chandler_P said:
Hi Sena,
Nice. I think there's something wrong with what i'm doing. I already used 30kg of xray film and just had 15grams. :s
THe process I used was NaOH (1.5M solution), and heat till it boils for around 30mins per 10 liter solution. What do you think went wrong why I only got such amount?
Thanks!
If it's typical developed rare earth medical x-ray film, you should have gotten about 200g of silver from 30kg. If Dryview, from 80 to 200g, depending on the manufacturer.
After stripping the film, was all of the black removed from it? If so, and if you were able to collect all of the sludge from the liquid, by filtration or whatever, all of the silver was in the sludge. At that point, here's what I would do.
Incinerate the sludge, outside, upwind, until no black carbon remains. Stir occasionally to keep it broken up. The dry sludge will be light gray/brown, as in Sena's photo on another recent thread.
Blend the incinerated sludge (grind it up a bit, first - use a dust mask) well with borax - about a third to one half as much weight of borax as you have incinerated sludge. At the same time, blend in some sodium carbonate (Arm & Hammer super washing soda from the grocery store) - use about 1/15 as much, by weight, sodium carbonate as you have sludge. Only fill the crucible about 1/3 full to allow for the foaming up of the borax. Once the foaming has subsided, you can add more of the incinerated sludge to the crucible with a metal scoop
When everything melts, pour into a carboned (or, slightly oiled - WD40 will work for this), heated mold. If you don't have a mold, you can easily make a v-shaped one by welding a square steel plate on each end of a piece of angle iron - the plates act as legs and seal the ends. The plates should angle in a little at the bottom, so the bar will easily slide out. A 6" piece of 3" x 3" angle iron will hold quite a bit - if needed, make a bigger one. When solid, dump everything out of the mold, let it cool, and break all the slag off with a hammer. Weigh the bar. It should be in the range of what is expected.
Note: the slag will usually come off the bar easier if you quench it in in water while still very hot. However, this can be dangerous since the slag can somewhat explode and fly around. If you try this, use at least a 15 gallon metal container filled with water. Just drop the bar in and get away from it quickly.