Mass and momentum transfer enhancement due to electrogenerated gas bubbles

The effect of electrogenerated gas bubbles with simultaneous bulk liquid flow on the mass and momentum transfer at a wall of an electrolytic cell is experimentally determined. The local mass transfer coefficient and electrolyte shear stress are obtained using two types of microelectrodes imbedded in the channel wall. The influence of the most important parameters (electrolyte velocity, position along the wall, gas electrogeneration rate) on the transfer enhancement is studied and an analogy between mass and momentum transfer in the presence of bubbles is clearly demonstrated from the experimental results. The comparison with classical correlations, valid for systems involving natural turbulence, shows the higher energetic efficiency of devices where the turbulence is artificially generated by electrolytic gas bubbles.Nomenclature A constant parameter in Equation 3 - ¯C time averaged value of the concentration of a reacting species - c ₀ molar concentration in the bulk of the solution - d microelectrode diameter - d _e hydraulic equivalent diameter - D molecular diffusion coefficient - D _t turbulent diffusivity of mass transfer - f/2 friction factor, =/gr¯v ² - h channel thickness - I _g electrogeneration rate - i _g electrogeneration current density - i _l limiting current density on a microelectrode imbedded in the conducting wall - i_l limiting current density on a microelectrode imbedded in the inert wall - k _d local mass transfer coefficient - k local mass transfer coefficient on a microelectrode in the non-conducting wall - N _M specific mass flux near an interface - Re Reynolds number, = (¯vd _e)/v - s velocity gradient, = (¯v _x/y)y = o - s ⁺ dimensionless velocity gradient, =sd ²/D - Sc Schmidt number, =v/D - Sh Sherwood number, = (k _d x)/D - St Stanton number, =k _d/¯v - ¯v, ¯v _x electrolyte velocity - v ^* friction velocity, = (/)^1/2 - v ⁺ normalized velocity, =¯v _x /v ^* - x axial coordinate - y coordinate perpendicular to the wall - y ⁺ dimensionless length = (yv ^*)/v Greek letters parameter defined in Equation 8 - boundary layer thickness - ⁺ dimensionless form of , = (s/v)^1/2 - , _x electrolyte shear stress - dynamic viscosity - kinematic viscosity - _t momentum transfer diffusivity - specific gravity - ² variance of the fluctuations ofi _L ori _L Paper presented at the International Meeting on Electrolytic Bubbles organized by the Electrochemical Technology Group of the Society of Chemical Industry, and held at Imperial College, London, 13–14 September 1984.