NaOH production by electro-dialysis of borax solution in an electrochemical flow cell

Abstract

In this study, the production of sodium hydroxide from borax, which is an important boron mineral, was investigated by the electrolysis of borax solution in a cation exchange membrane unit in which three-dimensional carbon felt electrodes were used. During the experiments, the effects of electrolyte flow rate, the concentration of borax solution, and system temperature on the concentration of produced sodium hydroxide were studied. The effect of parameters on the sodium hydroxide production were investigated for four different electrolyte flow rates in the range of 0.024-0.039 m s-1, the effect of concentration of borax solution for four different concentrations of borax solution in the range of 0.18-0.43 M, and the effect of system temperature for three different temperature in the range of 40-60°C. It was observed that as the rate of electrolyte and the concentration of borax solution increased, sodium hydroxide production also increased. But the increase in temperature had an adverse effect on sodium hydroxide production.