An introduction to Hyprolyser® electrolytic chlorination systems

What is electrochlorination?

Rather than storing traditional chlorine donor chemicals such as sodium or calcium hypochlorite on-site, you can use renewable electricity, salt and water to generate your own sodium hypochlorite, safely and on-demand. You may hear this technology commonly referred to as electrochlorination, chlorine electrolysis or in-situ chlorine generation. Our unique Hyprolyser electrochlorination systems are an industry-leading example of this technology.

Using an automated system, a unique brine and water solution is prepared and passed through an anode/cathode electrode chamber, known as an electrolyser, where a low voltage direct current is passed through the solution, generating sodium hypochlorite and a small amount of hydrogen gas. The hydrogen by-product is diluted with a large volume of air in an enclosed ventilation system and is discharged safely to atmosphere.

The freshly generated solution is transferred to a day-tank and can then immediately be used and dosed via chemical dosing pumps to treat drinking water, wastewater or pool water.

Hyprolyser® electrochlorinators are safe and easy to use

On-site hypochlorite generation is safe and easy, using just salt and water and energy as its raw ingredients. The resulting generated hypochlorite solution contains less than 1% chlorine, which is below the hazardous threshold, so there are big health & safety and COSHH management benefits in using this method.

The main raw material, salt, is a common commodity item which is easy to acquire and competitively priced from numerous suppliers. Because the generated solution contains less than 1% chlorine, you don’t need to conduct COSHH chemical safety audits or have a hazardous chemical storage area for the product. Also, as personnel are not required to handle or transfer chemicals the use of personal protective equipment is much reduced.

As a further important safety benefit, the generated liquid product is clear, free of sediment and non-scale forming, meaning that chemical injection points do not require any regular cleaning or maintenance by personnel; a task often considered to be a high-risk activity.

Electrochlorination is more sustainable

In the UK and Europe, there are abundant sources of high-quality salt, so the electrochlorination method can have a much-reduced impact on the environment compared to using calcium hypochlorite, for example, which is usually imported from East Asia or North/South America.

Salt is of course easy and very safe to store, has an infinite shelf life, and generates very little packaging waste/recycling in comparison to using commercially available hypochlorites. For example, users of calcium hypochlorite products supplied in plastic drums can reduce their plastic waste by over 90% by switching over to electrochlorination.

By cutting out the use of stored chemicals, there is also less possibility of damage to the environment through spillages and other accidents.

Hyprolyser® systems offer massive scalability

The scalability of Hyprolyser® electrochlorination systems is huge, with the ability to generate enough hypochlorite to treat millions of litres of drinking water or wastewater per day; whether that’s large water parks with multiple swimming pools or much smaller chlorine demand requirements such as private water supplies, secondary disinfection systems in commercial buildings, commercial spa pools and cattle farm feed-water systems. Gaffey Hyprolyser® systems are tailored to the needs of industry sectors around the globe, providing versatile and reliable water disinfection solutions

Hyprolyser® electrochlorination systems in particular offer a good choice of different output capacities and system flexibility so that, whether you are a large or small user of chlorine, you can get a Hyprolyser® system perfectly sized for your needs.

Benefits of Hyprolyser® electrolytic chlorination systems

There’s a long list of benefits of electrolytic chlorination systems, including:

• Models approved under Regulation 31 of the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000 for use in UK public water supplies.
• Ease of installation.
• Easy availability of raw materials/ security of supply.
• Low environmental impact.
• No hazardous chemical risks.
• Excellent reliability and minimal maintenance demands.
• Ease of use for operators of hotels, hospital and school swimming pools.
• Sustainability credentials including minimal packaging waste.

More and more organisations are enjoying the benefits of electrochlorination systems to supply their disinfection requirements safely, on demand and at reduced operating costs. Learn more about our Hyprolyser electrolytic chlorination range here.