Material balance for hydrogen production by water electrolysis?
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When performing material balance calculations for the water electrolysis hydrogen production reaction: how is the amount of potassium hydroxide, which does not participate in the reaction itself but serves to increase conductivity, determined? How much is appropriate to add? What about the amount of vanadium pentoxide?
You need to refer to the specific manufacturing process for this – for example, what conductivity is required. Obviously, the lower the value, the better, as it does cost money. What is the minimum amount needed to achieve the desired conductivity?
What is the function of adding vanadium pentoxide?
Speeds up the separation of hydrogen from the electrolyte
This post was last edited by Chasing the wind and the moon_VEBA on 2020-12-6 at 12:10. Vanadium pentoxide acts primarily at the cathode of the electrolyzer, reducing the overvoltage at that site. It also has the ability to aggregate small hydrogen bubbles into larger ones, allowing hydrogen to separate from the electrolyte more quickly and reducing the gas content in the alkaline solution, thereby achieving pressure reduction and energy savings.