Reverse flotation efficiency and mechanism of various collectors for recycling waste printed circuit boards

Yake Yao; Qiang Bai; Jingfeng He; Lingtao Zhu; Kui Zhou; Yuemin Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2019.12.030

Reverse flotation efficiency and mechanism of various collectors for recycling waste printed circuit boards

Waste Manag. 2020 Feb 15:103:218-227. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2019.12.030. Epub 2019 Dec 31.

Authors

Yake Yao¹, Qiang Bai¹, Jingfeng He², Lingtao Zhu¹, Kui Zhou¹, Yuemin Zhao³

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China.
² Key Laboratory of Coal Processing and Efficient Utilization of Ministry of Education, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China; School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China. Electronic address: jfhe@cumt.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Coal Processing and Efficient Utilization of Ministry of Education, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China; School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China. Electronic address: ymzhao@cumt.edu.cn.

PMID: 31901604
DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2019.12.030

Abstract

Reverse flotation was used to recover metal components from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs). The micro-morphology and chemical composition analysis of raw materials indicated that waste PCBs are mainly composed of glass fibers, ceramics and valuable metals. The effects of collector dosage and temperature on flotation efficiency were investigated and evaluated. The flotation results using various collectors showed that the efficient recovery of metal components could be achieved via reverse flotation with the diesel oil (DO) dosage of 370-1110 g/t, composite collector (CC) dosage of 370-740 g/t and laurylamine (LAM) dosage of 740 g/t, respectively. The suitable temperature should be controlled at around 20 °C for these collectors. The results also indicated that the selectivity of DO for nonmetal particles was stronger than that of CC and LAM. In summary, reverse flotation is a feasible and environmental approach for disposal of waste PCBs.

Keywords: Environmental disposal; Metals recovery; Reverse flotation; Separation mechanism; Waste printed circuit boards.

MeSH terms

Electronic Waste*
Metals
Recycling
Temperature

Substances

Metals