Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Instructional Slides From Molten Salt Electrochemistry Symposium (Moses) 2026, Devin Rappleye, Carlos Mejia, Alex Peroff

Faculty Publications

This instructional slide set was developed for the 2026 Molten Salt Electrochemistry Symposium (MoSES) as an introduction and review of fundamental electrochemical concepts and methods used in molten salt systems. The material is intended for students, researchers, and practitioners seeking to better understand and interpret electrochemical measurements in high-temperature molten salts.

Topics include electrochemical thermodynamics, kinetics, mass transfer, electrode potentials, cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry, chronoamperometry, square-wave voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and common approaches for analyzing electrochemical data. Emphasis is placed on building physical intuition, understanding underlying assumptions, recognizing common experimental artifacts, and connecting electrochemical signals to real chemical and transport …

Beyond Catalysts And Membranes: Using Cell Assembly And Operating Strategies To Significantly Improve The Performance Of Aem Electrolyzers, Mahmoud Amirsalehi, Venkata Sai Sriram Mosali, Mohammed Al-Murisi, Shaghayegh Bashiri, Hari Gopi, Pongsarun Satjaritanun, Benjamin Britton, Karen Swider-Lyons, Mustain E. William

Faculty Publications

Green hydrogen, produced through water electrolysis, is a key enabler of a low-carbon energy future, and anion exchange membrane electrolyzers (AEMELs) have emerged as a promising technology due to their potential for ultra-low-cost operation. However, achieving low cell voltage at high current densities and maintaining long-term durability remain key AEMEL challenges. To address these issues, most research efforts to date have focused on developing advanced catalysts and membranes. In contrast, the influence of non-material factors, such as cell assembly parameters and operating conditions, remains underexplored, even though they can significantly impact performance. This study investigates how such variables affect AEMEL …

Distributed Model Predictive Control-Based Power Management Scheme For Grid-Integrated Microgrids, Sergio Escareno, Sijo Augustine, Liang Sun, Sathishkumar J. Ranade, Olga Lavrava, Enrico Pontelli, John Hedengren

Faculty Publications

Transitioning from traditional electrical grids to smart grids is currently an ongoing process that many nations are striving for due to their access to renewable resources. Energy management is one of the key parameters that decides the performance of such complex systems. Distributed Model Predictive Control (DMPC) is a promising technique that can be used to improve the energy management of grid-connected systems. This paper analyzes a grid-connected inverter system with DMPC that exchanges key operating parameters with the grid to optimize coordinated power sharing between its respective loads. The state-space model for the inverter is derived and verified to …

Molecular Survival Strategies Against Kidney Filtration: Implications For Therapeutic Protein Engineering, William Heaps, Anna Elise Packard, Kristina M. Mccammon, Tyler P. Green, Joseph P. Talley, Bradley C. Bundy, Dennis Della Corte

Faculty Publications

The glomerular filtration barrier poses a significant challenge for circulating proteins, with molecules below ~60–70 kDa facing rapid renal clearance. Endogenous proteins have evolved sophisticated evasion mechanisms including oligomerization, carrier binding, electrostatic repulsion, and FcRn-mediated recycling. Understanding these natural strategies provides blueprints for engineering therapeutic proteins with improved pharmacokinetics. This review examines how endogenous proteins resist filtration, evaluates their application in protein engineering, and discusses clinical translation including established technologies (PEGylation, Fc-fusion) and emerging strategies (albumin-binding domains, glycoengineering). We address critical challenges of balancing half-life extension with tissue penetration, biological activity, and immunogenicity—essential considerations for the rational design of next-generation …

Precision Acoustofluidics For High-Throughput Mechanobiology In Suspension Cells, Kaichun Yang, Ruoyu Zhong, Ke Li, John Mai, Pengzhan Liu, Ye He, Joseph Rich, Ying Chen, Janna Wang, Zhiteng Ma, Zhiteng Ma, Xianchen Xu, Qian Wu, Tony Jun Huang

Faculty Publications

Mechanomodulation, the process of altering cellular behavior through applied mechanical forces, plays a critical role in physiological processes and has substantial implications for cancer therapy, immunology, and drug development. However, precise and efficient stimulation of nonadherent cells remains a major challenge, limiting the investigation of mechanotransduction pathways and the development of targeted therapeutics. Here, we developed an acoustofluidic platform named Suspension-cell Targeted Response to Excitation via Acoustofluidic Mechanomodulation (STREAM) to enable precise, high-throughput stimulation of suspension cells. STREAM accomplishes this using 101.14-megahertz high-frequency surface acoustic waves to deliver controlled mechanical stimulation at a throughput of 500,000 cells per minute. STREAM …

Convergence Of High Throughput Experimentation And Machine Learning To Rapidly Advance Application-Specific Polymer Development, Mashrafee Aryan, Daniel Struble, Felix Campbell, Saroj Upreti, S. M.Ashik Abedin, Aahil Khambawla, Jeetain Mittal, Michael S. Dimitriyev, Emily B. Pentzer, Svetlana A. Sukhishvili, Xiaodan Gu, Boran Ma

Faculty Publications

Machine learning (ML) has heavily influenced the way scientific study is done with demonstrated successes in nearly every field. However, furthering performance and explainability of ML models in increasingly complex systems and with increasingly demanding outcomes requires a significant influx of high-quality data. To that end, this Review covers some of the techniques, instrumentation, and methodologies that have shown promise for significantly accelerating the discovery of polymer materials, optimization of their properties, and elucidation of property–application relationships through high throughput (HT) experimentation, characterization, and analysis. Attention is given to not only ML, but also to hardware advancements and their synergy …

The Composition Of Gases From A Diffusion Flame Above Longleaf Pine Needle Fuel Beds, David R. Weise, Thomas H. Fletcher, Timothy J. Johnson, Weimin Hao, Russell G. Tonkyn, Catherine A. Banach, Javier Palarea-Albaladejo, Mahsa Alizadeh, Stephen Baker

Faculty Publications

The gas and tar composition of a wildland fire diffusion flame from longleaf pine needles is currently relatively unmeasured and more data are needed to fill in the gap between pyrolysis data and smoke plume data, thus improving physical and chemical modeling of wildland smoke formation. A pilot experiment to measure light gas and tar composition of such a flame is described for three flame zones: persistent flame (flame base), intermittent flame, and smoke plume. Flame gases from 24 experimental fires were collected in canisters and analyzed for CO2, CO, H2, CH4, and C2 to C7 hydrocarbon gases. Other light …

Optimal Sizing Of Battery Energy Storage Systems For Peak Shaving And Demand Response Using A Degradation-Aware Bayesian Optimization-Mixed-Integer Linear Programming Framework, Jiwei Yao, Blake Billings, Tao Gao, John Hedengren, Kody M. Powell

Faculty Publications

The increasing integration of renewable energy and rising electricity demand highlight the importance of battery energy storage systems for peak shaving and demand response. Unlike prior approaches that overlook operational impacts on degradation, this study proposes a Bayesian Optimization–Mixed Integer Linear Programming framework for optimal battery energy storage system sizing. In this framework, Mixed Integer Linear Programming determines short-term scheduling while a calibrated electrochemical model iteratively evaluates degradation. The central hypothesis is that the framework can efficiently identify optimal sizes that yield realistic and economically robust outcomes. The method is tested across three scenarios: peak shaving, peak shaving with energy-reduction …

Programmable Acoustofluidic Engineering For Creating Gradient Biomaterials, Jujing Lu, Ye He, Jianping Xia, Mingyuan Liu, Joseph Rich, Ke Jin, Ruoyu Zhong, Kaichun Yang, Jiao Qian, Ying Chen, Ke Li, Zhiteng Ma, Tony Jun Huang

Faculty Publications

Gradient biomaterials that exhibit spatially varying physical, chemical, or biological properties can be used in various applications such as tissue engineering, organoid development, mechanobiology, and spatially controlled drug delivery. However, current fabrication methods often suffer from limited gradient precision, restricted material compatibility, and poor reproducibility. Here, we introduced gradient regulation via acoustofluidic dynamic engineering (GRADE), a programmable system to generate high-fidelity gradient biomaterials across different material systems. By incorporating focused interdigital transducers with the pulsed surface acoustic wave actuation, GRADE can achieve tunable and directional acoustic streaming (0 to 22 millimeters per second), which allows accurate regulation of the gradient …

Mechanistic Roles And Design Criteria For Catalysts In Lithium–Sulfur Batteries, Saheed Lateef, Golareh Jalilvand

Faculty Publications

Catalysis is widely explored in lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries to address challenges related to limited capacity and cycle durability. Despite extensive research, catalyst development has often focused on materials without a clear understanding of the mechanistic landscape underlying the complex, multi-step, multi-electron sulfur redox pathway. In fact, our understanding of the thermodynamic, kinetic, and mass transport framework in Li–S systems is still evolving, particularly with respect to the reaction pathways during charge and discharge, and the dynamic evolution of materials in both liquid and solid phases. These evolving insights may fundamentally shift the requirements for catalyst design and future research priorities. …

Degrees Of Rate Control And Autodiff-Driven Direct Sensitivity Analysis In Heterogeneous Catalysis, Olajide H. Bamidele, Sina Behtash, Mubarak Bello, Andreas Heyden

Faculty Publications

Despite the wide application and benefits of the degree of rate control (DRC) analysis, several details remain argued, particularly about the conservation of DRCs at transient (TR) and steady-state (SS) conditions, especially for complex reaction networks. This work argues that previous proofs about the conservation properties of DRCs have been incomplete, and we provide new mathematical proofs at TR and SS conditions. In addition, we use both analytical (automatic differentiation) and numerical (finite difference) approaches to compute DRCs for the case study of ethane hydrogenolysis (EH) over Pt(111). This work confirms that at both TR and SS conditions, the sum …

Fabrication And Evaluation Of Large Alumina Crucibles By Vat Photopolymerization Additive Manufacturing For High-Temperature Actinide Chemistry, R. Joey Griffiths, Christy Santoyo, Jean-Baptise Forien, Bradley Childs, Andrew J. Swift, Andrew Cho, Alexander Wilson-Heid, George Ankrah, Devin Rappleye, Aiden A. Martin, Jason Jeffries, Kiel Holliday

Faculty Publications

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers opportunities to advance the design and function of ceramic tooling in high temperature actinide pyrochemistry. In technical ceramics such as alumina, conventional forming techniques often restrict design flexibility and can limit experimental progress. In this study, we investigate the use of vat photopolymerization (VP) with commercial resins to fabricate large-scale alumina crucibles, reaching dimensions up to 125 mm, which is significantly larger than typically reported for dense VP ceramics. Notably, these additively manufactured components are produced using consumer-grade hardware, which limits process control, but offers significant upside in scalability and accessibility. Using microscopy and X-ray computed …

Pyrolysis Of Foliage From 24 U.S. Plant Species With Recommendations For Physics-Basedwildland Fire Models, Mahsa Alizadeh, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

Pyrolysis of 24 samples of foliage from three U.S. regions with frequent wildland fires (Southeastern U.S., northern Utah and Southern California) was studied in a fuel-rich flat-flame burner system at 765 ◦C (for Southeastern U.S. samples) and 725 ◦C (for northern Utah and Southern California species), with a heating rate of approximately 180 ◦C/s. These conditions were selected to mimic the conditions of wildland fires. Individual plant samples were introduced to the high temperature zone in a flat-flame burner and pyrolysis products were collected. Tar was extracted and later analyzed by GC/MS. Light gases were collected and analyzed by GC/TCD. …

Evaluating Platinum, Gold, Glassy Carbon, And Graphite Anodes For Chlorine Evolution In Molten Calcium Chloride Salt, Cameron Vann, Shelssie Klvacek, Carlos Mejia, Devin Rappleye

Faculty Publications

The chlorine evolution reaction (CER) in molten CaCl₂ plays a critical role in high-temperature electrochemical processes, including chlorination, metal refining, and used nuclear fuel treatment. This study evaluates the performance of gold (Au), platinum (Pt), glassy carbon (GC), and graphite anodes for the CER under consistent electrochemical conditions. Anode performance was assessed based on chlorine (Cl₂) gas evolution, material robustness, and kinetic parameters. Cl₂ generation was directly confirmed using quadrupole mass spectrometry for Pt, GC, and graphite anodes. GC and graphite demonstrated stable and sustained CER activity. Pt and Au were shown to have significant mass …

Using Serial Open Circuit Potentiometry To Study Ce And Gd Deposition In Molten Licl-Kcl Eutectic, Ranon G. Fuller, Guy L. Fredrickson, Devin Rappleye

Faculty Publications

The ability to electrochemically separate individual species in a pyrochemical reprocessing salt relies on first being able to detect a separation in their reaction potentials. This requires the ability to measure reaction potentials with extreme precision. In this work, we introduce a novel technique called serial open circuit potentiometry (SOCP) and demonstrate its effectiveness at precisely measuring metal deposition reaction potentials. SOCP has several advantages over traditional open circuit potentiometry, including its abilities to quantify the error of measured equilibrium potentials by averaging many individual OCP measurements, determine overpotential deposition nucleation potentials to instrument precision, and simultaneously determine the nucleation …

Fluorinated Electrolytes For Lithium–Sulfur And Beyond-Lithium Metal–Sulfur Batteries, Avinash Raulo, Saheed Lateef, Hunter Mcray, Kaushek Rahul Ilancheran, Fabio Albano, Golareh Jalilvand

Faculty Publications

Metal–sulfur batteries, particularly lithium–sulfur (Li–S) systems, have attracted significant attention due to their high theoretical energy densities, low cost, and sustainability benefits arising from sulfur’s abundance and non-toxicity. Despite extensive research, their practical deployment remains limited by persistent challenges such as polysulfide shuttling and metal anode degradation, which collectively lead to poor coulombic efficiency and limited cycle life. These issues are further intensified in emerging systems employing sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and siliconbased anodes. Fluorinated electrolytes have emerged as a promising approach to address these limitations. Fluorination enhances oxidative stability, suppresses polysulfide dissolution, promotes stable solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation, and …

A C++ Library For Turbulent Mixing Simulation Using Hierarchical Parcel Swapping (Hips), Masoomeh Behrang, Tommy Starick, Heiko Schmidt, David O. Lignell

Faculty Publications

Turbulence models are crucial for simulating flows at all scales, capturing both large-scale structures and small-scale mixing. Software libraries that implement such models should support modular integration, customization, and scalability across different simulation frameworks. This paper presents Hierarchical Parcel Swapping (HiPS), a C++ library documented with Doxygen and available on GitHub. HiPS supports both mixing and reactions and can be used as a standalone model or as a subgrid model in CFD simulations. The code includes examples for users to run it as a standalone model. Additionally, considerations for using it as a subgrid model are provided.

Magnetic Nanoparticles Tethered With Zn–Dpa For The Removal Of Bacteria From Red Blood Cell Suspension, Tochukwu P. Okonkwo, Rajendra P. Gautam, Jacob B. Limburg, Breckin L. Forstrom, Bowen J. Houser, Aaron Rappleyea, Tyler P. Green, Joseph P. Talley, Alexander D. Daum, Stacey J. Smith, Karine Chesnel, William G. Pitt, Roger G. Harrison

Faculty Publications

Bacterial infections continue to drive the need for more effective and rapid methods for bacterial analysis. To address this, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have emerged as promising tools, especially when their surfaces are modified with bacteria binders. The bis-zinc–dipicolylamine (Zn–DPA) complex is known for its broad affinity to bacteria. We have synthesized MNPs via a thermal decomposition method, encapsulated them in silica, modified their surface with Zn–DPA, and tested their ability to remove bacteria. The MNPs retain their superparamagnetic properties and crystallite structure after being encapsulated. The MNPs coated with silica and Zn–DPA effectively bind and remove both Gram-positive and Gram-negative …

Effect Of Short-Chain Polymer Binders On The Mechanical And Electrochemical Performance Of Silicon Anodes, Fei Sun, L. Zurita-Garcia, Dean R. Wheeler

Faculty Publications

Polymer binders are crucial components in providing both mechanical support and chemical stability to the structure of porous Li-ion electrodes. Particularly in silicon anodes, the active material undergoes substantial volume expansion of up to 275%. Due to the mechanical constraint of the current collector, these silicon materials tend to expand in the normal direction while exhibiting substantial particle rearrangement and plastic deformation. Conventional rigid binders such as polyacrylic acid (PAA) and polyimide (PI), while providing satisfactory initial capacity, do not eliminate diminished long-term performance. Our research attempts to develop binder formulations that can accommodate sufficient flexibility for the substantial volume …

Investigation Of A Stable And Saturated Reference Electrode Using Metal Chlorides And Oxides In Eutectic Licl-Kcl Molten Salts, Carlos Mejia, Devin Rappleye

Faculty Publications

Stable and reproducible reference electrodes (REs) are essential for electrochemical systems operating in high-temperature molten salts, where consistent control of potential is required. This study uses three different solutes to investigate the development and evaluation of REs in eutectic LiCl-KCl at 773 K. The solutes tested were NiCl₂, AgCl, and NiO, each prepared at multiple concentrations to assess stability, reproducibility, and saturation. Electrochemical stability was measured over three days using chronopotentiometry (CP), followed by open circuit potential (OCP), with cyclic voltammetry (CV) also integrated to monitor changes in electrochemical behavior over time. The CP-OCP approach established a Li …

Investigation Of A Stable And Saturated Reference Electrode Using Metal Chlorides And Oxides In Eutectic Licl-Kcl Molten Salts, Carlos Mejia, Devin Rappleye

Faculty Publications

Stable and reproducible reference electrodes (REs) are essential for electrochemical systems operating in high-temperature molten salts, where consistent control of potential is required. This study uses three different solutes to investigate the development and evaluation of REs in eutectic LiCl-KCl at 773 K. The solutes tested were NiCl2, AgCl, and NiO, each prepared at multiple concentrations to assess stability, reproducibility, and saturation. Electrochemical stability was measured over three days using chronopotentiometry (CP), followed by open circuit potential (OCP), with cyclic voltammetry (CV) also integrated to monitor changes in electrochemical behavior over time. The CP-OCP approach established a Li+/Li redox potential, …

Exploring Different Metal-Oxide Cathode Materials For Structural Lithium-Ion Batteries Using Dip-Coating, David Petrushenko, Thomas Burns, Paul Ziehl, Ralph E. White, Paul T. Coman

Faculty Publications

In this study, a selection of active materials were coated onto commercially available intermediate modulus carbon fibers to form and analyze the performance of novel composite cathodes for structural power composites. Various slurries containing polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), active material powders, 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and carbon black (CB) were used to coat carbon fiber tows by immersion. Four active materials—lithium cobalt oxide (LCO), lithium iron phosphate (LFP), lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC), and lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA)—were individually tested to assess their electrochemical reversibility. The cells were prepared with a polymer separator and liquid electrolytes and assembled in 2025-coin …

Recent Advances In Developing Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Biosensors For Medical Diagnostics And Environmental Monitoring, Tyler P. Green, Joseph P. Talley, Bradley Charles Bundy

Faculty Publications

Cell-free biosensors harness the selectivity of cellular machinery without living cells’ constraints, offering advantages in environmental monitoring, medical diagnostics, and biotechnological applications. This review examines recent advances in cell-free biosensor development, highlighting their ability to detect diverse analytes including heavy metals, organic pollutants, pathogens, and clinical biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity. We analyze technological innovations in cell-free protein synthesis optimization, preservation strategies, and field deployment methods that have enhanced sensitivity, and practical applicability. The integration of synthetic biology approaches has enabled complex signal processing, multiplexed detection, and novel sensor designs including riboswitches, split reporter systems, and metabolic sensing modules. …

Curved Confinement Directs Anchoring-Mediated Structural Transitions In Highly Chiral Liquid Crystal Shells, Sepideh Norouzi, Jeremy Money, Stiven Villada-Gil, José Martínez-Gonález, Monirosadat Sadati

Faculty Publications

Cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) confined in curved geometries exhibit a rich spectrum of defectmediated morphologies governed by the interplay between chirality, curvature, surface anchoring, and confinement. This study systematically investigates structural transitions in highly chiral CLC shells under asymmetric anchoring conditions, focusing on the effects of shell thickness and curvature on pitch axis reorientation and defect formation. Utilizing microfluidic techniques, we generate core–shell droplets with independently tunable anchoring at inner and outer aqueous interfaces. Transitioning from planar–planar to planar-homeotropic boundary conditions via surfactant-mediated modulation induces profound reorganizations in the director field, giving rise to focal conic domains (FCDs), stripe patterns, …

Collection Of Instructional Slides From Molten Salt Electrochemistry Symposium (Moses), Devin Rappleye, Carlos Mejia

Faculty Publications

During the Molten Salt Electrochemistry Symposium (MoSES) on July 30-31, 2025, interactive instruction was given to the attendees including live demonstrations. These slides contain the introductory instructions given for each learning module at MoSES 2025. Please visit https://pyro.byu.edu/moses for more information.

Modeling The Influence Of Silicon Content On Electrochemical Performance Of Silicon-Graphite Blended Electrodes Considering Voltage Hysteresis, Mohamed Atwair, Paul T. Coman, Ralph E. White

Faculty Publications

Silicon, with its high specific capacity, is a highly promising material for lithium-ion battery anodes. To enhance durability, it is commonly combined with graphite in composite anodes. Despite this, the electrochemical dynamics between silicon and graphite are not yet fully understood. Modeling serves as an important tool for analyzing and improving batteries, but current models lack comprehensive representation of the coupled electrochemical and structural behavior of silicon-graphite blended electrodes. Herein, we present a comprehensive model for blended Si/Gr electrodes that incorporates the distinct properties and kinetics of each material. Our approach accounts for the dependence of electrode thickness and solid …

Modeling Self-Discharge In Li/S Batteries Through Electrochemical Anode Reactions: A Theoretical Perspective, Ralph E. White, Paul T. Coman

Faculty Publications

The growing demand for high-energy-density batteries has renewed interest in lithium–sulfur (Li/S) systems, which offer significant advantages but suffer from severe self-discharge during rest. While prior studies attribute this degradation to chemical parasitic reactions or polysulfide shuttling, they overlook the inherently electrochemical nature of anode-side processes. In this work, a 1D physics-based model of a Li/S battery was developed to explicitly incorporate lithium-metal oxidation and the stepwise electrochemical reduction of polysulfides at the anode. Using COMSOL Multiphysics, galvanostatic discharge followed by open-circuit rest under two conditions was analyzed - with and without parasitic anode reactions. The results show that when …

An Acoustofluidic Device For Sample Preparation And Detection Of Small Extracellular Vesicles, Jessica F. Liu, Jianping Xia, Joseph Rich, Shuaiguo Zhao, Kaichun Yang, Brandon Lu, Ying Chen, Tiffany Wen Ye, Tony Jun Huang

Faculty Publications

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) have emerged as powerful vectors for liquid biopsy, offering a noninvasive window into the dynamic physiological and pathological states of the body. However, to fully leverage the clinical potential of sEV biomarkers, it is imperative to develop robust and efficient technologies for their isolation and analysis. In this study, we introduce a novel sharp-edge acoustofluidic platform designed for rapid and effective sample preparation, coupled with sensitive detection of specific sEV populations based on their surface markers. Our approach utilizes acoustically activated sharp-edge microstructures to concentrate bead-bound sEVs within the microfluidic device, facilitating immediate visualization by fluorescence …

Numerical Simulation For The Design Of Induction Heating Based Radio Frequency Reactor For Ethylene Production, Hunter Teel, Matthew Craps, Hector-Colon Mercado, Perter Ciesielski, Sirivatch Shimpalee

Faculty Publications

Ethylene is a vital petrochemical compound produced in vast amounts yearly by manufacturers that have enough scale to overcome the inherent thermodynamic inefficiencies of the process. In order to address the inefficiencies that prevent smaller scale or intermittent production ethylene, investigation of new production methods are required. In this work, we investigate the use of a radio frequency (RF) based reactor system that generates heat internally as opposed to applying heat externally via steam or direct combustion of fossil fuels. In order to guide the design of an electromagnetic based reactor system, we have created a macroscale model capable of …

A Comparative Techno-Economic Analysis Of Aqueous And Anhydrous Hcl Electrolysis Processes, O. Felix, K. Likit-Anurak, K. Ngamsanroaj, Sirivatch Shimpalee, Ben Meekins

Faculty Publications

The state-of-the-art aqueous HCl electrolysis process is a well-established process for chlorine production but faces challenges such as limited conversion efficiencies, corrosion, and additional pre- and post-electrolyzer processing steps that add to its cost. This study evaluates whether a recently demonstrated anhydrous HCl electrolysis process is more economically viable than the state-of-the-art aqueous process. A 1D electrolyzer model was developed using Aspen Custom Modeler® and integrated into Aspen Plus® for process modeling. Multiple conversion efficiencies (30.5 %, 50 %, 80 %, and 93.4 %) were analyzed for the anhydrous process, with various heat recovery and heat exchanger configurations assessed using …