ABSTRACT The extraction and use of asbestos have been banned around the world because of its damage effects to the human health, it leads to studies of new materials in order to replace asbestos in several processes. The objective of this paper is to apply the simplex lattice planning and the mixture model in the manufacture of diaphragms. A mixture model was performed according to the simplex lattice, using four polyethylene microfibers (MF's) of different lengths, with 1st degree polynomial, adding inner and central points and a repetition, generating 18 mixtures. The results showed that microfibers of greater length have a greater influence on the diaphragms properties, presenting a more significant result on permeability. From the linear regression it was possible to estimate a mathematical model combining the three properties of the diaphragm, presenting a correlation of 92.12%.

A maioria dos reatores eletroquímicos apresenta reações com crescimento e desprendimento de bolhas de gás influenciando na hidrodinâmica dos reatores e seu estudo é, geralmente, complexo representando um campo amplo para pesquisas. O presente artigo teve por objetivo estudar um sistema bifásico (gás-líquido) visando prever a influência do desprendimento das bolhas de hidrogênio geradas na superfície específica do eletrodo localizada na semicélula catódica. No entanto, foi idealizado que o gás fora injetado no interior da semicélula através da superfície específica do eletrodo. Com esta hipótese, foi possível estudar e analisar numericamente o comportamento hidrodinâmico das bolhas de hidrogênio no interior do domínio de estudo, aplicando-se os conceitos de fluidodinâmica computacional usando o aplicativo computacional CFX-4 para aplicação do modelo MUSIG ("Multiple-size-group") levando em consideração os fenômenos da coalescência e da distribuição do diâmetro das bolhas.

Most electrochemical reactors present reactions with the growth and departure of gas bubbles which influence on the reactor hydrodynamics and this study is usually complex, representing a vast field for research. The present paper had as objective to study a bi-phase (gas-liquid) system aiming to foresee the influence of departure of hydrogen bubbles generated on effective electrode surface situated on cathodic semi-cell. Nevertheless, it was idealized that the gas was injected into the semi cell, through the effective electrode surface With this hypothesis, it was possible to study, and numerically analyze, the hydrodynamic behavior of the hydrogen bubbles in the interior of the study domain, applying concepts of computational fluid dynamics by using the computational applicative CFX-4 for the application of the MUSIG ("MUltiple-SIze-Group") model, taking into consideration the phenomena of coalescence and the distribution of the diameter of the bubbles.