Gelatine of x-ray films

[mda20]

Hi everybody,

Is it profitable to extract Gelatine from x-ray films and solutions?

Best Regards

 

[Dr. Poe]

I am guessing that you mean to strip off the gelatin from the plastic in order to get to the silver. Do you know how?
What solvent would you use? Once stripped from the plastic, would you sinter the mass? Dr. Poe

 

[mda20]

Thank you Dr.Poe.

What I mean is this:
1) Is there any gelatine in developer solution after processing the x-ray film?

2) If yes, is it possible to collect it?

3) If yes, is that profitable?

Best Regards.

 

[publius]

There should be nothing of value in developer solution. The gelatin would not be in the developer solution either. The only place that there would be anything of value is in the fixer solution. Sorry to disapoint you
but there would be no gelatin there either...

I hope this answered your question.

 

[mda20]

Yes dear publius. It is clear, thank you.

An other question please. Can we gain any thing from used developer solution?

Regards.

 

[publius]

Fixer only... Cement silver with steel wool from the fixer.

 

[mda20]

A friend has told me there is a few quantity of silver in developer. Is that ture?

 

[Harold_V]

A friend has told me there is a few quantity of silver in developer. Is that ture?

I stand to be corrected if I have the process backwards in my mind.
Yes, there can be traces of silver, but it's primarily due to drag-out from the fixer.

Harold

 

[mda20]

Thank you Harold.

My friend says it is less than 1gm/lt.

 

[publius]

Harold, The developer has a dual function. It softens the emulsion that holds the silver halide and converts the exposed silver halide to metallic silver. There is a wash bath between the developer and the fixer, so the developer is the first chemical to "see" the film or paper. The fixer, in turn, removes the remaining silver halide and there is a wash that follows until the film or paper hits an emulsion hardener. Then off to the dryer.


This is from several years of manually developing radiographs while in the US Navy.

 

[Harold_V]

Harold, The developer has a dual function. It softens the emulsion that holds the silver halide and converts the exposed silver halide to metallic silver. There is a wash bath between the developer and the fixer, so the developer is the first chemical to "see" the film or paper. The fixer, in turn, removes the remaining silver halide and there is a wash that follows until the film or paper hits an emulsion hardener. Then off to the dryer.


This is from several years of manually developing radiographs while in the US Navy.

Thanks, publius. From your comments, one might conclude that traces can be found in all solutions, with a concentration in the fixer?

Harold

 

[Dr. Poe]

Silica gel 'gelatin', hydrazine hydrate, I don't know. It might be profitable to collect and regenerate the hydrazine seeing the cost of developer solution is so very high. Since it's a complex organic reaction involving adding hydrogen, I think not.
I think it's unlikely to be worth the effort either for the hydrazine or for any silver present by mechanical rubbing. The combination of hydrazine and hydroquinone are the only things of value that I could think are in the spent solution. Each are regenerated by hydrogenation the only possible profit that I can foresee. :roll: Dr. Poe

 

[publius]

Harold, I think chasing silver in any other photo developing solution other than the hypo/fixer would be like getting gold from sea water or the trace Pt after the first precipitation. Although I would have liked to have the NDT lab's drain limes from the LY Spear http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_L._Y._Spear_(AS-36).

 

[Harold_V]

Harold, I think chasing silver in any other photo developing solution other than the hypo/fixer would be like getting gold from sea water or the trace Pt after the first precipitation. Although I would have liked to have the NDT lab's drain limes from the LY Spear http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_L._Y._Spear_(AS-36).

Good way to look at it. With rare exception, it has been common practice to get what comes easily when extracting values, leaving the rest. It makes no sense to dedicate 90% of one's effort to gathering a remaining small percentage of anything. A matter of diminishing returns. That's one of the reasons a small operation rarely processes boards. Too much effort expended unless they can be processed in huge volumes, with virtually 100% accountability of the values.

Harold