Simplified model to predict the effect of the leakage current on primary and secondary current distributions in electrochemical reactors with a bipolar electrode

A simplified mathematical model to calculate the current distributions in bipolar electrochemical reactors is proposed. The current distributions are deduced from a combination of the voltage balance in the reactor with a voltage balance including the electrolyte inlet and outlet. Thus, equations to predict the effect of geometric and operational variables on the current distributions at the electrodes are reported. The parameters acting upon the current distributions were lumped into two dimensionless variables and their effects on the current distributions are discussed. The primary current distributions are obtained as a limiting case. Comparisons between calculated and experimental primary current distributions are reported.