Series Cell Analysis
Electrical circuit theory contains the principle of voltage division. Resistors in series share a portion of the net voltage that is proportional to the resistance of the element. For instance if you have five 1 k-Ohm resistors in series, and a 1 kV source is attached with associated grounding, each resistor will have .2kVolts across it.
Current is responsible for electrolysis, therefore by placing capacitor plates in series, with an electrolytic solution between the plates, the same current will pass through each of the electrolytic cells, while the voltage will divide for each successive cell added. By establishing sufficient conductivity, with NaOH or KOH, the maximum possible current flow is encouraged, while the voltage across each cell can be increased or decreased by the addition or subtraction of successive cells. The more cells in a series cell electrolyzer, the less power consumed in each cell, which allows for better temperature management, and production efficiency; too many cells and the voltage will be insufficient to produce substantial gas, too few cells and the power delivered to each cell can easily get high enough to heat the electrolyte to boiling temperature. Its a balance of efficiency, and production requirements.
Parallel cell electrolyzers inherently can be modeled as resistors in parallel. If a 1 kV source is applied across 5 1 kOhm resistors in parellel, the same voltage is across each resistor, but the current is divided amongst the resistors according to the parameters of current division. Because of this the addition of successive electrolytic cells in parallel will only decrease the amount of current flowing through each cell, which results in a decreased electrolytic reaction magnitude.
Conclusively series cell electrolyers are more practical considering the effect of electrolytic cell addition and subtraction; the electrolyzer can be more tailored to production or economic requirements. Whereas the parallel cell electrolyzer is either unstable or under-productive. In general the series cell should be the design parameter of choice for efficient and productive electrolyzers.
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