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
Industrial Electrochemical Processes
The development of processes for the production of chemicals by electrolysis on an industrial scale has been slowed in some measure by the unavailability of cheap electricity. Consequently, the extensive use of electrochemical processes has been limited largely to regions such as the Niagara Falls area. However, the relatively recent and widespread development of federal power projects such as Boulder Dam has already resulted in more extensive use of electrochemical processes, and there is every indication that this phase of the chemical industries will be continuingly expanded in various regions in the United States.
The following subsections discuss a few chemical processes that involve the electrolysis of aqueous solutions or fused salts. It is not intended to provide here an exhaustive treatment of the subject but rather to select a few typical cases that serve to acquaint the student with the nature, the scope, and the importance of these industries.
Production of active metals
It has already been indicated that the alkali metals, alkaline-earth metals, magnesium, and aluminum may be prepared by electrolysis only in the absence of water, and the same is true of the metal beryllium. Although zinc is more commonly produced by other methods, it may also be produced by electrolysis. produced commercially by the electrolysis of their fused chlorides in electrolytic cells, which must be designed specially for each metal. Since sodium is the only alkali metal produced industrially on a large scale, its production is outlined here in some detail.
Alkali metals.
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