Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.51, No.6, 2697-2703, 2012
Simple Technical Approach for Perpetual Use of Electrogenerated Ag(II) at Semipilot Scale: Removal of NO and SO2 as a Model System
The sustainable applicability of Ag(II)/Ag(I) redox mediator was studied in a semipilot-scale system for treatment of model artificial flue gases containing NO and SO2. Various discontinuous current supplies were tested for their effect on sustainable use of the electrogenerated mediator. Current density, cell volume, number of flow-through cell, and feed flow rates were varied in electrochemical thin layer cells to improve the applicability of the proposed current supply method. Discontinuing current flow every (5/5) min on-off (i(DCS)) resulted in improved regeneration capacity of Ag(II) after 15 h. After extended operation (24 h), removal efficiencies of 62% NO and 100% SO2 were achieved by mediated electrochemical oxidation both individually and simultaneously using the proposed discontinuous current supply, demonstrating the sustainable use of the mediator. This study will be taken as a pretest for long-term sustainability testing of the mediator, Ag(II), during industrial scaling up.