Radial counterflow shear electrolysis

Abstract

Coaxial disk armatures, counter-rotating through an axial magnetic field, act as electrolysis electrodes and high shear centrifugal impellers for an axial feed. The feed can be carbon dioxide, water, methane, or other substances requiring electrolysis. Carbon dioxide and water can be processed into syngas and ozone continuously, enabling carbon and oxygen recycling at power plants. Within the space between the counter-rotating disk electrodes, a shear layer comprising a fractal tree network of radial vortices provides sink flow conduits for light fractions, such as syngas, radially inward while the heavy fractions, such as ozone and elemental carbon flow radially outward in boundary layers against the disks and beyond the disk periphery, where they are recovered as valuable products, such as carbon nanotubes.

1 . A radial counterflow reactor for continuous shear electrolysis, comprising
 (a) approximately parallel and approximately disk-shaped impeller/electrodes,
 the impeller/electrodes being capable of counter-rotation about a common axis of rotation and spaced apart so as to define between them a workspace, and 
 the impeller/electrodes comprising conductive material disposed in opposition across the workspace during said counter-rotation, and 
 one of said impeller/electrodes having an axial feed port in the vicinity of its center and the other impeller/electrode having an axial exhaust port in the vicinity of its center, said ports communicating with the workspace; 
   (b) means for counter-rotation of the impeller/electrodes about said common axis of rotation;   (c) means for oppositely charging the impeller/electrodes so as to create an electric field in the workspace during said counter-rotation;   (d) means for continuously introducing a feed for electrolysis through the axial feed port and into the workspace during counter-rotation of the impeller/electrodes;   (e) means for centrifugally pumping the feed radially outward from said axis of rotation;   (f) means for advecting light fraction products of electrolysis radially inward toward the axis of rotation and for continuously extracting light fractions from the workspace through the axial exhaust port during counter-rotation; and   (g) means for recovering heavy fraction products of electrolysis from the periphery of the workspace.   
   
   
       2 . The reactor of  claim 1 , wherein said means for oppositely charging the impeller/electrodes comprise means for causing opposite radial current flow in the impeller/electrodes, said current flow means comprising at least one straddling magnet for causing a transverse magnetic field through said conductive material during said counter-rotation. 
   
   
       3 . The reactor of  claim 1 , further comprising means for causing a pulsed electric field in the workspace, said pulsed electric field means comprising opposed oppositely charged rugose surfaces on the counter-rotating impeller/electrodes. 
   
   
       4 . The reactor of  claim 1 , wherein said means for counter-rotation comprises at least one rotatable peripheral drive wheel engaging both impeller/electrodes simultaneously and connected to means for causing rotation of the drive wheel. 
   
   
       5 . The reactor of  claim 1 , wherein said means for radially inward advection of light fractions comprise an axial suction pump. 
   
   
       6 . The reactor of  claim 1 , additionally comprising a baffle disposed between the axial feed port and the axial exhaust port. 
   
   
       7 . The reactor of  claim 1 , further comprising a pinch section wherein the separation distance between said impeller/electrodes is reduced. 
   
   
       8 . The reactor of  claim 6 , wherein the baffle is static and comprises radial nozzles. 
   
   
       9 . A reactor for molecular dissociation of a gas, the reactor comprising
 (a) approximately parallel and approximately disk-shaped impeller/electrodes, the impeller/electrodes capable of counter-rotation about a common axis of rotation and spaced apart so as to define between them a workspace,
 each impeller/electrode comprising at least one conductive portion, the conductive portions disposed in opposition across the workspace during said counter-rotation, and 
 one of said impeller/electrodes having an axial feed port in the vicinity of its center for axial injection of the gas, and the other impeller/electrode having an axial exhaust port in the vicinity of its center for axial extraction of gaseous light fractions, said ports communicating with the workspace; 
   (b) a baffle disposed between the axial feed port and the axial exhaust port;   (c) means for causing counter-rotation of the impeller/electrodes about said common axis of rotation;   (d) means for oppositely charging said conductive portions of the impeller/electrodes so as to create an electric field in the workspace during said counter-rotation;   (e) means for continuously introducing said gas through the axial feed port and into the workspace during said counter-rotation;   (f) means for centrifugally pumping said gas radially outward from said axis of rotation during said counter-rotation;   (g) means for advecting light fraction products of electrolysis radially inward toward the axis of rotation and for continuously axially extracting light fractions from the workspace through the axial exhaust port during counter-rotation; and   (h) means for recovering heavy fractions from the periphery of the workspace.   
   
   
       10 . The reactor of  claim 9 , wherein said opposite charging means comprises means for creating an axial magnetic field through said opposed conductive portions during their counter-rotation. 
   
   
       11 . The reactor of  claim 9 , wherein said means for axial extraction comprise an axial suction pump communicating with the workspace through the axial exhaust port. 
   
   
       12 . The reactor of  claim 9 , wherein said means for counter-rotation comprises at least one rotatable peripheral drive wheel engaging both impeller/electrodes simultaneously and connected to means for causing rotation of the drive wheel. 
   
   
       13 . A method of continuous shear electrolysis of a feed, comprising the simultaneous steps of:
 (a) axially injecting the feed into a workspace between counter-rotating coaxial oppositely charged approximately disk shaped impeller/electrodes;   (b) advecting the feed radially outward through the workspace while simultaneously shearing the feed between said impeller/electrodes so as to form a shear layer in the workspace;   (c) advecting light fraction products of electrolysis radially inward toward the axis of rotation of the impeller/electrodes through cores of radial vortices in the shear layer;   (d) axially extracting said light fraction products of electrolysis from the workspace; and   (e) peripherally extracting heavy fraction products of electrolysis from the workspace.   
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the feed is a mixture of carbon dioxide and water, and the light fraction products of electrolysis include carbon monoxide and hydrogen. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the feed is water, the light fraction product of electrolysis is hydrogen, and the heavy fraction product of electrolysis is oxygen. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein a heavy fraction product of electrolysis is ozone. 
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein heavy fraction products of electrolysis include nanostructures of materials selected from the group consisting of carbon, boron nitride, gold, metal dichalcogenides (MX2 (M=Mo, W, Nb, Ta, Hf, Ti, Zr, Re; X═S, Se)), metal oxides, and metal dihalides. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the feed comprises carbonaceous compounds selected from the group consisting of carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH 4 ), alkanes, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the feed comprises compounds selected from the group consisting of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), ammonia (NH 4 ), mercaptans, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). 
   
   
       20 . A radial shear reactor for synthesis of long nanostructures, including carbon nanotubes and nanostructures of materials selected from the group consisting carbon, boron nitride, gold, metal dichalcogenides (MX2 (M=Mo, W, Nb, Ta, Hf, Ti, Zr, Re; X═S, Se)), metal oxides, and metal dihalides, the reactor comprising
 (a) counter-rotatable coaxial spaced-apart approximately disk-shaped centrifugal impeller/electrodes rotatable about a common axis of rotation and defining between them a workspace for radial counterflow,
 one of said impeller/electrodes having an axial feed port in the vicinity of its center and the other impeller/electrode having an axial exhaust port in the vicinity of its center, said ports communicating with the workspace, 
 each impeller/electrode comprising at least one conductive portion, said conductive portions of the impeller/electrodes being disposed in opposition to each other across the workspace during said counter-rotation and connected to means for opposite charging so as to create an electric field in the workspace, and 
 each impeller/electrode comprising means for centrifugally pumping fluid radially outward through the workspace; 
   (b) a baffle disposed between the axial feed port and the axial exhaust port;   (c) means connected to the impeller/electrodes for causing simultaneous counter-rotation about their common axis of rotation;   (d) means for continuously introducing a feed into the workspace and through the axial feed port during said counter-rotation;   (e) means for advecting light fraction products of feed dissociation radially inward toward the axis of rotation and for continuously extracting said light fractions from the workspace through the axial exhaust port during counter-rotation; and   (f) means for extracting nanostructures from the periphery of the workspace during said axial extraction of light fractions and said radially outward advection of feed.   
   
   
       21 . The apparatus of  claim 19  wherein said means for oppositely charging the impeller/electrodes comprise at least one straddling magnet for causing a transverse magnetic field through said conductive material during their counter-rotation, and thereby causing opposite radial current flow in the impeller/electrodes. 
   
   
       22 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , further comprising opposed rugose conductive surfaces on the oppositely charged impeller/electrodes. 
   
   
       23 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , additionally comprising means for ionizing the feed prior to its introduction to the workspace. 
   
   
       24 . Apparatus for radially plating a substrate with heavy fraction products of electrolysis, comprising
 (a) counter-rotatable coaxial spaced-apart approximately disk-shaped centrifugal impeller/electrodes rotatable about a common axis of rotation and defining between them a workspace for radial counterflow,
 one of said impeller/electrodes having an axial feed port in the vicinity of its center and the other impeller/electrode having an axial exhaust port in the vicinity of its center, said ports communicating with the workspace, 
 each impeller/electrode comprising at least one conductive portion, said conductive portions of the impeller/electrodes being disposed in opposition to each other across the workspace and connected to means for opposite charging so as to create an electric field in the workspace, and 
 each impeller/electrode comprising means for centrifugally pumping fluid radially outward through the workspace; 
   (b) a baffle disposed between the axial feed port and the axial exhaust port;   (c) means connected to the impeller/electrodes for causing simultaneous counter-rotation about their common axis of rotation;   (d) means for continuously introducing a feed into the workspace and through the axial feed port during said counter-rotation;   (e) means for advecting light fraction products of feed dissociation radially inward toward the axis of rotation and for continuously extracting said light fractions from the workspace through the axial exhaust port during counter-rotation; and   (f) means for positioning the substrate approximately normal to the periphery of the workspace during said axial extraction of light fractions and said radially outward pumping of feed between said oppositely-charged counter-rotating impeller/electrodes so as to cause a collision between heavy fraction products of electrolysis and the substrate.   
   
   
       25 . The apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the means for opposite charging comprises means for creating a pulsed electric field in the workspace.