Apparatus for use in electrorefining and electrowinning

Abstract

An apparatus for electroproduction or electrorefining of material including an electrode having a first conducting layer and a second conducting layer wherein the first conducting layer and the second conducting layer are separated by an electrically insulating layer.

1 . An apparatus for electroproduction or electrorefining of material comprising:
 an electrode comprising:   a first conducting layer and a second conducting layer;   
       wherein the first conducting layer and the second conducting layer are separated by an electrically insulating layer. 
     
     
         2 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the first conducting layer is bonded or glued to the electrically insulating layer and the second conducting layer is bonded or glued to the electrically insulating layer, or the electrically insulating layer extends to cover at least part of the edges of the electrode. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus as claimed in any  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of power supplies, wherein one or more of the power supplies are operated as a current source, or one or more of the power supplies comprises a switched mode power converter, or wherein each power supply includes a current monitoring device wherein an associated controller monitors the operation of the power supply in response to current measurements made by the current measuring device, or wherein at least some of the power supplies include a communication device for exchanging data with a computer. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein power is supplied to the first conducting layer and the second conducting layer independently. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further including at least one step down transformer to reduce a supply voltage to an intermediate voltage for input to the power supplies. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , comprising a second electrode and actuators for controlling a separation between the electrode and the second electrode as a function of at least one of:
 evolution of current-voltage characteristic between the electrode and the second electrode;   electrode condition; and   time.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , comprising:
 a plurality of electrodes; and   current sensors associated with at least some of the electrodes, and output or data-processing circuits for outputting or processing the current measurements.