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Saerynide
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Im curious. If Cl2 and H2 explode when exposed to UV light, then would a chlorate cell explode if it was made of glass or anyother UV penetratable
material?
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t_Pyro
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Unless the cell is absolutely air-tight, there shouldn't be any problem. Hydrogen, being the lightest gas, diffuses through even the smallest of
openings pretty fast. Whatever small quantity of hydrogen gas that does combine with chlorine will immediately get dissolved in the water again. Also,
glass is not transparent to UV light.
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Saerynide
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Glass is not transparent to UV light?? Then why do glasses need anti-UVray
coatings and how did I get sun-burned through the window on a 6 hour bus ride?
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t_Pyro
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No, glass is not enitrely transparent to UV light.
Regarding sunburns, you might be wondering <a href="http://physics.about.com/cs/light/a/010803.htm"> "Can you get Sunburned
Thorugh Glass?"</a> That should answer all your questions.
[Edited on 26-3-2004 by t_Pyro]
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needle
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Many writes of the dichromate-addition in the cell to raise efficiancy. But what does it do? I've both read that it prevents the reduction of
ClO3 to ClO, and that it itself it reduced to Cr(III) as a protecting layer around the cathode. Is this true?
Could one add another, less dangerous, chemical with the same effect? Perhaps KMnO4?
Thanks.
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evilgecko
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I know this is an old topic but I have got one hell of an annoying chlorate cell in my shed . It firstly consisted on two 100mm long (immersed) carbon rods of 8mm diametre about 15mm apart in a concentrated salt solution. The
current was only 0.8A so I added 7 more electrodes, forming a circle, each one 15mm away from the two nearest. Each one has two of the opposing charge
beside it eg cathode-anode-cathode all the way around the circle. The current with this setup was 3A but after 5mins dropped back down to around 0.8A.
I could have 7A going through this withough succseding the current density of 43mA/cm2. Any suggestions to why the current is so low and how to
increase the current?
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hodges
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I'm not sure why this would reduce the current but the approach you are using for series cells is not likely to work very well. There should
only be two electrodes in each cell; connect cells in separate containers in series to run multiple cells at once. Otherwise the electrodes being in
the same cell are going to short each other out.
Also, two carbon rods is not ideal for a cell. You want a carbon rod for the anode, but for the cathode you want a large piece of metal arranged so
that the chlorine bubbles from the anode rise and mix with the solution next to the cathode. Otherwise the chlorine will escape and you will end up
making sodium hydroxide.
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evilgecko
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Well I found the problem with the current, it was to do with the connections between the power supply and the electrodes. I had used clothes pegs with
aluminium foil wrapped around them and the wire inside. They just gripped onto the electrode. I discovered this when I though that the problem was the
voltage, and increased it to 12V. As you would expect these got very hot and they started melting. So I made some connections similar to the ones for
12V car batteries out of a cat food tin. With these suddenly my current jumped to 7A. I lowered the voltage back down to 5V and now it is working at
4A with 700mL of electrolyite. I heard somewhere that optimum is 2A per 100mL. Anway I'm designing my 5th cell at the moment, using a carbon rod
and a stainless steel spoon. If I drill a 12mm hole on the spoon, then I can bend it so that the carbon rod goes through the middle of it, so rising
chlorine will hit the spoon and get trapped by its conical shape for a bit. Is this a good idea? Also the cell will be taller and thinner, so that
there is only 500mL electrolyte.
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evilgecko
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One question, can you use 10A 240V fuses on 5V and still have it blow at 10A? Or is it on power, so that i would need 0.2A 240V fuse to blow when 5V
reaches 10A. Or is it something compeltely different which means I'll have to find a 5V fuse. I would of done a practicle to find this out but
then I realised all my fuse wire had gone into making electrical ignitors.
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hodges
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10A 240V fuse will blow just as well at 5V as at 240V. It will blow at its rated amperage. You can use a fuse at a lower voltage than its rating,
but not at a higher voltage (since a higher voltage might arc across the gap left when the fuse blows).
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evilgecko
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Thanks, hodges. Now I can leave my chlorate cell on all night.
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