Mónica M. Jiménez Correa

Printed circuit board recycling: Physical processing and copper extraction by selective leaching

Global generation of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is about 40 million tons per year. Constant increase in WEEE generation added to international legislations has improved the development of processes for materials recovery and sustainability of electrical and electronic industry. This paper describes a new hydrometallurgical route (leaching process) to recycle printed circuit boards (PCBs) from printers to recover copper. Methodology included PCBs characterization and a combined route of physical and hydrometallurgical processing. Magnetic separation, acid digestion and chemical analysis by ICP-OES were performed. On leaching process were used two stages: the first one in a sulfuric media and the second in an oxidant media. The results showed that the PCBs composition was 74.6 wt.% of non-magnetic material and 25.4 wt.% of magnetic one. The metallic fraction corresponded to 44.0 wt.%, the polymeric to 28.5 wt.% and the ceramic to 27.5 wt.%. The main metal was copper and its initial content was 32.5 wt.%. On sulfuric leaching 90 wt.% of Al, 40 wt.% of Zn and 8.6 wt.% of Sn were extracted, whereas on oxidant leaching tests the extraction percentage of Cu was 100 wt.%, of Zn 60 wt.% and of Al 10 wt.%. At the end of the hydrometallurgical processing was obtained 100% of copper extraction and the recovery factor was 98.46%, which corresponds to a 32 kg of Cu in 100 kg of PCB.

Precipitation of Metals from Liquor Obtained in Nickel Mining

In recent years, alternative treatment processes of nickel low-grade ores have been studied for nickel mining. The present work intends to study the precipitation of metals such as nickel, aluminum, cobalt, iron, zinc and copper from liquor obtained in the atmospheric leaching of a limonite nickel waste. Initially, synthetic solutions were prepared to simulate the sulfuric leach liquor. The iron in the first solution was found in the form of ferrous ions (Fe+2), while in the second solution was found as ferric ions (Fe+3). Precipitation tests were carried at 25oC and pH was varied with KOH additions. Metal concentration in aqueous and solid samples were analyzed by energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and a scanning by electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. Around 100% of iron, 60% of cobalt and 10% of copper were precipitated at pH 3,0 from the solution with ferric ions, while in the solution with ferrous ions, the highest metal precipitation were achieved at pH 5,5.

Chemical Reduction of Fe(III) in Nickel Lateritic Wastewater to Recover Metals by Ion Exchange

Wastewater from nickel lateritic process still has valuable metals that could be recovered. Using an ion exchange to recovery these metals, the iron becomes a problem due to the fact that it precipitate at pH 2. The aim of this research was to make iron soluble by reducing Fe+3 to Fe+2. A synthetic solution was prepared with sulfate ferric. The reducing agent sodium dithionite was used and the potential was varied (initial potential: 700, 600, 500, 450 e 400 mV) using as a reference the Pourbaix diagram for iron created by HydroMedusa software. The pH was ranged between 0.5 and 2.5, the reducing agent’s concentration was 0.5 M and the reaction time ranged between 30 and 120 min at room temperature. The ferric iron and total iron concentration were verified using a spectrophotometer with 5-sulfosalicylic acid (SSA) to determine Fe(III) and ammonia to determine Fe(II) and Fe(III) in 500 and 425 nm, respectively. The results indicated that total reduction was at 400 mV in any pH between 0.5 and 2, but less than 40% in pH 2.5 at this potential value.

Recovery of Nickel and Cobalt from a Waste Zone of Nickel Laterite Ore Using a Mixture of Extractants in Solvent Extraction Technique

The surface zone of nickel laterite ore is generally considered as residue. However, because of the depletion of ore sources and the increase in demand, this previously discarded zone may now be processed economically for nickel and cobalt. After leaching and removal of the impurities, the solution contains cobalt, magnesium, manganese and nickel. Solvent extraction is a hydrometallurgical technique used in the separation of metals from aqueous solutions. Cyanex 272 and D2EHPA are extractants used to separate nickel from cobalt. The mixture of extractants can change the performance during the metals extraction. This work aims to evaluate the solvent extraction of nickel and cobalt when Cyanex 272 and D2EHPA are mixed. The results showed that the increased concentration of D2EHPA in the organic phase increased the extraction of nickel and magnesium. However, cobalt extraction was reduced and the manganese extraction was not altered.

Effect of the pH on the Recovery of Al3+, Co2+, Cr3+, Cu2+, Fe3+, Mg2+, Mn2+, Ni2+ and Zn2+ by Purolite S950

The generation of mining waste has been the subject of environmental, economic and social concern. Alternative and sustainable methods of recycling metals technologies are desired. The present work focuses on the application of the ion exchange technique for the extraction of metals contained in a lateritic nickel mining effluent. The Purolite S950 chelating resin was used in the present work because it has the ability to adsorb transition metals present in an acidic solution. The experiments were carried out in a batch varying the pH in the range of 0.5–2.0. 1 g of resin was placed in contact with 50 mL of solution and stirred for 120 min at a speed of 200 rpm and temperature at 25 °C. The results demonstrated that the affinity of the resin varied with pH. The adsorbed metals were only copper, manganese, magnesium and zinc. The most extracted metal was copper, corresponding to 37%, when the solution was conditioned at pH 2.0.

Effect of Flow Rate on Metals Adsorption of Synthetic Solution Using Chelating Resin Dowex XUS43605 in Column Experiments

In view of the rising generation of wastewater containing metals, sustainable and clean techniques to recover them are being researched. This study investigated the adsorption of aluminum, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron (III), magnesium, manganese, nickel and zinc presents in a synthetic effluent by chelating ion exchange resin Dowex XUS43605. The resin was tested in columns experiments and was analyzed the flow rate (0.45, 0.66 and 1.11 BV/h), at pH 1.5 and 20 °C. After loading the column, the elution experiments occurred with 1 M of H2SO4 and 4 M of NH4O. The concentration of the metals in solution was obtained by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry energy dispersive (EDX). The results showed that the breakthrough experimental curves demonstrated that the main metals (aluminum, cobalt, manganese and zinc) were immediately broken through just after the initiation of the feeding, while the breakthrough of copper began later. Therefore, the study showed that the chelating resin could be used to treat contaminated effluents with metals.