Electrochemical Industries

Several industries are highly dependent on cheap electric power. These include the aluminum industry, the Portland cement industry, electrochemical industries such as plating and chlorine production, the glass industry, and the pulp and paper industry. Other industries such as the petrochemical industry, which is highly competitive, depend on low priced power. About two-thirds of the cost of producing ammonia is electrical cost. 

Li-SOQj 4 Li + 2 SOCI2 4 LiCl + SO + S 3.6 1.0 530 high voltage, high energy density Electrochem Industries Eagle Picher Power Conversion... 

The development of electrical power made possible the electrochemical industry. Electrolysis of sodium chloride produces chlorine and either sodium hydroxide (from NaCl in solution) or metallic sodium (from NaCl fused). Sodium hydroxide has applications similar to sodium carbonate. The ad vantage of the electrolytic process is the production of chlorine which has many uses such as production of polyvinyl chloride. PVC, for plumbing, is produced in the largest quantity of any plastic. 

Degussa-Huls (Geiinany) Electrochemical Industries (Israel) Grapo Ai-agonesas (Spain)... 

EKA Chemicals North America, 194, 227 ELASTOMAG , magnesium oxide, 60 Elco Corporation, 227 Electro Abrasives Corporation, 227 Electrochemcal hidustries Ltd. (Israel), 177 Electrochemical Industries Ltd. (EIL), 233 Electrochemical Society, The, 270 Elementis Cln omium, 209 Elementis Pic, 209 Elf Aquitaine, 160... 

Wenglowski, G. An Economic Study of Electrochemical Industry in the United States 4... 

Summing up, it can be said that the reaction of the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide will be the subject of painstaking research for a long time to come. In the future this reaction is very likely to play an important role in the electrochemical industry. 

In a thorough ecological comparison of electrochemical with other manufacturing methods, of course, the pollution of air and water by the additional generation of electric power must also be taken into account. Fortunately, the largest electrochemical industries, such as aluminum production, as a rule are concentrated around ecologically clean hydropower plants. 

Electrochemical Society had asked him to make a fact-finding tour of American electrochemical industries and educational programs, and Haber seized the opportunity to distinguish himself. Even by the standards of the day, leaving his wife with a newborn infant was considered extreme. 

Given a widespread and growing application of such electrodes in electrochemical industry, a theory is required to describe the behavior of the electrochemical cells based on them. Such a theory would have to take into account, and to be able to distinguish between the individual contributions of processes proceeding at micro- to macro-levels in the electrochemical cell, as well as to furnish a multifunctional description of the whole system. 

Anodic oxidation is a very common process in the electrochemical industry, used for example in the manufacture of aluminum and tantalum capacitors. The anodic oxidation of silicon is not of comparable importance, because the electrical properties of anodic oxides are inferior to those of thermal oxides. 

The manufacture of secondary batteries based on aqueous electrolytes forms a major part of the world electrochemical industry. Of this sector, the lead-acid system (and in particular SLI power sources), as described in the last chapter, is by far the most important component, but secondary alkaline cells form a significant and distinct commercial market. They are more expensive, but are particularly suited for consumer products which have relatively low capacity requirements. They are also used where good low temperature characteristics, robustness and low maintenance are important, such as in aircraft applications. Until recently the secondary alkaline industry has been dominated by the cadmium-nickel oxide ( nickel-cadmium ) cell, but two new systems are making major inroads, and may eventually displace the cadmium-nickel oxide cell - at least in the sealed cell market. These are the so-called nickel-metal hydride cell and the rechargeable zinc-manganese dioxide cell. There are also a group of important but more specialized alkaline cell systems which are in use or are under further development for traction, submarine and other applications. 

However, a second change was necessary before there could be a successful electrochemical industry. Carrying out reactions at an electrode is, after all, a two-dimensional affair and one measure of the economics of a process is the amount of the product produced per unit volume. Could an electrode be made that was three dimensional It was Fleischmann and Goodridge (1970s) who (independently) produced somewhat different calculations showing the feasibility of a 3D electrode of certain (limited)2 dimensions. The modern organoelectrochemical industry was on its way. 

This is one of the largest electrochemical industries in the world. It consists in the electrolysis of sodium chloride as brine to give chlorine and caustic soda. Chlorine is used in the preparation of vinyl chloride for PVC, as a bleaching agent for paper and paper pulp, as a disinfectant, besides other chloration applications. Caustic soda is important in mineral processing, and in the paper, textile, and glass industries. Table 15.2 shows recent data for industrial consumption of chlorine and caustic soda in the USA. 

Figure 7. From Electrochemical Industry to Chemical Engineering.

On the electrochemical industry see L. F. Haber s volumes [7] and Williams Haynes, American Chemical Industry, Vol. 1, Van Nostrand, New York, 1954. There are plentiful reminders of Yankee ingenuity. A contemporary one is James C. Abbeglen and George Stalk, Jr., Kaisha, The Japanese Corporation, p. 130, Basic Books, New York, 1985. 

Martha M. Trescott, The Rise of the American Electrochemicals Industry, 1880-1910. Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., 1981. Besides Trescott s discussions of Frederick Becket, see his articles, Fifty Years Progress in Research, Trans. Electrochem. Soc. 46, 43-47 (1936) and A Few Reflections on Forty Years of Research, ibid. 47, 14— 25 (1937). 

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