Question about Silver Removal from X ray film.

[Doskias51]

I started today testing a batch of 25lbs of x ray film. Looks to be dryview as when clean they are blue color. I have done about 12 lbs of it so far and was decanting the container that I was using to wash the film. I have watched Steve's Video of what the AgCl should look like and all I see is what looks like the end result after the sulfuric acid method of processing the AgCl. It looks just like raw silver at the bottom of the container. I only used bleach to wash the film and it pretty well in doing it.

The real question is did I do anything wrong? I was under the assumption that the AgCl was a white-grey powder type substance that would settle to the bottom. I have saved all the solution just incase I did something wrong. Also what is the recommended method in decanting the liquid? Any help would be great. I have searched the forum high and low on the actual process of the washing but only find information on the separation of the Ag and the Cl.
Thanks,

 

[Juan Manuel Arcos Frank]

Doskias 51:

DryView films have a very low silver content(Try to find GoldSilverPro´s film chart).

DryView films do not react with sodium hypochlorite,they still black so you do not really have DryView films.Silver salt in DryView films is silver behenate(which reatcs to heat instead of light) and silver behenate do not react with sodium hypochlorite to form silver chloride.

What you really have are silver halide films,you can better process them with NaOH process or oxalic acid process.The former I have posted it here a few years ago.

The mud seems to be a mixure of silver chloride and silver.

Filter the mud,wash with tap water and then use Karo syrup method to obtain metalic silver.

Keep us posted about your progress.

Kindest Regards.

Manuel

 

[Doskias51]

Juan Manuel Arcos Frank,

Thank you so much for the reply. Your advice is very helpful and appreciate you taking the time to analyze my process. I noticed you didn't mention the Sulfuric Acid method as a process for separating the AgCl. I was going to use the Karo method but I already have the Sulfuric Acid and plenty of Aluminum bars to use that method. I read your oxalic acid process before I decided to experiment with this. I would be all for it but don't have the means to operate that kind of process at this time. I just wanted to see if it was feasible for me to spend my time recovering this x ray film versus selling it at my local refinery for only 1 USD/lb. From the literature I have read and talking with a few other people, I am pretty positive that I could recover about 4x the amount $$$ value wise versus letting the refinery take it. I have plenty of this film too. I got it for free when I was cleaning out a storage locker from the owner of the storage facility. I have at least 2000+ lbs of film. I think it took about 40+ hours just to remove it all from the yellow folders and that was usually 2-3 ppl doing it. Looking forward to getting the rest of the 25lbs done so I can decant it and get to the next step. I will keep it updated with pics as I go. Going to finish decanting the 12~lbs I have already washed.

Thanks,

Trey

 

[goldsilverpro]

Most of the common silver halide medical x-ray film (Rare Earth type) has a blue plastic base also, so you can't use plastic color to distinguish it from Dryview. Occasionally you'll find rare earth film with a non-colored clear plastic base, but not often.

 

[Doskias51]

Most of the common silver halide medical x-ray film (Rare Earth type) has a blue plastic base also, so you can't use plastic color to distinguish it from Dryview. Occasionally you'll find rare earth film with a non-colored clear plastic base, but not often.

I am happy that it isnt Dryview. I was looking at the chart of film and seen the time frame the x rays were taken and didnt take into fact that it probably was older stock of film they used or thats what they just was using still or whatever. Thank you for your words of wisdom and you contribution to this forum. You and several other like, Steve and Juan have helped me tremendously with getting my taste of refining. I finished cleaning the other main bucket that I started with. Now I want to proclaim my duh moment I had, lol. The pics are from the Distilled water bath I was rinsing from. Didnt even think twice that what was in there would be a mixture of silver and silver chloride. When I went to finish decanting the main bleach wash tub, the substance at the bottom looked a lot more in the lines of what AgCl is suppose to look like. Will post a pic when I get back out to start on it for the day.

Thanks,

Trey

 

[mohammedfawzy]

we offer 50 ton per month of after washed x-ray film



for information contact me at : [email protected]

 

[goldsilverpro]

we offer 50 ton per month of after washed x-ray film



for information contact me at : [email protected]

By washed, do you mean it has been chemically developed and the film still contains silver (usually, about half)? Or, do you mean that all of the silver and emulsion has been chemically removed and only the dried clean PET plastic base remains? If you only have the PET plastic base, there are buyers for it in China - you could probably contact the local Chinese consulate. However, the plastic must be super clean to have much, or any, value - no processing chemical residues, no emulsion or silver residues, no dirt, etc. What color is the plastic - clear (more valuable) or blue or mixed?