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Abstract

An apparatus for industrial wastewater treatment and the electrolytic recovery of metals from solutions is disclosed. It comprises two or more plates with electricity conducting surfaces arranged in parallel and separated by insulating gaskets, two heads and a hydraulic ram or other mechanical means to press the group of plates between the heads. Plates and gaskets pressed together form chambers where metal recovery and other electrochemical reactions take place. Holes bored on the plates or on the gaskets separating them allow the solutions to flow in and out of the chambers. The solutions in the chambers close the electrical circuit between the conducting surfaces of the plates and allow an electrical current to flow from one plate to the other closing also a circuit between the terminals of an electrical current source. The apparatus can be easily manufactured by retrofitting a conventional filter press to perform electrochemical reactions assisting in the separation and partial decomposition of anions and cations and the recovery of metals by electrolysis. The gaskets between plates may form channel-like chambers of intricate flow path creating a high turbulence that permits oxidation and reduction reactions as well as electrolytic metal recovery to effected at a wide range of current densities.

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First Claim