Patent ID: 7959772

Claim:
A cell for the electrowinning of aluminium from alumina, comprising an inclined plate-like or grid-like open anode structure which has a generally v-shaped configuration in cross-section and which has a downwardly-oriented sloping electrochemically active surface that is generally v-shaped in cross-section and spaced above an upwardly-oriented corresponding sloping cathode surface by an anode-cathode gap in which alumina dissolved in a circulating electrolyte is electrolysed, the generally v-shaped plate-like or grid-like open anode structure having a plurality of anode through-passages distributed thereover for an up-flow of alumina-depleted electrolyte from the anode-cathode gap, characterised in that one or more electrolyte guide members located above the generally v-shaped plate-like or grid-like open anode structure is/are arranged to guide substantially all the up-flowing alumina-depleted electrolyte to an alumina feeding area where it is enriched with alumina and then over and around an upper end of the generally v-shaped plate-like or grid-like anode structure from where alumina-enriched electrolyte is fed into the anode-cathode gap.