Engineering Commons^™

Electrowinning Of Non-Noble Metals With Simultaneous Hydrogen Evolution At Flow-Through Porous Electrodes I. Theoretical, Mahmoud M. Saleh, John W. Weidner, Badr G. Ateya

Faculty Publications

A mathematical model is developed to simulate the electrowinning of non-noble metals (e.g., Zn, Cr) within flow-through porous electrodes under the conditions of simultaneous evolution of hydrogen gas bubbles. The results of the model are presented as a function of several dimensionless groups representing kinetics, mass transfer, ohmic resistance, and gas bubbles. These coupled, nonlinear effects are investigated by examining the distributions of the metal reduction and hydrogen evolution currents, coulombic efficiency of the metal electrowinning reaction, and gas void fractions under a series of limiting conditions. The gas bubbles accentuate the nonuniform distribution of the potential and …