Electrochemical conversion of anhydrous hydrogen halide to halogen gas using an ionically conducting membrane

摘要

The invention relates to a process for electrochemically converting anhydrous hydrogen halide, such as hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen bromide and hydrogen iodide, to essentially dry halogen gas, such as chlorine, fluorine, bromine and iodine gas, respectively. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to a process for electrochemically converting anhydrous hydrogen chloride to essentially dry chlorine gas. This process allows the production of high-purity chlorine gas. In this process, molecules of essentially anhydrous hydrogen chloride are transported through an inlet of an electrochemical cell. The molecules of the essentially anhydrous hydrogen chloride are oxidized at the anode of the cell to produce essentially dry chlorine gas and protons, which are transported through the membrane of the cell. The transported protons are reduced at the cathode to form either hydrogen gas, water or hydrogen peroxide.