Investigation to optimize nitrogen purge for the sodium chlorate electrolysis process through numerical modeling

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ERCO Worldwide is a chemical producer and supply company that has been in business for over 100 years, with offices located throughout Canada. One of the major areas of ERCO's business is sodium chlorate manufacturing. During the sodium chlorate manufacturing process, Hydrogen gas is generated as a by-product in the electrolyser along with oxygen gas, an undesired by-product. The presence of oxygen in the hydrogen gas creates a flammable mixture and is a considerable process risk. Safety is the highest priority of ERCO: currently, an inert gas purge consisting of nitrogen is employed to reduce the flammability of the production system thereby controlling process risk. However, there is still uncertainty involved in predicting the effectiveness of the current nitrogen purge system. ERCO would therefore like to explore the opportunity of optimising the effectiveness the nitrogen purge. This research will investigate the relationship between the reactor/purge geometry and the effectiveness of the nitrogen purge. The main focus will be optimization of the purge system from a geometrical point-of-view and will involve computational fluid dynamic (CFD) numerical simulation. The result of this research will provide insight in to how process risk may be further mitigated, from an equipment design perspective. Dr. L. Pakzad, P.Eng., is an expert in fluid mechanics, fluid dynamics, multiphase flow, rheology, CFD modeling, and non-Newtonian fluids. Her work continuously uses modeling technology to simulate complex flow systems and to study the effects of operation parameters and system geometry on the effectiveness of various processes. Her expertise and hands-on experience with multiphase flow and fluid dynamics are key to the success of this project and will enable to use of modeling software as a cost-effective approach. Since any improvements to the purge process for the reactor system constitutes an improvement in an engineered safety system, Canadian industry and companies such as ERCO operating in Canada will directly benefit from this research through the potential application of these findings to similar processes involving nitrogen purges. This will result in improved performance and risk reduction for a variety of applications.