Operation of mercury-cathode cells
AssigneeImperial Chemical Industries PLC
InventorsDenis Lee, Alan David Cole Cantwell
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for reducing the aqueous dispersion present in the amalgam being fed to a mercury cell which comprises reducing the velocity of amalgam stream at one or more stations along the amalgam flow where the amalgam enters a substantially static pool of amalgam which is itself covered by a layer of an aqueous phase, e.g., at lutes located at the exit of the cell, the exit of the denuder, the entry to a pump tank or pump, and the entry to a wash box feeding to the cell. The invention is advantageous for reducing chloride entrainment in the amalgam fed to the denuder and for reducing the build-up of thick mercury deposits on the baseplate of a mercury cell.
Claims13
In a method of operating a mercury cell comprising a circulating stream of fluid amalgam which passes through the cell as a flowing cathode, a pump and denuder and which includes at least one station at which the flowing amalgam enters a substantially static pool of amalgam covered by an aqueous phase at a velocity which causes a portion of the aqueous phase becomes dispersed in the amalgam, the improvement which reduces the amount of aqueous dispersion in the amalgam, said improvement comprising reducing the velocity of the amalgam just before the amalgam enters the substantially static pool.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.