Hydrodynamic analysis and simulation of a flow cell ammonia electrolyzer

Abstract

The hydrodynamic analysis and simulation of a non-ideal single pass flow cell alkaline ammonia electrolyzer was performed after the scale-up of a well-characterized deposited polycrystalline Pt on Ni anode. The hydrodynamic analysis was performed using the residence time distribution (RTD) test. The results of the hydrodynamic investigation provide additional insights for the kinetic analysis of the ammonia electrooxidation reaction on polycrystalline Pt electrocatalysts -which are typically obtained under controlled flow regime, e.g., rotating disk electrode- by including the flow non-uniformity present in the electrolyzer. Based on the RTD function, the ammonia electrolyzer performance was simulated as a non-steady stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and the unknown kinetic parameters were obtained by fitting the simulation results with an experimental current profile, obtaining an adequate prediction of the ammonia conversion. This simplified approach for the simulation of the ammonia electrolyzer could be implemented in process simulation packages and could be used for the design and scale-up of the process for hydrogen production and wastewater remediation.