Vd. Stankovic, LIMITING CURRENT-DENSITY AND SPECIFIC ENERGY-CONSUMPTION IN ELECTROCHEMICAL-CELLS WITH INERT TURBULENCE PROMOTERS, Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, 24(6), 1994, pp. 525-530
Electrochemical cells with inert turbulence promoters (ITP) and plain
cells of the same geometry have been compared with respect to their pr
oductivity and specific energy consumption. As cathode reaction the di
ffusion controlled copper ion deposition process has been used, while
the anode reactions were either metal dissolution or oxygen evolution
on a stable anode. It has been found that in the ITP cells with an ins
oluble anode the contribution of ITP to the mass transfer enhancement
is higher. The relationship between pumping energy and process energy
has also been analysed as a function of hydrodynamic conditions for ea
ch cell separately. The application of ITP cells has significant advan
tages in electrowinning and plating processes, while they are not suit
able, from an energy perspective, in galvanising processes, in which s
oluble anodes are used. In the case of electrowinning the minimum ener
gy consumption is found to be in the region of 0.1 - 1 g dm-3 of react
ing ions, depending on the kind of cell used.