IONIC TRANSPORT THROUGH AN ION-EXCHANGE MEMBRANE

A mathematical model has been suggested for predicting the ionic transfer rate in an exchange system where the electrolytic solutions flow parallel to an ion exchange membrane. The relationships between the fractional attainment of equilibrium F and dimensionless time T (= Dt/l2) are functions of the kinetic parameters xi-1 (= lk(f), 1/DK) and xi-2 (= lk(f), 2/DK), W1 (= SlK/V1), W2 (= SlK/V2) and C' (= C2, 0/C1, 0) for an ion exchange rate controlled by a combination of two external diffusion processes and diffusion through a membrane. The exchange rate increases as the values of xi-1, xi-2, W1 and W2 increase. The proposed model is applicable to the experimental kinetic data studied in this work.