Recovering Silver from Photographic Process Wastes

Spent color bleach-fix solution (CBFS), a product of photographic processing operations, is a potential source of silver. Of the extraction reactors used in recovering this silver, the rotating cylindrical electrode (RCE) has an advantage in that it provides improved mass transfer with an extended effective surface area. In addition, the application of a potentiostatic technique allows the silver deposition reaction to take place preferentially, without the formation of silver sulfide. The process consists of prior physical treatment, subsequent chemical reduction of the ferric-EDTA (ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid) complex present in the CBFS with sodium dithionite (monitored by measuring the redox potential of Fe3+/Fe2+ couple), followed by electrodeposition of silver in a divided cell using a cation exchange membrane. The combined procedure results in increased current efficiency and reduced electrolysis time.