Open AccessUsing Flow Electrodes in Multiple Reactors in Series for Continuous Energy Generation from Capacitive Mixing
Author(s) -
Marta C. Hatzell,
Kelsey B. Hatzell,
Bruce E. Logan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
environmental science and technology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.497
H-Index - 58
ISSN - 2328-8930
DOI - 10.1021/ez5003314
Subject(s) - electrode , mixing (physics) , materials science , electrolyte , capacitive sensing , power density , flow (mathematics) , carbon fibers , analytical chemistry (journal) , nuclear engineering , power (physics) , chemistry , electrical engineering , mechanics , composite material , thermodynamics , chromatography , physics , engineering , quantum mechanics , composite number
Efficient conversion of “mixing energy” to electricity through capacitive mixing (CapMix) has been limited by low energy recoveries, low power densities, and noncontinuous energy production resulting from intermittent charging and discharging cycles. We show here that a CapMix system based on a four-reactor process with flow electrodes can generate constant and continuous energy, providing a more flexible platform for harvesting mixing energy. The power densities were dependent on the flow-electrode carbon loading, with 5.8 ± 0.2 mW m–2 continuously produced in the charging reactor and 3.3 ± 0.4 mW m–2 produced in the discharging reactor (9.2 ± 0.6 mW m–2 for the whole system) when the flow-electrode carbon loading was 15%. Additionally, when the flow-electrode electrolyte ion concentration increased from 10 to 20 g L–1, the total power density of the whole system (charging and discharging) increased to 50.9 ± 2.5 mW m–2
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