Electrolysis of a binary electrolyte in two-dimensional channel flow

Abstract

Numerical simulations have been performed to analyze the electric current density in an aqueous solution of CuSO 4, flowing in a two-dimensional channel with finite electrodes placed symmetrically on opposite sides. A Butler-Volmer law is chosen as a boundary condition on the electrodes for current densities below the limiting current. At limiting current density, two modified boundary conditions at the cathode are derived. For 0 ⩽ Pe ⩽ 25 000, comparisons are made with results of other studies, and the agreement is excellent for large values of Pe but differ for Pe ~ 1. For small values of the applied voltage and large values of Pe, a semi-analytic solution of the electric potential is derived.