Reuse my old AP?

[goldsilverpro]

Silver won't dissolve in AP solution.

 

[francis32]

Thanks for answering GSP,

is silver having the same reaction as in AR(passivates??)

then after washes with hcl and then addition of HCL/clorox to form auric chlorides from the sediments, silver then should be absorbed or will stay in the filtration process?

thanks again, I have been reading here for a while but never posted

Francis

 

[Evan2468WDWA]

I saw an interesting video recently. I was wondering if the process could be used on AP solution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjEoRidvgYE

 

[goldsilverpro]

Thanks for answering GSP,

is silver having the same reaction as in AR(passivates??)

then after washes with hcl and then addition of HCL/clorox to form auric chlorides from the sediments, silver then should be absorbed or will stay in the filtration process?

thanks again, I have been reading here for a while but never posted

Francis

I wouldn't call it passivation. The common ingredient in both AP and AR is a lot of the chloride ion, Cl-, from the HCl. If you were to happen to dissolve some silver, the combination of silver ion, Ag+, and Cl- ion would immediately occur and form the compound AgCl, which will not re-dissolve in acid chloride solutions (except ever so slightly in strong AR solutions).

For practical purposes, in the acid Cl- system, silver can only exist in the form of silver metal or AgCl, both of which are solids. Very little, if any, will dissolve. So little, it's hard to measure it without specialized equipment.

 

[g_axelsson]

Silver solubility numbers in various solvents and temperatures.
http://www.saltlakemetals.com/Solubility_Of_Silver_Chloride.htm

Göran

 

[g_axelsson]

I saw an interesting video recently. I was wondering if the process could be used on AP solution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjEoRidvgYE

Very interesting and something I might try on my copper chloride wastes. Thanks for sharing.

Spoiler alert :

- Old copper chloride etchant -> Distill off hydrochloric acid for reuse.
- Convert into copper sulfate by adding sulfuric acid -> Distill off hydrochloric acid for reuse.
- Remove copper via electrowinning, produces copper and sulfuric acid
- Filter off copper and distill sulfuric acid to reuse

No wastes produced, sulfuric acid can be reused in the process, copper can be reused, recycled or discarded safely.

I wonder how this process would work on dirty copper chloride? It's not uncommon to get lead, tin, zinc and iron in the etchant unless you only run very clean cut fingers.

Göran

 

[francis32]

I have a question concerning this from Pantherlikher : "The liquid poured off goes into the waste stream I have set up. Gold plated steel in first which dissolves steel, dropping copper and gold flakes"

Doesn't it make it harder at the end to mix copper + gold ,then needing to dissolve copper again to separate from Au?

After all gold has dropped from the solution with copper immersed for weeks, I've used hard drive covers with labels and seals removed, screw holes are a plus, a few of them together to accelarate the process, cut in half since my beaker was small , also with all of them holding with a stainless wire (copper wire or plastic should work fine too) and copper cemented to it within hours (trying to attach pictures, first time) they were used several times before deteriorating and I have lots of those lying around in my steel scrap pile.

The copper in the bottom of the depleted AP was minimal (pour off solution) the solution now has has a light emerald green tint, very clear.

Kept the plates in water to keep them for future use.

 

[francis32]

Before neutralizing with Limestone as intructed by Lasersteve, this "ferrous chloride/ferric chloride (if O2 is added) seems to eat flatpacks(IC's) pins quite well before pyrolysis is done on those IC's.

Just saying, we should use the max of acid before its retirement, the recuperation with lab equipment by distillation as intructed by Nurdrage is not always available to all.

Francis

 

[nickton]

Distilling apparatuses are VERY nice to have. I got one from china for about $35.00 (I think) on Ebay. One of my best investments for sure.

Thanks for that link. I can do it all except for the platinum anode needed at the end. I also am not happy about bubbling for long periods of time to convert copper 2 to 1...but...

Great video from Nurdrage.


Also: thanks for the hard drive cover picture. Didn't realize they were copper--or is that just copper cemented onto Stainless{?}. I hear some people put a stainless steel fork or something in there too. :mrgreen:

Hope I'm on the right page.

 

[Davmeek20]

maek1,
If the stump out is sodium pyrosulfite (sodium metabisulfite) (SMB) it will precipitate gold.

Some brands of stump removers are potassium nitrate; they will not work to precipitate gold. Check the MSDS of the brand you have.

There is no reason to use SMB to precipitate the gold from your used acid peroxide solution (copper chloride solution), as adding this to the next batch (copper-plated gold ) will make any gold in solution cement out, and adding copper buss bar would be a better method to get any gold to cement out, and keep solution healthy for reuse.

I do not purposely add Iron to my used copper chloride solution unless it is to dissolve iron from say a iron plated with gold, or I am trying to cement copper out of solution for disposal of the solution.

Geo's method in his post above makes an Iron chloride (this would not be my preferred method if I was going to reuse the copper chloride solution), this would be a good step when in preparing the solution for disposal.

Geo do not take my comment wrong here: but my feeling for you to tell a new member to add Iron to regenerate his acid peroxide (copper chloride) is not a good Idea, Laser Steve has spent much time teaching the forum members how to do it the best way possible, (He also provides documents on his website which new members should be encouraged to read) to keep the acid peroxide (copper chloride) in best condition for reuse, here your telling them to make Iron chloride out of it (which will also dissolve copper, but it is not the same thing) copper chloride is easier to regenerate than iron chloride is), Steve has some good documents on his website please read them.

This part is hard to explain: I do reuse my old solution's (not only copper chloride) so many times and for lower grade scrap (dissolving base metals, and many times it does get loaded with metals above copper and becomes an Iron chloride solution (which will dissolve copper and other base metals), but this dirty solution is not used for cleaner scrap, but used to dissolve metals higher in the reactivity series than the solution holds.

Understanding how the copper chloride solution works, will help you use it, learning how to regenerate it properly and get any values from it, what it can do when and why, Laser Steve has valuable documents on his website that will help with this, he has also made many many posts helping others to understand, also read the forum posts on this subject, there is enough info there to fill a book.

Understanding the reactivity series of metals, will also help you understand more and will be a huge help to your skills in this trade, spend some time researching this subject on the intranet.

That was a great answer. I like how i was just reading and learning and learned exactly how and who made this site. And where to find info. I love reading this forum when i get stuck. Thanks butcher!!

 

[Davmeek20]

That was a great answer. I like how i was just reading and learning and learned exactly how and who made this site. And where to find info. I love reading this forum when i get stuck. Thanks butcher!!