Simran Garcha

ES3 Storylines Assignment 5

a) Advantages of the production of chlorine as a continuous process:
The running costs are lower due to low energy requirements per tonne of chlorine produced
and there are no interruptions with the production since it is continuous.

Disadvantages of the production of chlorine as a continuous process:
There is a high start up cost when initially starting the production that require a lot of time
and attention and if a maintenance issue occurs it can cause long delays in the production.

b) Mercury cell systems would usually be replaced with a membrane cell as no further
processes would be required to remove the mercury from the products, this would save on
costs. Also mercury cell systems are more expensive to run.

c) It is necessary to remove calcium and magnesium ions because magnesium will cause
hydrogen to build up on the anode. The hydrogen and chlorine can form an explosive mixture
so an explosion in the cells or in the chlorine may damage equipment and release chlorine
into the environment, which is poisonous.
Calcium and magnesium will also damage the ion exchange membranes permanently

d) I think the cell membrane meets the ideal cell criteria as it acts as a barrier to all gas and
liquid flows and allows only the transport of charged sodium ions between compartments.