Electrochemical Performance of a Spatially Distributed ECPrOx Reactor

Abstract

In this contribution a spatially distributed Electrochemical Preferential Oxidation (ECPrOx) reactor is evaluated and the influence of the temperature, CO inlet concentration, feed flow rate and relative humidity on the polarization curve, the local current distribution and the CO outlet concentration, selectivity and conversion are investigated. For that, six different cases are studied under galvanostatic and potentiostatic operation. For Galvanostatic operation, it was observed that depending on the operation conditions, the bifurcation point as well as the frequency and amplitude of the oscillations can be modified. Additionally, several spatiotemporal profiles of the local current density were found. For potentiostatic operation, the spatiotemporal profiles are constant with time, however they are affected by the anode overvoltage. Finally, after the bifurcation point, the temporal averaged anode overvoltage and the CO outlet concentration is always lower for galvanostatic control.