Gastight Rotating Cylinder Electrode: Towards Decoupling Mass Transport and Intrinsic Kinetics in Electrocatalysis

Decoupling and understanding the various mass, charge and heat transport phenomena involved in the electrocatalytic transformation of small molecules (i.e. CO2, CO, H2, N2, NH3, O2, CH4) is challenging but it can be readily achieved using dimensionless quantities (i.e. Reynolds, Sherwood, Schmidt, Damköhler, Nusselt, Prandtl, and Peclet Numbers) to simplify the characterization of systems with multiple interacting physical phenomena. Herein we report the development of a gastight rotating cylinder electrode cell with well-defined mass transport characteristics that can be applied to experimentally decouple mass transfer effects from intrinsic kinetics in electrocatalytic systems. The gastight rotating cylinder electrode cell enables the dimensionless analysis of electrocatalytic systems and should enable the rigorous research and development of electrocatalytic technologies.

Electrochemical characterization of an oil/water alternately wetted rotating cylinder electrode

To characterize the corrosion at oil/water interfaces, a vertically adjustable rotating cylinder electrode (VA-RCE) was developed based on the concept of “alternate wetting cell”, in which the electrochemical current reflecting the wet state of the RCE surface can be continuously monitored. Under a sinusoidal moving mode, the current waveform varied with the rotation rate and the longitudinal displacement speed or amplitude of the VA-RCE, implying that the dynamic wetting behavior of the VA-RCE surface in the oil/water interface region was influenced by the flow conditions; the replacement of oil phase by water phase became easier with increasing flow rate and alternating frequency of change between water wet and oil wet. The results also indicated that the wettability of the VA-RCE surface could be modified by the formation of corrosion products. All the results suggested that the VA-RCE could be used to quantitatively characterize the dynamic water/oil wetting state and the corrosion at an oil/water interface in a multiphase flow.

Flow Accelerated Corrosion of Carbon Steel with Droplet Impingement Using a Modified Rotating Cylinder Electrode Experiment

In power plant cooling systems, water droplets and condensate films form due to heat transfer through cooling tube walls. Condensate films are known to cause flow accelerated corrosion on carbon steels used in air-cooled condensers. Corrosion is further accelerated by droplets suspended in the accelerating steam that impinge on walls, T-joints, or valves, further damaging protective oxide layers on pipe walls. Droplet impingement and flow accelerated corrosion were studied using a modified rotating cylinder electrode system coupled with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Surface liquid films caused by droplet impingement were found to correlate directly with flow accelerated corrosion caused by condensate films. In the absence of a stable liquid film, droplet impingement increased corrosion rates and resulted in pit formation. Select corrosion inhibitors were found to be ineffective under flow accelerated corrosion or droplet impingement.