OLI Systems, Inc.

Chloralkali simulation using ESP 1

ESP FLOWSHEET SIMULATION
APPLICATION BRIEF
Chlor-Alkali Simulation

Revised April 10, 2012
1


The anode in an electrochemical cell is the strongest oxidizer known, as it is fully capable of
taking an electron away from fluoride ion to produce fluorine gas (2F
-1
F
2(g)
.+ 2e
-
,
E
o
=3.077v). In fact, this reaction is practiced on an industrial scale with electrochemical
cells. Likewise, the cathode is the strongest reducing agent known. It is only natural that
OLI would make this Oxidation/Reduction tool available to its users. The ESP Electrolyzer
Block models the behavior of a typical chloralkali membrane cell.



Anolyte Outlet Catholyte Outlet

CM


Cl
2
, Br
2

2OH
-1
+ H
2


2Cl
-1
, 2Br
-1

2H
2
O
Na
+1
, K
+1





Anolyte Inlet (Aq. Salt) Catholyte Inlet (Aq. Caustic)

CM = Cation Exchange Membrane
Figure 1 Schematic of the OLI Electrolyzer block

1
Using OLI ESP version 8.3.9
Cathode (-) Anode (+)
OLI Systems, Inc. Chloralkali simulation using ESP 2
Contents
The Application ............................................................................................................... 2
Electrolyzer Theory and Implementation ............................................................... 2
Chloralkali anode reactions ............................................................................. 3
CHLORALKALI CATION EXCHANGE MEMBRANE TRANSPORT ............................ 4
BACK MIGRATION ACROSS THE MEMBRANE .................................................... 4
CHLORALKALI CATHODE REACTIONS .............................................................. 5
CHLORALKALI MASS BALANCE CALCULATIONS ................................................ 6
BLOCK Computations ...................................................................................... 7
Block computation Options ................................................................................... 9
Overview ....................................................................................................... 9
Specification options ....................................................................................... 9
Reactions: ...................................................................................................... 9
Parasitic Side Reactions: ............................................................................... 10
Input Information ......................................................................................... 10
Example 1 Existing installation ..........................................................................10
Chemistry Model .......................................................................................... 10
ESP Process Build Pre-build calculations ...................................................... 11
ESP Process Build data entry ...................................................................... 11
Example 2 Changing the existing installation .....................................................12
Example 3 Increased salt conversion .................................................................13
Conclusion ..........................................................................................................14

The Application
Your cell room is running fine right now. The Sales Dept. just called to see if you
can increase the plant capacity from 41 tonne/day (45 ton/day) Cl
2
production to 45
tonne/day (49.5 ton/day). You have 20 cells with an electrode area of 21 m
2
each
running at a current density of 3,543.6 amp/m
2
at an anode current efficiency of
96% and a cathode current efficiency of 91%. The cell membranes transport an
average of 4.1 moles of water per mole of cation transported. You have room for
two more cells on the plant floor. This is a good time to try out that new ESP block
you got with the latest update from OLI. How will you increase the plant capacity?

Electrolyzer Theory and Implementation

The electrochemical cell is divided with a cation exchange membrane. A cation exchange
membrane is a cross-linked perfluorinated polymer backbone with sulfonic acid groups
attached to it. The acid functionality provides discrete channels for cations to migrate
through the polymer matrix while blocking the passage of anions. A divided cell has
separate flow channels for a fluid (the Anolyte) to come in electrical contact with the anode
and the cathode (the Catholyte). A number of these flow channels are often stacked
together and connected to common headers much like a plate and frame heat exchanger.

OLI Systems, Inc. Chloralkali simulation using ESP 3


Figure 2. Repeating Cell Components

A potential applied to the electrodes of an electrochemical cell establishes an electrostatic
attraction for cations to the cathode and away from the anode. Likewise, anions are
attracted to the anode and repelled by the cathode. The movement of ions in the Anolyte
and Catholyte is an electrical current. Anions that come in contact with the anode are
subject to electrochemical reaction if the anode potential is sufficiently high. Similarly, for
cations that come in contact with the cathode. Modern membrane cells used in the
Chloralkali Industry are constructed in this fashion. The ESP Electrolyzer Block accurately
models the behavior of Membrane Chloralkali Cells in common industrial use.

The OLI chemical and thermodynamic model allows for accurate calculation of the
equilibrium conditions in both compartments of an electrochemical cell. The Electrolyzer
Block is able to correctly predict the behavior of both the Anolyte and Catholyte for the
limited species it was designed to address. The following discussion will help you supply
this ESP block with reasonable input data and provide you with a basis for verifying its
accuracy. Sodium Hydroxide and Chlorine will be used as an example but the principles are
equally valid for other caustics and halogens.

Chloralkali anode reactions

The anolyte is normally a salt solution just below its saturation point. The anode is coated
with a catalyst to suppress the decomposition of water and facilitate the formation of
halogen. The anolyte is usually acidified to about pH=2 to suppress the formation of
chlorates (bromates, etc.) and protect the anode catalyst from alkaline conditions. For
example, chloride ion in the anolyte is attracted to the anode. When it touches the anode,
Electrode
Membrane
Electrode
OLI Systems, Inc. Chloralkali simulation using ESP 4
it surrenders an electron and forms chlorine gas bubbles on the surface, which are then
swept away by the flow of Anolyte.

Cl
-1
Cl
2(g)
+ e
-
(1.3604 volt @ 25 C)

Note that each mole of chloride ion reacts to form one mole of electrons so this is a one-
electron process. Unfortunately, there is a competing side reaction since even saturated
salt solutions contain more moles of water than salt. Water is Thermodynamically favored
to decompose at the anode to produce oxygen and hydrogen ion in a two-electron process.

H
2
O 2 H
+1
+ O
2(g)
+ 2 e
-
(1.2291 volt @ 25 C)

The anode catalyst suppresses this reaction. The ratio of the chloride ion process to the
total amount of current used by the anode (to form chlorine and decompose water) is the
anode current efficiency (). Modern anode materials are typically between 95% and 97%
efficient. Clearly, the anode will produce some oxygen gas. Enough anolyte must be
provided to keep a high concentration of chloride ion over the entire anode surface. The
anolyte salt concentration therefore typically drops only a few percent in the cell.
Chloralkali Cells are designed to operate at about 90 C to limit the solubility of the halogen
in the aqueous anolyte solution. Meanwhile, the corresponding sodium ion moves toward
the cathode and crosses the cation exchange membrane.

CHLORALKALI CATION EXCHANGE MEMBRANE TRANSPORT

Cations, especially hydrogen ions, are able to pass through the polymer matrix of the cation
exchange membrane. However, each cation is solvated by more than one water molecule
and these waters of hydration pass through the cationic membrane as well. Each cation
drags from two to six water molecules along with it depending on their size and charge but
somewhere around four is common.

The cation exchange membrane is positioned between the anolyte and catholyte and must
keep them from mixing. The catholyte is strongly alkaline and would damage the catalytic
coating on the anode while the anolyte is strongly acidic. The cations must be able to pass
through the cation exchange membrane from the acidic anolyte to the caustic catholyte
without precipitating. If they do, the precipitation will probably occur inside the membrane
structure and cause permanent damage to the membrane. This is why industrial chloralkali
facilities spend so much effort removing calcium/magnesium from their feed brine. The ESP
Electrolyzer Block can predict this problem and will warn the user if a species gets too close
to saturation.

BACK MIGRATION ACROSS THE MEMBRANE

The anolyte contains a high concentration of chloride ion and the catholyte has a high
concentration of hydroxide ion. The cation exchange membrane separates these two
solutions. Sulfonic acid moieties in the membrane polymer attempt to block the passage of
OLI Systems, Inc. Chloralkali simulation using ESP 5
anions. However, a small amount of chloride ion finds its way into the catholyte and a small
amount of hydroxide ion gets into the anolyte. Both of these leakages are referred to as
Back Migration of anions across the cation membrane. The degree of back migration
depends on the condition and construction of the cation exchange membrane, the
concentration gradients and the type of anion. If chloride ion leaks into the catholyte, the
caustic (NaOH in this example) will be contaminated with salt (NaCl). Modern membrane
materials used in the chloralkali industry are able to keep this contamination to a few tens
of ppm while producing 30% to 33% NaOH. If hydroxide ion back migrates into the
anolyte, it combines with dissolved chlorine gas to produce hypochlorite.

OH
-1
+ Cl
2(aq)
H
+1
Cl
-1
+ ClO
-1


The ESP Electrolyzer Block will correctly predict this behavior if the chemistry model is
constructed properly. Do not turn on the REDOX option.

The Electrolyzer Block will account for hydroxide back migration from the Cathode Efficiency
and predict the formation of hypochlorite and chlorate in the anolyte. In order to
understand the importance of back migration, let us examine the cathode reactions.

CHLORALKALI CATHODE REACTIONS

The Thermodynamic potential for the decomposition of water to form hydrogen gas and
hydroxide ion at the cathode is very low so it is far more likely to proceed than other
possible cathode reactions in a chloralkali application.

H
2
O + e
-
H
2(g)
+ OH
-1
(-0.8280 volts @ 25 C)

Thus, sodium ion transported across the membrane to the catholyte is joined by hydroxide
from the cathode surface to produce NaOH. However, if hydroxide ions were to be
neutralized by hydrogen ion transporting across the membrane or if hydroxide back
migrates into the anolyte, the cathode reaction is not 100% efficient in the formation of
hydroxide. Recall that the undesired side reaction from the anode produces hydrogen ion,
which impacts the cathode. Cationic hydrogen can easily migrate across the cation
exchange membrane.

Anodic Side Reaction
H
2
O 2 H
+1
+ O
2(g)
+ 2 e
-


Cathodic Side Reaction
H
+1
+ OH
-1
H
2
O

Hydroxide ion that back migrates into the anolyte is lost to the catholyte product. It also
reacts with dissolved chlorine gas in the anolyte to form hypochlorite in an unwanted side
reaction. The ratio of hydroxide to hydrogen gas produced from the cathode compartment
is the cathode current efficiency (q). This may be an unfortunate designation as the
cathodes hydrogen efficiency is 100% and the cathode has little to do with the loss of
hydroxide ion from the catholyte. Modern Chloralkali membranes and anode catalysts allow
OLI Systems, Inc. Chloralkali simulation using ESP 6
the cathode current efficiency to run between 85% and 94%. The anode and cathode
current efficiencies are related so that the cathode efficiency can never be higher than the
anode efficiency.

One additional point should be made about the relative size of the anolyte and catholyte
streams. The anolyte composition may go from 23% NaCl at the inlet to about 21.5% at
the outlet. That means the anolyte feed stream is big compared to the amount of NaCl
converted. This is required to keep a high concentration of chloride ion near the anode.
However, the cell membrane cannot withstand large differences in pressure between the
anolyte and catholyte so it is not unusual for the catholyte to be a large stream as well.
The catholyte inlet may be 32% NaOH and the outlet may get as high as 33% NaOH
depending on the performance of the membrane.

CHLORALKALI MASS BALANCE CALCULATIONS

The rate of conversion in an electrochemical cell is governed by the amount of current that
passes between the cathode and anode according to the following relationship.

Q = n e

Where: Q = cell current in amperes (1 amp = 1 coulomb/sec)
n = molar rate of reaction (moles/sec)
= Faradays Constant (96485.3 coulomb/equivalent)
e = number of equivalents per mole of reactant or number of electrons involved
in the reaction per mole of reactant (equivalents/mole)

Then if we define the efficiencies as follows:
, = Anode Current Efficiency (fraction)
q = Cathode Current Efficiency (fraction)
] = Membrane Water Transport Factor (moles of water transported across the membrane per mole of cations
transported)

We can summarize the performance of our example chloralkali cell as follows:
For every 100 moles of electrons that passes through the cell:
100*q moles of NaOH are formed in the catholyte.
100 moles of Hydrogen atoms or 50 moles of H
2(gas)
is formed in the catholyte.
100*, moles of Chlorine atoms or 50*, moles of Cl
2(gas)
is formed in the anolyte.
100*(1-,)/2 moles of Oxygen atoms or 50*(1-,)/2 moles of O
2(gas)
is formed in the anolyte. Formation of
oxygen is a two-electron process.
100*(1-q) moles of hydroxide ion is lost from the catholyte.
100*(1-,) moles of hydrogen ion combines with back migrating hydroxide ions to form water in an
unwanted side reaction.
100*(,-q) moles of hypochlorite is formed in the anolyte.

The ESP Electrolyzer Block performs all of these calculations.

OLI Systems, Inc. Chloralkali simulation using ESP 7
BLOCK Computations

I
C
= Current (amp) = Current Density (amp/m
2
) * Area (m
2
)
e

= Electrons (mole/hr) = (Current (amp) * 3600 (sec/hr))/( (amp-sec/equiv) * 1

equiv/mole)

ANOLYTE STREAM

Consumed by Reaction:
H
2
O |
.
|

\
| ,
2
1
e

mole/hr
Salt Conversion , e

Removed by Transport:
H
2
O ] q e

Produced by Reaction:
Halogen (Cl
2
, Br
2
) |
.
|

\
| ,
2
e

O
2
|
.
|

\
| ,
4
1
e

Produced by OHION Back Migration:
Hydroxide in the Anolyte (NaOH, KOH) (, - q) e

H
2
O formed in the anolyte. (1 - ,) e

CATHOLYTE STREAM

Consumed by Reaction:

H
2
O 1 e

mole/hr

Produced by Reaction:
Hydroxide (NaOH, KOH) q e

H
2
e

Added by Transport from the Anolyte:
H
2
O ] q e

EXAMPLE MATERIAL BALANCE

For NaCl:
OLI Systems, Inc. Chloralkali simulation using ESP 8
Let e
-
= 1 mole/hr

Anolyte In:
|
.
|

\
| ,
2
1
H
2
O + ,NaCl + ]qH
2
O


Anolyte Out
|
.
|

\
| ,
2
Cl
2
+ |
.
|

\
| ,
4
1
O
2
+ (, - q) NaOH + (1 - ,)H
2
O

Catholyte In:

1 H
2
O

Catholyte Out:

qNaOH + H
2
+ ]qH
2
O

Total In (Anolyte In + Catholyte In):
H2O: |
.
|

\
| ,
2
1
+ ]q + 1 =
2 2
3 ,
+ ]q
NaCl: ,

Elements In:
H: 3 - , + 2 ]q
O:
2 2
3 ,
+ ]q
Na: ,
Cl: ,

Total Out (Anolyte Out + Catholyte Out):
Cl
2

2
,

O
2

4
1 ,

NaOH , - q + q = ,
H
2
O: 1 - , + ]q
H
2


Elements Out:
H: , + 2 - 2, + 2]q + 1 = 3 - , + 2 ]q \ Balanced
O:
2
1 ,
+ , + 1 - , + ]q =
2 2
3 ,
+ ] q \ Balanced
Na: , \ Balanced
Cl: , \ Balanced

OLI Systems, Inc. Chloralkali simulation using ESP 9
Block computation Options

Overview

The Electrolyzer block has several options which affects the calculations. The block can
react chlorides or bromides and may use Potassium or Sodium ions. The user can also
specify whether the area is calculated or the salt conversion is calculated.

Specification options


Anolyte Outlet Catholyte Outlet

CM


Cl
2
, Br
2

2OH
-1
+ H
2


2Cl
-1
, 2Br
-1

2H
2
O
Na
+1
, K
+1





Anolyte Inlet (Aq. Salt) Catholyte Inlet (Aq. Caustic)

CM = Cation Exchange Membrane
Figure 3 Schematic of the OLI Electrolyzer block
1) Specify Current Density and Electrode Area; Compute Conversion
or
2) Specify Conversion and Current Density; Compute Electrode Area.

Reactions:
Anode: Cl
1
Cl
2
+ e

Cathode: H
2
O + e

H
2
+ OH
1

Br
1
Br
2
+ e


Cathode (-) Anode (+)
OLI Systems, Inc. Chloralkali simulation using ESP 10
Parasitic Side Reactions:
H
2
O O
2

+ 2 H
+

H
+
+ OH

H
2
O

Input Information

- Exit Temperature Option
1) Isothermal and Isobaric (Inlet = Outlet)
2) Temperature and Pressure Specified

- Computation Option
1) Specify Current Density (Amps/m
2
) and Electrode Area (m
2
); Compute
Conversion
2) Specify Conversion (Mass rate of Salt to be removed from the Anolyte Inlet)
and Current Density (amps/m
2
); Compute Cell Current.

- Current Density (amp/m
2
) (default = 3,000) (max ~ 6,000, min ~ 1,000, normal ~
4,000 in chloralkali applications such as this.)
- Anode Current Efficiency (fraction) (default = 0.95)
- Cathode Current Efficiency (fraction) (default = 0.88)
- Water Transport Factor (Moles of Water transported across the membrane per mole
of cation transported) (default = 4)
- Choice of Salt:
1) NaCl
2) KCl
3) NaBr
4) KBr


Example 1 Existing installation
2

Chemistry Model
We start by modeling the existing cell room. Start ESP and enter your species into a
chemistry model. Your input species should be as follows:
H2O
NACL
HCL
NAOH
CL2
O2
H2
Complete the model generation process as you would normally.

2
This is using Example file CHLORAL2.BIN
OLI Systems, Inc. Chloralkali simulation using ESP 11
Do not use Oxidation/ Reduction!

ESP Process Build Pre-build calculations

The existing plant has some non-ESP related data. We must take a few moments to convert
this data into more ESP friendly values.

The Anolyte Input stream pumps provide about 242 m
3
/hr (1064 gpm) to the cells. This
corresponds to approximately 270940 Kg/hr. The area of each cell is 21 m
2
and there are 20
cells for a total of 420 m
2
.

The other parameters are stated at the beginning of the document.

ESP Process Build data entry
Open Process build and then select an Electrolyzer block from the Environmental blocks
grouping. Create the following streams in the block:



Enter the stream compositions for the two inlets

Anolyte Inlet (Salt): Brine Feed Catholyte Inlet (H2O): Catholyte Feed
Temp: 87 C Temp: 85 C
Pressure: 130 kPa Pressure: 130 kPa
Total Flow: 270,940.0 kg/hr Total Flow: 269,490.0 kg/hr
H2O: 208,606.0 kg/hr H2O: 183,927.0 kg/hr
NaCl: 62,310.9 kg/hr NaOH: 85,563.1 kg/hr
HCl: 23.1 kg/hr
OLI Systems, Inc. Chloralkali simulation using ESP 12
After all the streams are named, enter the operating parameters for this problem as follows:

Exit Temperature; Set Temperature = 91 C
Computation Option = Specify Area; Compute Salt Conversion
Choice of Salt = NaCl.
Operating Conditions:
Current Density = 3543.6 amp/m2
Area = 420 m2
Anode Efficiency = 0.96
Cathode Efficiency = 0.91
Water Transport Factor = 4.1

The model is now ready to run. The results will look something like Table on the following
pages. A quick check of the results table will confirm the mass balance closes to within 0.4
ppm. Notice the amount of chlorine produced by the cells. 1699 kg/hr is indeed about 40.8
tonne/day. This confirms that we are properly modeling the existing installation.
Table 1 Existing current density
Stream BrineFeed CatholyteFeed AnolyteOut AnolyteOut Catholyteout Catholyteout
Phase Liquid1 Liquid1 Liquid1 Vapor Liquid1 Vapor
Temperature,C 87 85 91 91 91 91
Pressure,kPa 130 130 130 130 130 130
pH 2.30 14.07 4.00 13.93
Totalmol/hr 12646214 12348710 12371556 45226.6 12539355 39242.9
FlowUnits kg/hr kg/hr kg/hr kg/hr kg/hr kg/hr
H2O 208606.19 203196.33 204520.60 372.67 186451.66 206.85
HCL 23.10 23.10 0.00
NACL 62310.71 59196.95
NA2O 66293.67
CL2 189.22 1699.07
HCLO 1.26
O2 0.03 17.74
NAOH 110.09 87584.33
H2 0.01 55.96
Totalkg/hr 270940 269490 264040 2090.73 274036 262.817
Volume,m3/hr 241.724 207.874 236.869 1043.11 211.37 913.62
Enthalpy,cal/hr 8.82E+11 9.18E+11 8.61E+11 1.17E+09 9.31E+11 644894000
STDLiqVol,m3/hr 246.911 231.765 241.112 1.46475 235.415 1.00053
Density,kg/m3 1120.86 1296.41 1114.71 2.00432 1296.48 0.287666
Vaporfraction 1 1
Solidfraction
Liquid2fractio
OsmoticPres,kPa 36205.7554 127593.5149 35116.5116 127881.2779
RedoxPot,volts
SurfTensionN/m
IonicStr,Molal 5.11406 11.6309 4.96582 11.7444
ChlorineHeader HydrogenHeader



OLI Systems, Inc. Chloralkali simulation using ESP 13
Example 2 Changing the existing installation
3

Can we achieve our desired production rate by increasing the current density? We are not
going to change the chemistry model for this example, only we will rerun the calculation at
a higher current density to see if existing cells will handle the new load. An off-line
calculation indicates that the new current density should be 3,897.9 amp/m
2
. The cells
should be able to handle a current density less than 4,000 amp/m
2
. All of the block
operating parameters remains the same except the following:

Operating Conditions: Current Density = 3897.9 amp/m2

The results of this simulation should look something like Table 2 below. Sure enough, the
cells will produce 1868.5 kg/hr or 44.8 tonne/day of Chlorine. We are now predicting that
we will produce approximately 45 tonne/day of chorine. This might be acceptable to the
sales department.

Table 2 Increased current density
Stream BrineFeed CatholyteFeed AnolyteOut AnolyteOut Catholyteout Catholyteout
Phase Liquid1 Liquid1 Liquid1 Vapor Liquid1 Vapor
Temperature,C 87 85 91 91 91 91
Pressure,kPa 130 130 130 130 130 130
pH 2.30 14.07 4.05 13.93
Totalmol/hr 12646214 12348710 12344067 49775.3 12558515 43152
FlowUnits kg/hr kg/hr kg/hr kg/hr kg/hr kg/hr
H2O 208606.19 203196.33 204112.00 410.46 186704.72 227.27
HCL 23.10 23.10 0.00
NACL 62310.71 58885.54
NA2O 66293.67
CL2 208.36 1868.49
HCLO 1.56
O2 0.03 19.51
NAOH 120.97 87786.27
H2 0.01 61.56
Totalkg/hr 270940 269490 263350 2300.03 274491 288.826
Volume,m3/hr 241.724 207.874 236.33 1148.02 211.684 1004.63
Enthalpy,cal/hr 8.82E+11 9.18E+11 8.59E+11 1.29E+09 9.33E+11 708514000
STDLiqVol,m3/hr 246.911 231.765 240.532 1.61156 235.78 1.10031
Density,kg/m3 1120.86 1296.41 1114.33 2.00347 1296.7 0.287494
Vaporfraction 1 1
Solidfraction
Liquid2fractio
OsmoticPres,kPa 36205.75542 127593.5149 34981.95199 128059.6099
RedoxPot,volts
SurfTensionN/m
IonicStr,Molal 5.11406 11.6309 4.95101 11.7556
ChlorineHeader HydogenHeader


3
This is example file CHLORAL3
OLI Systems, Inc. Chloralkali simulation using ESP 14
Example 3 Increased salt conversion
4


The Process Block Results show that for the first scenario the cells convert 5% of the
available salt in the anolyte stream. Converting more salt will increase our yield. We will
now rerun the simulation to convert 6.05% of the available salt. All other parameters
remain the same as the first run except the following (make sure you reset the current
density):

Operating Conditions: Current Density = 3897.9 amp/m2
Computation Option = Specify Conversion. Salt Conversion = 0.0605

A review of the Process Stream Results for the Anolyte Out stream shows that we still
have 2055 Kg/hr of chlorine being produced (49.3 tonne/day ~ 50 tonne/day).

In this example, the information we need is stored in the block results. Select Process
Block Results from the Process Analysis dialog. Then select the only block present the
electrolyzer block.

There is a wealth of information in this block. The section we are interested in is the
Effective Transfer Area (m
2
) = 462.002.

Notice that the required area is 462 m
2
or two additional cells (420+2*21 m
2
). So, the
increased production could be met by installing two additional cells.

Conclusion

ESP allows the user to quickly model an existing facility or perform What if scenarios. In
this particular case, we can achieve the salt conversion we desire by increasing the current
density or by adding more cells.




4
This is example file CHLORALK