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Center for electrochemical engineering research approach facilities and partnerships
Electrochemical engineering is the branch of engineering dealing with the technological applications of electrochemical phenomena, such as synthesis of chemicals, electrowinning and refining of metals, batteries and fuel cells, sensors, surface modification by electrodeposition and etching, separations, and corrosion. It is an overlap between electrochemistry and chemical engineering.
Contents
- Center for electrochemical engineering research approach facilities and partnerships
- The center for electrochemical engineering research an introduction
- Scope
- History
- Applications
- Conventions
- References
More than 6% of the electrical energy is consumed by electrochemical operations in the USA.
The term electrochemical engineering is usually reserved for electricity intensive processes, and should not be confused with applied electrochemistry, which includes small batteries, amperometric sensors, microfluidic devices, microelectrodes, etc.
The center for electrochemical engineering research an introduction
Scope
Electrochemical engineering combines the study of heterogeneous charge transfer at electrode/electrolyte interphases with the development of practical materials and processes. Fundamental considerations include electrode materials and the kinetics of redox species. The development of the technology involves the study of the electrochemical reactors, their potential and current distribution, mass transport conditions, hydrodynamics, geometry and components as well as the quantification of its overall performance in terms of reaction yield, conversion efficiency, and energy efficiency. Industrial developments require further reactor and process design, fabrication methods, testing and product development.
Electrochemical engineering considers current distribution, fluid flow, mass transfer, and the kinetics of the electro reactions in order to design efficient electrochemical reactors.
Most electrochemical operations are performed in filter-press reactors with parallel plate electrodes or, less often, in stirred tanks with rotating cylinder electrodes. Fuel cell and flow battery stacks are types of filter-press reactors. Most of them are continuous operations.
History
This branch of engineering emerged gradually from chemical engineering. One of the pioneers of this field of engineering was Charles Frederick Burgess. The works of Wagner (1962) and Levich (1962) influenced the emergence of electrochemical engineering, because their work inspired so many others. Several individuals, including Tobias, Ibl, and Hine, established engineering training centers and, with their colleagues, developed important experimental and theoretical methods of study.
The history of electrochemical engineering has been summarised by Wendt and Lapicque.
Applications
Electrochemical engineering is applied in industrial water electrolysis, electrolysis, electrosynthesis, electroplating, fuel cells, flow batteries, decontamination of industrial effluents, electrorefining, electrowinning, etc. The main example of an electrolysis based process is the Chloralkali process for production of caustic soda and chlorine. Other inorganic chemicals produced by electrolysis include:
Conventions
The established performance criteria, definitions and nomenclature for electrochemical engineering can be found in Kreysa et al. and a IUPAC report.