Elether

The diversity of the industrial partners collaborating within the EleTher JIP makes it possible to be as exhaustive as possible in the identification of the challenges. As was already pointed out during a round-table held during ESAT 2021 meeting, they strongly depend on the application:

• sometimes (leaching or scale fomation applications) the solubility limit of salts in various types of solutions are needed
• elsewhere (in stripping or distillation applications) the volatility of the molecular compounds is important 
• in some cases, the design of an extractive solvent requires the understanding of liquid-liquid equilibria
• in corrosion or electrochemical applications, the activity of ionic species is of direct interest as they contribute in the reaction scheme

In all cases, modelling tools  are needed in order to be able to design the most adequate process. There are today only a limited number of commercially available tools, and they are generally difficult to parameterize for novel applications. 

The JIP focuses on fluid phase properties. A number of case studies are defined that allow analyzing the true complexity observed in industrial applications, but that remain sufficiently simple to inspire research projects.

Applied Thermodynamics has been identified as one of the key enabling technologies for several of the UN sustainable development goals. Electrolytes were there selected as a family of systems that requires important progress in the understanding of the underlying physics so as to make available industrial. 

In order to progress in that direction, the EleTher JIP groups several important industrial partners and wants to be an advocate to point towards promising research directions. We believe that only collaborative efforts, targeted to needs that have been validated by industry will help in developing tools that can effectively be used for strongly needed applications.  

For developing an adequate model, three stages need to be valicated:

1. At first, data must be available   When data exist, they may be unreliable or far away from the operational conditions. For this, it is necessary to perform concsistency analysis: internal consistency and external consistency.
2. The second step consists in extrapolating the data to the operational conditions. This can be done in several ways: use of graphical presentations to understand the trends of the exixsting data  use of theoretical models that use fundamental physical principles
3. Finally, a model that is available within a commercial simulator should be calibrated to the best possible data: those that are consistent and close to the operational conditions. The number of parameters is often large in this stage, so that simplifying assumptions may be needed to optain the best results.

• Thermodynamic models must be able to describe with accuracy and predictive power both short and long range interactions

• The compounds are often very reactive implying the consideration of both chemical and physical equilibrium simultaneously

• Many phases can co-exist, implying that the algorithm must have a strong stability analysis

Electrolyte systems appear in many different applications, as:

• Transformation of biomass
• Battery
• CO2 capture
• Corrosion
• Geothermal context
• Metal purification and recycling
• ….

In a previous version of the JIP, partners have agreed to share some basic information regarding the industrial application that they encountered:

CaseStudies PartnersV4