Effect of Flow Distributor Configuration on the Hydrodynamics in a Multipurpose Flow Electrochemical Reactor: Numerical Analysis and Experimental Characterization Employing Digital Image Treatment

Electrochemical reactors with a flat parallel plate electrode configuration and diverse flow channel designs have been extensively used in the study of different electrochemical processes at lab and bench scales, and they have been scaled up for some electrosynthesis and energy-storage processes at semipilot and industrial levels. Progress in the electrochemical process applications demands the use of different computer and experimental-assisted techniques to design novel electrochemical reactors. The objective of this work is to evaluate the hydrodynamic performance of different electrochemical reactor designs and quantify their effect on velocity magnitude through numerical and experimental studies using computational techniques like computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and digital image treatment. For local velocity magnitude measurements, a digital imaging treatment, based on the use of an optical flow algorithm, to try the validation of velocity profiles obtained by CFD is implemented. This experimental technique determined reliably that the problems associated with the use of the empty channel in the flow pattern are mainly associated with high velocities and recirculation zones, which are not detected by CFD simulations in the first instance. Also, the findings associated with the velocity behavior using this proposed technique agreed with those obtained by the traditional experimental flow characterization technique like residence time distribution, nevertheless, further work will be needed to refine the measurements and perform its comparison with other most employed velocimetry techniques.

Automated summary

Electrochemical reactors with diverse flow channel designs have been extensively studied at lab and bench scales, and scaled up for semipilot and industrial levels. This work evaluates the hydrodynamic performance of different electrochemical reactor designs and quantifies their effect on velocity magnitude through computational and experimental studies. The findings of this experimental technique agreed with those obtained by the traditional experimental flow characterization technique.