speed said:I don't see why on a 'medium scale' electro-deplating wouldnt be viable.. you would have to have a plating 'tumbler' ofcourse as connecting each item up to a busbar individually would be more time than its worth but if you could just chuck a few kg of cutlery or shredded plate items into a basket at a time and just let it tumble until its done it seems like very little effot other than the inital investment. Its maybe not something for a large scale refiner but for a hobbyist looking to make a few $ in thier spare time I think it could be a good project. I know the material is out there and essentially pretty worthless other than its scrap value.
Correct me if I'm wrong but a solution of tap water and plain old sodium chloride salt would be a sutible electrolyte. Does it need to be sodium sulfite?
Here is a process with sodium sulfite, takes little time, for 8 hours in a 50 gram Ag cell.the Basket is made of titanium mesh, the cathode is titanium plate. (Thank you, President Gorbachev, military missiles are not being built in Russia now, and we can make electrolysis cells out of titanium with our own hands).