Apparatus for providing flow of electrolyte through electrolytic cells

An electrode system comprising a generally rectangular-section vessel having a back wall bounding on side of the vessel, a support wall bounding the side of the vessel opposite said one side and including an ion-permeable wall portion;

• a current feeder within said vessel spaced apart from said ion-permeable wall portion;
• and a plurality of electrically conductive particles free to move within a region between the current feeder and the ion-permeable wall portion and constituting, in use, a particulate electrode, said vessel incorporating at the base thereof a flow distributor which comprises a plurality of channels discharging directly into the interior of the vessel, the channels being arranged with their outlets in line at or near the vertex of a downwardly and inwardly tapering region of the vessel and being directed so that, when said electrode system is in use, a fluid discharged into said vessel through said flow distributor debouches initially directly into said vessel from said outlets in a direction away from the ion-permeable wall portion generally towards said back wall of the vessel and is then deflected towards the ion-permeable wall portion and then upwardly in a direction substantially parallel to said ion-permeable wall.