APPLICATION OF METALLIC FOAMS IN ELECTROCHEMICAL REACTORS OF FILTER-PRESS TYPE .1. FLOW CHARACTERIZATION

The aim of the present paper is to investigate the application of nick el foam electrodes in classical filter-press type electrochemical cell s. For this purpose the ElectroSynCell(R), commercialized by Electroce ll AB, has been used. The interest of using metallic foams linked to a classical plane plate is to improve the performance of the electroche mical cell by increasing the electrode surface area. Moreover, for som e industrial applications it is possible to use the cell without a mem brane. In the proposed configuration, the working electrodes consist o f metallic foam linked to a plane plate and the auxillary electrode is simply a plane plate. The imbalance between the surface areas of work ing and auxiliary electrodes allows operation with a single hydraulic circuit. This paper, focuses on the study of residence time distributi on and pressure drop in order to compare the flow behaviour with that in a classical configuration. A model for the reactive zone of the cel l is also given.