Synergistic promotion of particulate matter reduction and production performance via adjusting electrochemical reactions in the zinc electrolysis industry

doi:10.1007/s11783-024-1762-0

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2024, Vol. 18

Issue (1) : 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1762-0

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Synergistic promotion of particulate matter reduction and production performance via adjusting electrochemical reactions in the zinc electrolysis industry

Zizhen Ma^1,², Jingkun Jiang², Lei Duan², Jianguo Deng², Fuyuan Xu³, Zehui Li⁴, Linhua Jiang³(

), Ning Duan³(

)

¹. School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266520, China
². State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of the Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
³. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
⁴. School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

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Abstract

● Electrolytic PM can be reduced by controlling operation parameters.

● The optimization conditions exist, reducing PM without deteriorating PC and CE_Zn.

● Abatement essence is to inhibit gas evolution reactions.

Heavy particulate matter (PM) pollution and high energy consumption are the bottlenecks of hydrometallurgy, especially in the electrolysis process. Therefore, an urgent need is to explore PM reduction methods with production performance co-benefits. This study presents three PM reduction methods based on controlling operating parameters, i.e., lowering electrolyte temperature, H₂SO₄ concentration, and current density of the cathode. The optimized conditions were also investigated using the response surface methodology to balance the PM reduction effect and Zn production. The results showed that lowering electrolyte temperature is the most efficient, with an 89.0% reduction in the PM generation flux (GF_PM). Reducing H₂SO₄ concentration led to the minimum side effects on the current efficiency of Zn deposition (CE_Zn) or power consumption (PC). With the premise of non-deteriorating CE_Zn and PC, GF_PM can be reduced by 86.3% at the optimal condition (electrolyte temperature = 295 K, H₂SO₄ = 110 g/L, current density = 373 A/m²). In addition, the reduction mechanism was elucidated by comprehensively analyzing bubble characteristics, electrochemical reactions, and surface tension. Results showed that lower electrolyte temperature inhibited the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and compressed gas volume. Lower H₂SO₄ concentration inhibited the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and reduced electrolyte surface tension. Lower current density inhibited both OER and HER by decreasing the reaction current. The inhibited gas evolutions reduced the microbubbles’ number and size, thereby reducing GF_PM. These results may provide energy-efficient PM reduction methods and theoretical hints of exploring cleaner PM reduction approaches for industrial electrolysis.

Keywords Zinc electrolysis Particulate matter Energy consumption Operating parameters Bubble characteristic Electrochemical reaction

Corresponding Author(s): Fuyuan Xu,Linhua Jiang,Ning Duan

Issue Date: 04 August 2023

Cite this article:

Zizhen Ma,Jingkun Jiang,Lei Duan, et al. Synergistic promotion of particulate matter reduction and production performance via adjusting electrochemical reactions in the zinc electrolysis industry[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2024, 18(1): 2.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-024-1762-0
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2024/V18/I1/2

Fig.1 Influences of three operational parameters on (a) the generation flux of aerosols (GF_PM), (b) emission factor of PM (EF_PM), (c) Pb content in the Zn product (IC_Pb) and Zn deposition rate (R_Zn), and (d) current efficiency of Zn deposition (CE_Zn) and PC.

Fig.2 Response surface graphs showing the effects of operating parameters: (a) generation flux of PM, GF_PM; (b) emission factor of PM, EF_PM; (c) current efficiency of Zn deposition, CE_Zn; and (d) energy consumption by electrolysis, PC. And PM reduction effects and Zn production performance indicators: (e) GF_PM; (f) EF_PM; (g) CE_Zn; and (h) PC, at the optimized conditions. (a, b, and d were drawn at H₂SO₄ concentration of 160 g/L and c was drawn at current density of 500 A/m²; Optimization 1: 295 K, 110 g/L, and 373 A/m²; Optimization 2: 301 K, 110 g/L, and 347 A/m²).

Fig.3 Bubble characteristics for different operational parameters: (a–c) number–size distribution of bubbles; (d) the total number of bubbles in observed ozone; (e) mean calculated bubble diameter.

Fig.4 Current efficiency of electrochemical reactions on anode and cathode for different operational parameters: (a) electrolyte temperature; (b) H₂SO₄ concentration; (c) current density; and gas evolution rates for three operational parameters: (d) electrolyte temperature; (e) H₂SO₄ concentration; (f) current density.

Fig.5 Polarization curves under different operational parameters: (a–c) electrolyte temperatures; (d–f) H₂SO₄ concentrations.

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