Electrolytic winning of tin from sec. raw materials or scrap - are held in anode basket fed with caustic soda electrolyte to dissolve out tin

The raw materials or scrap are dissolved at the anode in an alkaline electrolyte, which flows as a stream from the anode to the cathode, on which the Sn is simultaneously deposited; and a d.c. electric field is established in the liq. with its voltage increasing towards the cathode. In the pref. electrolysis cell, liq. is continuously circulated by a pump so it flows up an anode basket contg. the raw material. The liq. leaving the anode basket flows through a mesh electrode fed with its own power supply to create the d.c. field, and then flows through outlet pipes located on the periphery of the cell and returning the liq. to the pump. The perforated anode basket is pref. made of conducting material and located concentrically in a round cell. Used in recovery of Sn from e.g. scrap tin plate, scrap cans used for contg. foods; and tin coated vessels or pots, by deposition of the Sn on a circular row of cathodes.