The influence of mass transfer on the electrochemical synthesis of adiponitrile

The production of adiponitrile uses an electrochemical reactor in which organic reactant, acrylonitrile, is present as an additional phase in an aqueous electrolyte which undergoes an electrochemical reaction at a solid cadmium cathode. This electrode forms part of a thin rectangular channel (electrolytic cell) in which oxygen gas is generated. The overall cathodic reactions in the synthesis involve a set of six steps to the organic product and by-products, as well as the generation of hydrogen gas and the reduction of oxygen. This paper shows how current density and the mass-transfer behaviour at the cathode surface affects the yield of the synthesis of adiponitrile during batch operation. The experimental data are theoretically interpreted using a simplified multiphase reaction model.