Behavior of Waste Printed Circuit Board (WPCB) Materials in the Copper Matte Smelting Process

Abstract

The amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the world has grown rapidly during recent decades, and with the depletion of primary ores, there is urgent need for industries to study new sources for metals. Waste printed circuit boards (WPCB) are a part of WEEE, which have a higher concentration of copper and precious metals when compared to primary ore sources. PCB materials can be processed using pyrometallurgical routes, and some industrial processes, such as copper flash smelting, have utilized this type of waste in limited amounts for years. For the purpose of recycling these materials through smelting processes, this work studied the behavior of WPCB scrap when dropped on top of molten slag. A series of experiments was carried out during this research at a temperature of 1350 °C, in an inert atmosphere with different melting times. The time required for complete melting of the PCB pieces was 2–5 min, after which molten alloy droplets containing Cu, Pb, Sn, Ni, Au, and Ag formed and started descending toward the bottom of the crucible. The ceramic fraction of the PCB material mixed with slag and the polymer fraction was pyrolyzed during the high-temperature experiments. The results give an understanding of PCB melting behavior and their use as a part of the smelting furnace feed mixture. However, more research is needed to fully understand how the different elements affect the process as the amount of PCB in the feed increases. The physical behavior and distribution of PCB materials in fayalite slag during the smelting process are outlined, and the results of this work form a basis for future studies about the chemical reaction behavior and kinetics when PCB materials are introduced into the copper smelting process.

Distribution Kinetics of Rare Earth Elements in Copper Smelting

“…The crucible-sample assembly was raised to the hot zone by pulling a platinum-rhodium wire from the top of the furnace. Details of the experimental set-up and a schematic of the furnace have been presented previously [29,30].…”

Thermochemical Route for Extraction and Recycling of Critical, Strategic and High-Value Elements from By-Products and End-of-Life Materials, Part II: Processing in Presence of Halogenated Atmosphere

“…Several selected research works [10,11,[48][49][50][51][52] were devoted to the recovery of high value added metals and other components from e-waste by using various methods. A weak point for the metal recycling from e-waste is the high amounts of halogenated substances disturbing the thermal extraction process.…”

Computational Approaches for Studying Slag–Matte Interactions in the Flash Smelting Furnace (FSF) Settler

“…The kinetics of slag-matte reactions [34,35] at temperatures prevailing in the FSF was studied in a vertical tube furnace in air and argon (oxygen-free) atmospheres simulating the settler area reactions between matte droplets and partly and nonreacted feed particles. Additionally, the main impurity elements (Sb, As, Bi) and pieces of waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) [36] were used in the experiments.…”