Potential drop and ionic flux in desalting electrodialysis units

Abstract EN

In this paper, the differential equations governing the ionic flux, current intensity and potential drop for an electrodialysis (ED) unit are derived in terms of ionic concentration, ionic diffusion coefficient in both water and membranes, ionic electric transfer numbers and membrane properties.

These equations are solved to obtain the unit potential difference together with the ionic flux of counter and co-ions through the membranes.

The power required for the unit is obtained by multiplying the potential drop by the integral of the current intensity along the flow passage.