Electrode kinetics and modeling of the electro-oxidation of coal slurries

Hydrogen is expected to be a primary energy source in the 21st century for electricity generation, fuel, and other applications. Coal is an important traditional and cheapest source of hydrogen due to its diversity, availability, chemical stability, and competitive price. The electro-oxidation of coal water slurries was studied using a Pt rotating disk electrode. The maximum limiting current was close to 26.0 mA/sq cm observed at a potential of ≈ 0.6 v and 2100 rpm. The limiting currents observed could be mainly due to the oxidation of the coal in presence of iron. Experiments were carried out even in the absence of iron content to exactly compare and study the effect of iron content. A hypothesis for the mechanism was proposed, predicting experimental behavior on the basis of the hypothesis, and comparing the predictions against the results. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 2005 AIChE Annual Meeting and Fall Showcase (Cincinnati, OH 10/30/2005-11/4/2005).