Parel Societe Anonyme

Kendrick P Haines

John F Davidson

David Harrison

Alan Frank Newton

Roy D MacPherson

An electrochemical cell is disclosed which includes a particulate electrode and a current conductor for feeding current to the particles of the particulate electrode, and means for flowing a fluid medium upwardly through the said particulate electrode, wherein a wall which forms part of a compartment defining the area occupied by the particulate electrode is provided with stabilizing means positioned so as to provide generally unidirectional flow channels which, when the electrochemical cell is in use, encourage vertical flow, and discourage bulk lateral movement, of said particles in the region of the said wall. There is also disclosed an electrochemical process in which there is used a particulate electrode located in an electrochemical cell or a compartment of an electrochemical cell, and in which a fluid is supplied to the particulate electrode so as to cause the majority of the particles which constitute the particulate electrode to undergo systematic circulatory movement within the cell or the compartment of a cell, wherein the motion of the particles is controlled at least in part by the provision of stabilizing means on a wall defining part of the area occupied by the particulate electrode, the stabilizing means being shaped and positioned so as to provide generally unidirectional flow channels which encourage vertical flow and discourage bulk lateral movement of the particles in the region of the said wall.

Improvements in or relating to circulating bed electrodes

An electrolytic cell and process are described for use in a plant for the cathodic recovery of a metal from, for example, an ore. The cell includes one or more intermediate compartments which are bounded by ion-permeable separators and are disposed between the anode compartment and the cathode compartment. In the process, an aqueous solution of a salt of the metal is circulated around a first circuit including the cathode compartment of the cell, and an acid solution is circulated around a second circuit including the anode compartment. The fluid in the intermediate compartment(s) may also be circulated.

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Havant, United Kingdom

Kendrick P Haines