Industrial Chemical Process Design
Including complex operations and formulas that are explained in an easy-to-understand format, this book provides the solutions to some of the most complex problems in chemical process design.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Industrial Chemical Process Design
Chapter 11: Industrial Chemistry
Electrolysis
Using electrical conductance to help determine whether certain solutes should be classified as electrolytes or nonelectrolytes and referring to electricity in the decomposition of certain compounds indicate that electrical energy often may be used to advantage in chemistry. In fact, both in the laboratory and in the chemical industries, electricity is one of the most important tools at the chemist's command. Following a study of the nature of the chemical changes that may be brought about through the agency of electrical energy, numerous important commercial applications are considered in some detail here.
Electrolytic cells
The process of electrolysis may be defined as the transformation of chemical substances as the result of passage of direct electric current. In order to bring about such transformations, the use of specialized apparatus is necessary (or at least convenient). A simple form of electrolytic cell is illustrated by Fig. 11.1. The cell as a whole consists of a vessel containing a solution of an electrolyte in which are immersed two electrodes (or poles). The electrodes are connected to storage batteries or to a generator, which serve as sources of the electrical energy needed to bring about the desired electrolytic transformation. The electrode through which the flow of electrons enters the cell is known as the cathode and is designated as the negative ( ?) electrode. By convention, the other electrode, which is called the anode, may be thought of as that through which electrons are withdrawn from the solution,...
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