The effect of electrode ohmic losses and the role of the electrical connection in bipolar connected parallel plate electrodes

A mathematical model is used to predict current and potential distributions in electrochemical cell banks consisting of bipolar connected parallel plate electrodes. It is shown that the adoption of bipolar connection rather than monopolar connection alleviates the problems of a maldistribution of potential caused by limitations in electrode conductivity for a majority of cells in large cell banks. However, for the outer cells potential distribution is still not uniform regardless of the number of cells in the bank.