New to electrochem

[Toobigfortx]

I'm pretty new to this subject but I have been reading up all the info that I can when I'm not asleep. This is what I have so farPlease correct any mistake you see)

thier are different methods for electrochemically refining metals. I've come up with the DIRECT acid bath and the acid bath with a membrane. While I havent worked out all the kinks these seem to be the 2 best setups. I know that an electrolyte is needed for refining or leaching. Where I start to get confused is the the electrolye you need for each type of metal. I worked with a guy who used be an employee at a metal refining co. and he told me that for copper they would use HCL, and for silver, they would use silver nitrate. the remainder was gold and other PM's. How true that is, IDK, but I do know that what I have seen being done is the melting of several metals from circut boards, Hard drive disks, and CPU's into one solid 2.5" thick sheet. then the recovery.

I took a tour of a plant while I was in school I know that I saw them use the same electrolyte for both copper and silver but after that we left for lunch so I didnt get to see anything else.

My ultimate goal is to Do that myself melt down some PCB's and other Computer parts into an alloy sheet then purify and refine using a similar method to thiers. If anyone could help It would be greatly appreciated.

 

[nickvc]

Rusty already has a thread about this and the truth about using electricity to refine is that the starting feedstock has to be of very high purity and the material you will produce will not make copper refining an easy thing. If you really want to try this method aim for 98%+ copper content and be careful melting materials from pcbs they contain some fairly unpleasant materials.

 

[Harold_V]

My ultimate goal is to Do that myself melt down some PCB's and other Computer parts into an alloy sheet then purify and refine using a similar method to thiers. If anyone could help It would be greatly appreciated.

You're not going to like this response, but if you want help, the best help I can offer is to advise you to lose the idea that you can operate a cell to part the yield from boards. Unless you can achieve a level of purity that is quite high (98% or greater copper), you won't enjoy success.

Cells used for purifying copper are sulfuric, not HCl.

Silver cells have silver nitrate as the electrolyte.

Harold

 

[Toobigfortx]

Ok thank you for the info. It so happens just one town over there Is a chemical production company and they always have lab grade material cheap, plus if I choose to pick it up myself I wont have to worry about hazmat shipping. I already have 99% sulfuric acid, and and I cn make 70%(well more like 65%-68%) silver nitrate.

I know I have tons of ?'s but I just have to ask because it's been bugging me.
Nitric Acid I know forms an azeotrope with air and fumes which is why 70% is the highest yield you can get. what if you produce the nitric acid in a vacuum, would that increase its percentage yield?

I have the equipment to drop to a 50 Micron vacuum right now. I just havent tested it because I havent the slightest clue what will happen to the material I am using. I know that putting something under a vacuum will (generally) drop it's boiling point. I'm worried It may crack and or otherwise damage my safety gear and compromise my hands to nitric acid. What do you think?

 

[Harold_V]

Some of your concerns aren't relevant. What I advise you to do is to start reading, so you have a firm understanding of what is important, and what isn't.

Don't be too concerned about the concentration level of nitric acid. When working with silver, diluted acid is required. Any number of us that have prepared electrolyte can attest, silver dissolves much faster and better when one uses dilute nitric.

There's a book written by Butts & Coxe that pertains to silver----in any way you can imagine. I highly recommend you obtain a copy and start reading.

http://www.rshantz.com/Books/TechMiningN/Silver.htm

I also recommend you read Hoke's book. It will familiarize you with refining processes and give you a little insight on how things work.

Harold

 

[rusty]

Some of your concerns aren't relevant. What I advise you to do is to start reading, so you have a firm understanding of what is important, and what isn't.

Don't be too concerned about the concentration level of nitric acid. When working with silver, diluted acid is required. Any number of us that have prepared electrolyte can attest, silver dissolves much faster and better when one uses dilute nitric.

There's a book written by Butts & Coxe that pertains to silver----in any way you can imagine. I highly recommend you obtain a copy and start reading.

http://www.rshantz.com/Books/TechMiningN/Silver.htm

I also recommend you read Hoke's book. It will familiarize you with refining processes and give you a little insight on how things work.

Harold

Butts & Coxe excellent book, have the hard copy in my library, beside my bed. Highly recommended.

Regards
Rusty

 

[Toobigfortx]

Thanks for the reading reccomendations I'll buy them tonight. Its payday anyways