Apparatus and method

Abstract

It is an object to provide an apparatus and a method for assessing a remaining amount of rare metals included in an electrode included in an electrolyzer in a non-invasive manner. An apparatus, including: a managing unit that records, based on operation history information of an electrolyzer including one or more electrolytic cells, history-of-use information of an electrode included in the electrolytic cells.

1 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a managing unit that records, based on operation history information of an electrolyzer including one or more electrolytic cells, history-of-use information of an electrode included in the electrolytic cells.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the history-of-use information of the electrode includes a history of repairs of the electrode.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the managing unit records an assessed amount-of-metal value of the electrode as the history-of-use information.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein
 the assessed amount-of-metal value includes a remaining amount of coating of a precious metal selected from the group consisting of ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the managing unit records X-ray fluorescence analysis data, inductively-coupled plasma emission analysis data, X-ray diffraction data, or X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis data of the electrode included in the electrolytic cells.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising
 an assessing unit that assesses a future performance of the electrode based on the history-of-use information of the electrode.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus according to  claim 6 , wherein
 the assessing unit assesses magnitudes of the assessed amount-of-metal value and an assessed impurity value and outputs, based on an assessment result, repair contents that can prolong performance the most or temporarily improve performance the most.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising
 an operation suggesting unit that suggests an operation condition of the electrolyzer, wherein   the operation suggesting unit suggests the operation condition for causing current efficiency to increase based on the history-of-use information, and   the operation condition includes a voltage condition and a flow rate condition of an electrolytic solution.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising
 a stop suggesting unit that suggests a stop condition of the electrolyzer, wherein   the stop suggesting unit suggests, based on the history-of-use information, the stop condition that makes it difficult to reduce an amount of metal on the electrode, and   the stop condition includes an attenuation condition of a current and/or an increase condition of a flow rate of an electrolytic solution.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the electrolyzer includes a plurality of the electrolytic cells, and the apparatus further comprises   a position change suggesting unit that suggests, based on the history-of-use information, a change in a position in the electrolyzer of the electrolytic cell of which an amount of metal or an amount of impurities of the electrode is relatively high and the electrolytic cell of which an amount of metal or an amount of impurities of the electrode is relatively low.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus according to  claim 6 , wherein
 the assessing unit assesses, based on the history-of-use information of the electrode and a repair method that is planned to be performed, a future performance of the electrode after the repair.   
     
     
         12 . A method, in which an apparatus
 executes processing of recording, based on operation history information of an electrolyzer including one or more electrolytic cells, history-of-use information of an electrode included in the electrolytic cells.   
     
     
         13 . A computer-readable medium including a program, causing an apparatus to
 execute processing of recording, based on operation history information of an electrolyzer including one or more electrolytic cells, history-of-use information of an electrode included in the electrolytic cells.