Recovery of copper from printed circuit boards (PCBS) using shaking table

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing focus on the reuse of metallic components from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) which refers to electrical and electronic equipment that has become obsolete, stopped working, or developed defects during production. In this research, shaking table was selected as a gravity concentration tool for the recovery of copper from the light components. The flowsheet included comminution, gravimetric concentration and physical/chemical characterization of feed material and products. The process parameters were deck angle (degrees), motion frequency (Hz), wash water rate (Lpm), and particle size diameter. The Box Behnken Design (BBD) was used to optimize the performance of the wet shaking table and to identify the ideal combination of its operating parameters. By analysing the experimental design, it was found that the optimal settings for deck angle, motion frequency, wash water rate, and particle size diameter were 2 degrees, 50 Hz, 12 Lpm, and -500+300 mm, respectively. These optimal settings were located near the central points of the experimental design, suggesting that the actual optimal point could be within the design space.