Car. Ragnini et al., Recycled niobium felt as an efficient three-dimensional electrode for electrolytic metal ion removal, WATER RES, 34(13), 2000, pp. 3269-3276
An electrolytic process for the removal of lead from aqueous solutions usin
g a flow-through cell with a recycled niobium felt is proposed. The operati
onal conditions for the reactor were optimised as a function of the solutio
n how rate and the electrolytic removal of Pb(II) was used to characterise
the mass transport properties of the niobium felt electrode. The three-dime
nsional cathode was made from continuous niobium tips resulting from niobiu
m ingots machining. The performance and figures of merit of the niobium fel
t were studied using different flow rates. In the experiments lead concentr
ation dropped from 50 mg l(-1) to 0.5 mg l(-1) (99% removal) in electrolysi
s time ranging from 94 to 150 min, depending on the flow rate. Dimensionles
s Sherwood and Reynolds numbers were correlated to characterise the mass tr
ansport properties of the niobium felt, and they were fitted to the equatio
n Sh = 22.9(Re)(0.43)(Se)(0.33). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. Ali rights
reserved.