining member used in the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line C-C of FIG. 10 .
  • the electrolysis apparatus 3 of the present embodiment mainly differs from the second embodiment in that the evaporation restraining member 80 of the second embodiment is replaced by an evaporation restraining member 90 with other structures being identical to each other. Therefore, the present embodiment will be described below with a focus on such a differing point and like or corresponding component parts bear like reference numerals to suitably simplify the description or to omit such a description.
  • the plurality of second through-bores 80 b of the evaporation restraining member 80 of the second embodiment represent simplified circular holes whereas a plurality of second through-bores 90 b of the evaporation restraining member 90 include through-holes each formed in a top-sliced cone-shaped inner circumferential surface 90 w .
  • a pair of first through-bores 90 a of the evaporation restraining member 90 have the same structure as the pair of first through-bores 60 a of the evaporation restraining member 60 of the first embodiment and the pair of first through-bores 80 a of the evaporation restraining member 80 of the second embodiment.
  • the plurality of second through-bores 90 b include the through-holes each having the top-sliced cone-shaped inner circumferential surface 90 w with an opening diameter d 6 , placed on the evaporation restraining member 90 at a bottom wall thereof facing electrolyte 90 , which is greater than an opening diameter d 5 placed on the evaporation restraining member 90 at a top wall thereof facing the space region 40 .
  • the opening diameter d 6 placed at the bottom wall facing electrolyte 90
  • the opening diameter d 5 placed at the top wall facing the space region 40
  • is 15 mm is 15 mm.
  • by-product gas resulting from electrolysis, can smoothly escape through the second through-bores 90 b to prevent by-product from accumulating in an area beneath the evaporation restraining member 90 , while reliably minimizing an exposed surface area of the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 to enable a reduction in the amount of evaporated electrolyte 70 .
  • the evaporation restraining member 90 of the present embodiment is intended to provide a structure in which by-product gas, resulting from electrolysis, is enabled to smoothly escape through the second through-bores 90 b and a variety of modifications are conceivably provided as typically described below.
  • FIG. 12 corresponds to the positional relationship shown in FIG. 11 and is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an evaporation restraining member of a modified form of the present embodiment.
  • each of a plurality of second through-bores 90 Ab has an inner wall 90 w 1 , formed in a top-sliced cone-shaped circumferential wall with a diameter increasing downward from a top wall facing the space region 40 , and an inner wall 90 w 2 formed in a top-sliced cone-shaped circumferential wall with a diameter decreasing upward from a bottom wall facing electrolyte 70 .
  • the inner walls 90 w 1 and 90 w 2 of each of the plurality of second through-bores 90 Ab are formed in a surface structure in which both of adjacent top-sliced cone-shaped inner walls are connected to each other via a stepped portion formed in a planar wall portion.
  • the evaporation restraining member 90 A can be processed at the top and bottom walls in a separate fashion, providing a further simplified processing capability.
  • FIG. 13 corresponds to the positional relationship shown in FIG. 11 and represents an enlarged cross-sectional view of an evaporation restraining member of another modified form of the present embodiment.
  • each of a plurality of second through-bores 90 Bb has an inner wall 90 w 3 formed with a circumferential surface with a diameter continuously and decreasing upward in a decrescent way from a bottom wall facing electrolyte 70 .
  • each of the plurality of second through-bores 90 Bb has a structure having a curved surface that smoothly varies from an area facing electrolyte 70 to another area facing the space region 40 .
  • This allows by-product gas, resulting from electrolysis, to smoothly escape upward without unnecessarily disturbing a flow of by-product gas resulting from electrolysis such that by-product gas can be guided to the space region 40 .
  • by-product gas resulting from electrolysis can smoothly escape through the second through-bores 90 Bb, thereby enabling by-product gas resulting from electrolysis to be exhausted to the space region 40 at further increased efficiency.
  • This reliably prevent by-product gas from accumulating in an area beneath the evaporation restraining member 90 B while minimizing an exposed surface area of the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 , thereby reliably enabling a reduction in the amount of evaporated electrolyte 70 .
  • the inner wall structure of the various second through-bores 90 b , 90 Ab and 90 Bb, formed in the evaporation restraining members 90 , 90 A and 90 B, respectively, may be applied to parts of such through-bores and remaining through-bores may take simplified circular holes.
  • the inner wall structure of the various second through-bores 90 b , 90 Ab and 90 Bb, formed in the evaporation restraining members 90 , 90 A and 90 B, respectively, may be applied to parts of or a whole of the second through-bores 80 b of the evaporation restraining member 80 of the second embodiment, parts of or a whole of the second through-bores 80 Ab of the evaporation restraining member 80 A or parts of or a whole of the second through-bores 80 Bb of the evaporation restraining member 80 B.
  • electrolysis of electrolyte was conducted using the electrolysis apparatus 1 of the first embodiment under a condition mentioned below.
  • the electrolysis cell 10 having an inner diameter d 1 of 400 mm with a wall thickness t 1 of 20 mm, was fixedly placed inside the heating section 20 . Thereafter, zinc chloride was poured as a metal compound into the electrolysis cell 10 , in which zinc chloride was heated up to a temperature of 550° C. to be melted to adequately decrease liquid resistance of poured zinc chloride, thereby forming electrolyte 70 .
  • the electrode unit 30 a supported with the electrode bars 37 each made of iron and including the protector tube with a diameter d 4 of 50 mm, was immersed in electrolyte 70 .
  • the electrode bars 37 were inserted through the first through-bores 60 a of the evaporation restraining member 60 , made of graphite and having an outer diameter d 5 of 390 mm with a wall thickness t 2 of 5 mm, which had the first through-bores 60 a each with an opening diameter d 2 of 60 mm and the second through-bores 60 b each with an opening diameter d 3 of 20 mm
  • the evaporation restraining member 60 was dropped onto the liquid surface of electrolyte 70 , on which the evaporation restraining member 60 is placed in a floating condition.
  • the lid body 45 having the exhaust section 50 connected to the exhaust system, has the open end whose inner wall 45 a is unitarily fixed to the outer wall 10 b of the open end of the electrolysis cell 10 via the seal member, thereby defining the space region 40 .
  • the electrode unit 30 a is supplied with electric current with current density of 0.5 Acm2, thereby conducting electrolysis of electrolyte 70 continuously for 8 hours.
  • electrolysis of electrolyte was conducted using the electrolysis apparatus 2 of the second embodiment under the same condition as that of the example 1.
  • electrolysis the presence of or absence of the occurrence of electrolyte mist was similarly confirmed under the visual observation method.
  • a comparison was similarly made between weights of the filter 57 on stages before and after electrolysis. Also, the structures of various modifications of the second embodiment were not adopted.
  • each through-bore 90 b had an opening diameter d 6 of 20 mm at the end facing electrolyte 70 and an opening diameter d 5 of 15 mm at the other end facing the space region 40 .
  • the structures of various modifications of the third embodiment were not adopted.
  • electrolysis was conducted under the same structure and the condition as those of the apparatus used in the example 1 except that the evaporation restraining member 60 is not provided. During electrolysis, the presence of or absence of the occurrence of electrolyte mist was similarly confirmed under the visual observation method. After electrolysis, a comparison was similarly made between weights of the filter 57 made of carbon felt on stages before and after electrolysis.
  • the lid body 45 was internally filled with white-colored mist of zinc chloride under a status in which no inside could be viewed.
  • Such a result enabled an evaluation to be made that with the examples 1 to 3, the amount of electrolyte mist can be further effectively reduced than that obtained in the comparative example.
  • the increment in weight of the filter 57 on a stage after electrolysis continuously conducted for 8 hours decreased to 1/15 of the increment in weight of the filter 57 in the comparative example.
  • the increment in weight of the filter 57 on a stage of electrolysis in the example 3 marked the smallest value.
  • the examples 1 to 3 can be evaluated to have further favorable effects of efficiently minimizing the occurrence of electrolyte mist than that obtained in the comparative example.
  • the present invention provides an electrolysis apparatus, available to minimize the amount of evaporated electrolyte while preventing the occurrence of the clogging of an exhaust pipe without causing a reduction in temperature of electrolyte, which has a general-purpose and universal characteristic based on which the present invention is expected to be applied to a variety of electrolysis apparatuses.

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  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Electrochemistry (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Metallurgy (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Electrolytic Production Of Metals (AREA)
  • Electrolytic Production Of Non-Metals, Compounds, Apparatuses Therefor (AREA)
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JP2007281224A JP2009108365A (ja) 2007-10-30 2007-10-30 電解装置
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PCT/JP2008/003048 WO2009057270A1 (ja) 2007-10-30 2008-10-27 電解装置

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US11280021B2 (en) 2018-04-19 2022-03-22 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Method of controlling chemical concentration in electrolyte and semiconductor apparatus

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