From what aspects and how can it be determined that the efficiency of the ion exchange membrane has declined to the point where replacement is necessary?
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What is the average service life of the ion membrane in an electrolyzer? From what aspects such as process, equipment, and consumption can we determine whether the efficiency of the ion exchange membrane has declined to the point where membrane replacement is necessary? I appreciate your advice.
Under normal circumstances, two to three years will suffice. For single-membrane systems, there are various ways to make judgments, such as the color of the hose, the groove voltage (greater than or less than 0.08V), and membrane leakage testing (>10L/h), among others. The factors affecting the overall membrane replacement are cell voltage and power consumption per ton of caustic soda.
1. Excessively high cell voltage, 2. Low current efficiency, 3. Mechanical damage to the membrane or the appearance of pinholes, 4. High salt content in the alkali
If you find that the chlorate level in the brine remains high, and the load on the decomposition tank doesn’t decrease even when it’s set to its maximum, replace it immediately.
When performing membrane leak testing on the electrolyzers produced by Beihua Machinery, it is possible to determine whether a single membrane needs to be replaced.
If there is a membrane leak, the vehicle must be stopped for replacement. After normal use for a certain period of time, apart from the factors mentioned above, there are other indicators that can indicate that the service life of the ion exchange membrane has expired, such as the amount of acid added to the anode and the salt content in the caustic soda.
When the ion membranes of Asahi Kasei are used and maintained properly, they generally need to be replaced every 3–4 years; parameters such as direct current consumption, current efficiency, and the amount of acid required are all affected by this
When replacing the membrane as a whole, it is also necessary to consider the overall economic benefits; there is no need to do so only when the current efficiency is very low!