Silver Recovery - Keyboard Mylar Processing

[GuyGuyGuythe1st]

Hi Forum,
I just wanted to share a video I made a couple years back about processing keyboard mylar sheets. When I first started processing this type of material, I followed the process in the video below.




NOTE:

Since I have had time to revise my process over the years. I no longer shred or leach directly off the Mylar. I incinerate the mylar in a crucible first, then transfer the ashes into a a beaker and leach the ashes with nitric acid.

This method produces fumes and gases through burning, but drastically reduces waste acids and water that has to be treated later down the line. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hi Forum,
I just wanted to share a video I made a couple years back about processing keyboard mylar sheets. When I first started processing this type of material, I followed the process in the video below.




NOTE:

Since I have had time to revise my process over the years. I no longer shred or leach directly off the Mylar. I incinerate the mylar in a crucible first, then transfer the ashes into a a beaker and leach the ashes with nitric acid.

This method produces fumes and gases through burning, but drastically reduces waste acids and water that has to be treated later down the line. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

This is almost like double posting.
I'll let it slide this time, but in the future keep it in one post and in this case one thread.

 

[BGDOCK]

Is there a noticeable silver loss incinerating versus going after with nitric or poor man's nitric acid ?

 

[GuyGuyGuythe1st]

BGDOCK - Yes there is difference due to the material itself. When you leach with nitric/sulfuric acid to loosen the silver plating/overlay you don't always get all of it for many different reasons or variables. One variable being when you shred or reduce the material size. It floats on-top of the liquids. If you're not constantly agitating the solution you tend to lose a little and in the filtering of the solutions.

Mylar is very low yields in general like most E-waste. To give you an understanding of time vs labor = yield its pretty low compared to other types of precious metal bearing material.

Labor/Time: Old Process
1.) One whole calendar year to collect 50+ keyboards.
2.) 1-2 days of disassembly of the keyboards.
3.) 5-7 days leaching the material.
4.) 1 day filtering the solutions.
5.) 1 day to drop and convert the silver nitrate to whatever you need it to be.

All for 7 grams of 99% silver. Worth a whooping 7$ in todays market. But none the less it is still precious metal.

 

[GuyGuyGuythe1st]

This is almost like double posting.
I'll let it slide this time, but in the future keep it in one post and in this case one thread.

No problem! I wasn't aware of all the rules. I saw another post on processing mylar and said to myself. I have a video, I made. That might help other community members. Feel free to delete the other posting.

 

[BGDOCK]

your yield is .14 grams per keyboard .
I thought the average was .around 2 / keyboard .
I’m aware of the cost Benefit analysis I had taken about about 30 keyboards and gave away the mylars . I’m close to about 20 keyboards from my last pickup. It has been mentioned several times that the better method was incarnating. I was wondering if you had any data about. Incinerating vs. leeching

Thanks Jeff

 

[GuyGuyGuythe1st]

I don't have any empirical data, just observations of processing and recovering silver using both methods.

In my humble opinion; incineration is way better because you drastically reduce steps 3 thru 5 and waste that has to be washed, treated or disposed of later.

The most Mylar's I've processed at one time using the incineration method is about 150. Because that's all the charge my crucible can hold at one time. I still didn't get 1 troy oz if I remember correctly. Like the bad engineer I am. I never truly recorded a dataset on the process.

When I process them again next time, I'll minitab's the data in a graph and update this post.

 

[BGDOCK]

I take horrible notes as well .
Usually scrap paper , card board post it notes then 1/2 of it make it in a couple of notes book floating around .

 

[GuyGuyGuythe1st]

I take horrible notes as well .
Usually scrap paper , card board post it notes then 1/2 of it make it in a couple of notes book floating around .

Its the unwritten rule in engineering. Along with my horrible penmen ship. It also mimics doctors prescription signatures. *

"We all know that's not a signature, you literally scribbled on the piece of paper!"

 

[Yggdrasil]

I take horrible notes as well .
Usually scrap paper , card board post it notes then 1/2 of it make it in a couple of notes book floating around .

The good thing about bad notes is, nobody else will understand it, and after a while you can drop the else too.