Vereinigte Elektrizitatswerke Westfalen Ag

Gunter Holzapfel

Hans Rickert

An anticorrison protected small electric household water heating tank includes a metal tank having a passive anticorrosive layer provided on an inner wall thereof. A U-shaped electric immersion heating element is horizontally arranged in a lower region of the tank. A pair of electrodes are supplied with external current, one being an external current anode horizontally arranged above and perpendicular to the arms of the U-shaped heating element and the other being the tank itself. A reference electrode is also provided in the lower region of the tank. A potentiostat is connected to the reference electrode and tank for detecting the potential between the reference electrode and tank, for comparing the detected potential between tank and reference electrode to a reference voltage and for adjusting the current flow to the external electrodes to maintain an optimum potential between the tank and reference electrode. The reference electrode is of 'Ag/AgCl' and is surrounded by a flow preventing sheathing which creates a zone of stagnant water about the reference electrode. An additional anode can be provided in the upper region of the tank and the current therethrough controlled by the potentiostat.

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Dortmund, Germany

Gunter Holzapfel