High-Temperature Fluidized Bed Processing of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) as a Way to Recover Raw Materials

Witold Żukowski, Amelia Kowalska and Jan Wrona
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Witold Żukowski: Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Cracow, Poland
Amelia Kowalska: Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Cracow, Poland
Jan Wrona: Faculty of Environmental and Power Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Cracow, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-24

Abstract: This paper explores the effectiveness of metal recovery and values of gaseous emissions during thermal e-waste processing followed by magnetic separation. The thermal process of conversion of this kind of waste is difficult due to the uncertainty of the operation when compared to the processing of homogeneous materials. This is due to their complex and heterogeneous structure. The adoption of the fluidized bed reactor makes the process feasible, stabilizing it significantly and limiting emissions of harmful gases. Mobile cellphones were used as the raw input material of 450 g total mass. During the thermal transformation, the exhaust gases such as: CO, CO 2 , NO x , SO 2 , HCI, HBr, HCN, NH 3 , phenol, hydrocarbons, HF and COCI 2 were analysed. The thermal treatment resulted in 333.6 g of solids in the fluidized bed. They were fragmented into grains smaller than 1 mm and 0.5 mm. The process of magnetic enrichment was used next on grains greater than 1 mm and smaller than 0.5 mm. The process was carried out using a neodymium magnet for particles >1 mm and a plate electromagnetic separator (powered by a three-phase current) together with a 1-disc tape-type separator, which was used for particles <1 mm. Such an approach resulted in the recovery of 81.9% of cobalt, 96.6% of iron and 99.2% of neodymium. The most efficient method of magnetic enriching (MS) proved to be the use of the electromagnetic plate separator.

Keywords: WEEE; MPhW; PCBA; thermal treatment; fluidised bed; magnetic enrichment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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