EVALUATION OF THE SILVER RECOVERY FROM RADIOGRAPHIC FILMS IN A FILTER PRESS ELECTROCHEMICAL REACTOR

In this work the evaluation of a filter press type electrochemical reactor (REOV-01) with stainless steel (A304) electrode was realized, applied in the silver recovery from radiographic films. Macroelectrólisis studies were performed at different flow velocities with empirical and dimensionless correlations, and parameters such as: current efficiency, energy consumption Es and space-time yield. The results of the variation of the concentration of Ag at different flow linear velocities allowed the determination of the mass transfer coefficients of silver (obtained about the order of 10exp-5) for A304 SS electrode, which are consistent with the literature. The current efficiency values above 100% indicated that the electrochemical process is coupled to an electroless process. The results showed low energy consumption Es and high space-time yield values indicating that the reactor REOV-01 presents an excellent performance in the recovery of silver from radiographic films.