Electric Discharge Destruction of Wasted Printed Electronic Boards for Extraction of Metals

Abstract

The results of the electric discharge crushing of PCB (printed circuit boards) to millimeter-sized fractions suitable for separation of the metal from the dielectric are presented. The crushing was performed on a high-voltage repetitively pulsed generator with varying the number of pulses. It was determined the dependences of the fractional composition of crushing products on the number of pulses in the cycle. Crushing products were studied for definition separation of metal from the dielectric with optical microscope. The results of the work confirm the possibility of electric discharge crushing various types of PCB, including fiberglass PCB with four layers. Keywords: high voltage fragmentation, waste printed circuit board, recycling