The Korean Society of Surface Science and Engineering

The LiBr aqueous solution, which is the absorption liquid of absorption refrigerator, must be replaced periodically because the concentration of impurities such as Cu²⁺, Fe²⁺, Ca²⁺, etc., increases due to corrosion of the tubes as the period of use increases, and the refrigeration efficiency decreases significantly. In order to reuse the waste absorption liquid, flocculation-precipitation method is mainly applied to precipitate the impurities, which requires hundreds of times the concentration of impurities and generates additional waste. In this study, a process for removing Cu ion impurities from cyclone electrolyzer by electrolytic reduction is presented in a small-scale facility without additional waste. It was confirmed that Cu ion impurities can be removed down to 1 ppm by electrolytic reduction process, and to further improve the removal rate, the mass transfer rate was increased by using a cyclone electrolyzer. The removal rate of Cu ions increased with the increase of flow rate and current density, and it was confirmed that Cu was removed at a rate of 1.48 ppm/h under the condition of 330 mL/sec and 2.5 mA/cm².

Keywords Absorption refrigerator, Lithium bromide, Copper ion impurity, Electrowinning, Cyclone