Patent ID: 7264704

Claim:
A self-regulating process for restoring the concentration of a metal and the acidity of an acid electrolytic bath coming from at least one electroplating cell where said metal is plated on a conductive negatively polarized matrix while oxygen and acidity are generated at a positively polarized insoluble anode, carried out in at least one enrichment cell comprising an anodic compartment and a cathodic compartment separated by a cation exchange membrane, the anodic compartment comprising a soluble anode made of the metal to be plated and the cathodic compartment comprising a cathode made of a corrosion resistant material, the at least one electroplating cell and the at least one enrichment cell being hydraulically connected, the acid electrolytic bath containing the metal to be plated being recirculated from the anodic compartment of the at least one enrichment cell to the at least one electroplating cell, the at least one electroplating cell and the at least one enrichment cell being respectively supplied with an electroplating current and an enrichment current, wherein the ratio between the enrichment current and the electroplating current is the reciprocal of the current efficiency of the enrichment cell expressed as the hydrogen transport number, and wherein only the water consumed by electrolysis or evaporation is restored, the balance of matter of the remaining species being self-regulated.