The production of hypochlorite by direct electrolysis of sea water: Electrode materials and design of cells for the process

Abstract

AbstractChlorine treatment of the cooling water of coastal power stations is required to prevent infestation of the circulating water culverts by mussels and marine organisms. As such enormous quantities of cooling water are required at modern coastal power stations, the addition of even a fraction of a p.p.m. of chlorine will result in the consumption of large tonnages of chlorine.The possibility was therefore investigated of producing hypochlorite (which is claimed to be equally effective for controlling mussels) by the direct electrolysis of sea water.As the efficiency of the process will depend to a large extent on the electrode materials and cell design, the paper is devoted to the research and development carried out in these fields both in the laboratory and on a pilot scale.A brief outline of a prototype plant is given.