Project Details
Projekt
Multiscale analysis of reaction-transport interactions in e-HP
Applicant
Professorin Dr.-Ing. Ulrike Krewer
Subject Area
Chemical and Thermal Process Engineering
Term
since 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 525028514
Reactions at catalysts inevitably lead to reactant accumulation or depletion close to the surface. This project aims to elucidate the impact of transport on performance of the electrochemical H2O2 synthesis. We conduct our comparative model-assisted analysis on typically used setups with different levels complexity to evaluate differences in transport, transport impact and local reaction conditions. The setups range from a liquid-phase rotating disc electrode setup with flat electrode used for catalysis research via liquid-phase continuous flow reactors used for comparison with t-HP, to technical-scale flow cells with porous gas diffusion electrodes. The corresponding setup-specific macrokinetic models consider reactions, side reactions and transport in the various phases. Besides transport limitations, differences in the resulting microenvironment at the electrode-electrolyte interface, and the - also experimentally observed - impact on performance are elucidated. Selectivity, efficiencies, and further performance indicators and their dependence on operating conditions are identified, as well as conditions that allow comparable situations in the different setups. Comparison of the e-HP cells is extended to thermal H2O2 synthesis (t-HP) reactors of different complexities. Here, we compare typical chemical engineering indicators and dimensionless numbers, which are not commonly applied for electrochemical systems. This will allow to conclude in how far conditions in e-HP setups and t-HP reactors are comparable and in similar or different transport-impacted regimes. Finally, we reveal in how far t-HP reactors can be seen as short-circuited electrochemical cells, and if there is potential to improve performance and study conditions for e-HP or t-HP.
DFG Programme
Research Units
