Modeling and Multi-Criteria Optimization of a Process for H2O2 Electrosynthesis

This article introduces a novel laboratory-scale process for the electrochemical synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The process aims at an energy-efficient, decentralized production, and a mathematical optimization of it is presented. A dynamic, zero-dimensional mathematical model of the reactor is set up in Aspen custom modeler (R). The proposed model constitutes a reasonable compromise between complexity and convergence. After thoroughly determining the reaction kinetics by adjustment to experimental data, the reactor unit is embedded in an Aspen Plus (R) flowsheet in order to investigate its interaction with other unit operations. The downstream contains another custom module for membrane distillation. Electricity appears as a resource in the process, and optimization shows that it reaches product purities of up to 3 wt.-%. Both the process optimization and the adjustment of the reaction kinetics are treated as multi-criteria optimization (MCO) problems.