These include old hypo, old platinotype baths, silver from sensitive
films, etc. My concern at the moment is "solid residues (cuttings of
silver paper, old filters, etc.)." Which is to say I'm trying to dispose
of some 8 cartons of discarded gelatine-silver photographs accumulated
over a period of years without hiring a truck to take them to a toxic
waste site, or releasing them to a "regular" landfill -- or making a
lifetime project out of the project.
The "treatment" outlined in this volume is "burn ... collect the ashes,"
and "extract" the silver as follows:
"Mix [the ashes] with equal weight of sodium carbonate, 2 parts,
potassium nitrate, 1 part, and fuse in a crucible."
Any advice -- warning? encouragement? alternative? Since the Hunt
Brothers crashed, I haven't been able to find a commercial enterprise to
take this paper. I have a small closed wood-burning stove vented to the
roof. Would the burning release poisonous fumes -- or, rather, excessive
poisonous fumes? Is this "crucible" what we would consider a blast
furnace? I don't actually have a blast furnace, but do have a small
crucible-like device, which might or might not heat sufficiently. Does the
"nitrate" make an explosive?
Rationally, I think of the Chinese great-leap-forward
backyard blast furnaces, or worse. On the other hand, The Yearbook is a
most authoritative publication -- and I do have a lot of sodium carbonate
on hand....
Well, it's a thought. (Backyard fusion?)
Judy