US3616430A - Electrolytic cells for preparing alkalis by the mercury process - Google Patents

Electrolytic cells for preparing alkalis by the mercury process Download PDF

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Publication number
US3616430A
US3616430A US791400*A US79140069A US3616430A US 3616430 A US3616430 A US 3616430A US 79140069 A US79140069 A US 79140069A US 3616430 A US3616430 A US 3616430A
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United States
Prior art keywords
mercury
grooves
bottom plate
longitudinal
electrolytic cell
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Expired - Lifetime
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US791400*A
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English (en)
Inventor
Teruo Imai
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Kureha Corp
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Kureha Corp
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Publication date
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25B—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF COMPOUNDS OR NON-METALS; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25B11/00—Electrodes; Manufacture thereof not otherwise provided for
    • C25B11/04—Electrodes; Manufacture thereof not otherwise provided for characterised by the material
    • C25B11/042—Electrodes formed of a single material
    • C25B11/045—Mercury or amalgam

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a novel electrolytic cell for preparing alkalis by the mercury process and more particularly to an improved construction of an iron bottom plate of the electrolytic cell.
  • the mercury will flow as a lump owing to its extremely high surface tension and cohesive force, when one tries to cause the mercury to flow in the form ofa thin film, so that it is difficult to cause the mercury to flow in the form of a thin film of uniform thickness.
  • longitudinal side grooves are provided on both side edges of the bottom plate, the streams of mercury which flow through these grooves attract the stream of mercury which flows at the central region of the bottom plate toward opposite side edges so that mercury can flow in the form of a thin film of uniform thickness.
  • longitudinal sidewalls and longitudinal anode support are hereinafter designated as longitudinal walls or longitudinalwall members.
  • the electrolyte and contaminants such as so-called mercury butter essentially consisting of iron-mercury amalgam formed in the electrolytic cell enters into the gap between the mercury and longitudinal wall members.
  • mercury butter has much smaller interface tension with respect to the insulating material than mercury, it will adhere to the wall members.
  • hydrogen will be evolved at such portions thus causing a decrease in the current efficiency and corrosion of the bottom plate.
  • the electrolyte that has adhered to the lower portion of the longitudinal wall members reacts with mercury amalgam to evolve hydrogen.
  • the electrolyte is concentrated to precipitate crystals. Precipitated crystals of a salt absorb the electrolyte to act as nuclei. In this manner, crystals grow gradually to cause severe local corrosion of the bottom plate.
  • an electrolytic cell for use in the mercury process having a bottom plate with longitudinal grooves closely adjacent to longitudinal wall members which define a flow passage for mercury in the electrolytic chamber, there are provided on the surface of the bottom plate auxiliary grooves in parallel with the longitudinal wall members and spaced therefrom by a distance ranging from I to 10 cm. preferably 2 to 5 cm. for preventing fluctuations or lateral movements of mercury.
  • FIG. I is a top plan view of an electrolytic cell embodying this invention and FIG. 2 shows an enlarged sectional view of the electrolytic cell taken along a line II-II in FIG. 1.
  • An electrolytic cell I shown in the accompanying drawing comprises an electrolytic chamber ll defined by longitudinal vertical sidewalls 3, end walls 12, an iron bottom plate 2 and one or more longitudinal anode supports 4.
  • the inner surface of side end walls 3 and 12 are lined with rubber or other suitable insulating material 3a.
  • Anode supports 4 are also made of I suitable insulating material such as fluorinated resin.
  • Longitu dinai side grooves 5 and 6 are provided on the upper surface of bottom plate 2 closely adjacent to the surface of sidewalls 3 and anode supports 4.
  • auxiliary longitudinal grooves 7 and 8 are provided on the surface of the bottom plate respectively in parallel with grooves 5 and 6 but properly spaced apart therefrom. In the illustrated example, auxiliary grooves 7 and 8 are spaced apart about 3 cm. from the surfaces of sidewalls 3 and electrode supports 4, respectively.
  • the depth of the longitudinal auxiliary grooves may be from I to 5 mm. Depth of more than 5 mm. does not result in any additional merit and is rather uneconomical.
  • the width of these auxiliary grooves may be 1 to 3 cm., preferably 2 cm., for example.
  • the cross-sectional configuration of the auxiliary grooves may be triangular, as shown in FIG. 2, or semicircular. It is important to locate auxiliary side grooves. near side grooves which are located at the bottom of longitudinal wall members. It was determined that the distance between an auxiliary groove and an associated longitudinal wall member should be in a range of from 1 to cm., preferably from 2 to 5 cm. in order to prevent lateral movement of mercury.
  • a longitudinal groove has been formed at the center of the passage.
  • a longitudinal groove is ordinarily spaced more than 20 cm. from the longitudinal wall members so that it can not effectively prevent lateral movement of mercury, because such lateral movement is the largest near the longitudinal wall members.
  • the auxiliary grooves operate most effectively when they are located in the specified range near the longitudinal wall members.
  • the electrolytic cell shown in the drawing mercury is admitted into and discharged from the cell through transverse grooves 9 and I0, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to this particular type of electrolytic cell but that it may be applied to any horizontal type ofelectrolytic cell for preparing alkalis by the mercury method.
  • the anode support may be eliminated from the bottom plate or it is not necessary to be a continuous member, that is, it may be discontinuous.
  • the longitudinal wall members may not necessarily be made of an electric insulator such as rubber, fluorinated resin and the like, but instead the lower portion of the longitudinal wall members which are immersed in mercury may be made of iron.
  • an electrolytic cell for preparing alkalis by the mercury process comprising sidewalls, end walls and a bottom plate which cooperate to define an electrolytic chamber, means to cause mercury to flow, normally in the form of a thin layer, on the surface of said bottom plate and longitudinal side grooves provided on the surface of said bottom plate, said grooves being located closely adjacent to said sidewalls, the improvement which comprises auxiliary longitudinal grooves provided on the surface of said bottom plate in parallel with said sidewalls, said auxiliary longitudinal grooves being positioned between 1 and 10 cm. from said sidewalls.
  • the electrolytic cell according to claim 1 which further includes at least one longitudinal anode support mounted on said bottom plate in parallel with said sidewalls, and additional auxiliary grooves on both sides of said anode support, said auxiliary grooves being parallel to said support and spaced therefrom l to 10cm.

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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)
US791400*A 1968-01-19 1969-01-15 Electrolytic cells for preparing alkalis by the mercury process Expired - Lifetime US3616430A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP267268 1968-01-19

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3616430A true US3616430A (en) 1971-10-26

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Family Applications (1)

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US791400*A Expired - Lifetime US3616430A (en) 1968-01-19 1969-01-15 Electrolytic cells for preparing alkalis by the mercury process

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US (1) US3616430A (es)
BE (1) BE727023A (es)
DE (1) DE1902383A1 (es)
FR (1) FR2000457A1 (es)
GB (1) GB1198245A (es)
NL (1) NL6900862A (es)

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE1902383A1 (de) 1969-09-11
GB1198245A (en) 1970-07-08
NL6900862A (es) 1969-07-22
BE727023A (es) 1969-07-01
FR2000457A1 (es) 1969-09-05

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