Enhancing Debromination Efficiency through Introducing Water Vapor Atmosphere to Overcome Limitations of Conventional Pyrolysis

Bromine removal is significant in the recycling of waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs). This study found that the critical factors limiting the debromination efficiency of conventional pyrolysis are the formation of coke impeding mass transfer and conversion of bromine into less volatile species, such as coking-Br and copper bromide. According to frontier molecular orbital analysis and thermodynamic equilibrium analysis, C-O bonds of resin are sites prone to electrophilic reactions and copper bromide in residue may undergo hydrolysis; therefore, introducing H2O during pyrolysis was a feasible method for thorough debromination. Through pyrolysis in a water vapor atmosphere, the diffusion limitation of debromination was overcome, and resin was converted into light components; thereby, rapid and deep removal of bromine was achieved. The result indicated that 99.7% of bromine was removed, and the residue could be used as a clean secondary resource. According to life-cycle assessment, pyrolysis of WPCBs in water vapor could be expected to reduce 77 Kt of CO2 emission and increase financial benefits by 60 million dollars, annually.

Bioleaching of Typical Electronic Waste-Printed Circuit Boards (WPCBs): A Short Review

The rapid pace of innovations and the frequency of replacement of electrical and electronic equipment has made waste printed circuit boards (WPCB) one of the fastest growing waste streams. The frequency of replacement of equipment can be caused by a limited time of proper functioning and increasing malfunctions. Resource utilization of WPCBs have become some of the most profitable companies in the recycling industry. To facilitate WPCB recycling, several advanced technologies such as pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy and biometallurgy have been developed. Bioleaching uses naturally occurring microorganisms and their metabolic products to recover valuable metals, which is a promising technology due to its cost-effectiveness, environmental friendliness, and sustainability. However, there is sparse comprehensive research on WPCB bioleaching. Therefore, in this work, a short review was conducted from the perspective of potential microorganisms, bioleaching mechanisms and parameter optimization. Perspectives on future research directions are also discussed.

Recovery of high-grade copper from metal-rich particles of waste printed circuit boards by ball milling and sieving

In this paper, a method of ball milling and sieving is proposed for recovery of high-grade copper from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs). The effects of the milling time on the metals grade and recovery of the Cu, Sn and Pb during mechanical treatment were investigated. The results showed that, after 3 cycles of ball milling and sieving, the content of Cu was enriched to 94.72 wt.% from the initial 74.22 wt.% with a high recovery rate of 86.78%. Moreover, the contents of Sn and Pb were enriched to 28.27 wt.% and 18.86 wt.% from 10.13 wt.% and 6.63 wt.% in the by-products, respectively. However, excessive grinding occurred when the milling time was longer than 3 h and led to a sharp decrease in Cu recovery. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns indicated that the metal phases mainly comprised pure Cu, Sn, Pb in the WPCB particles, while a Cu-Sn alloy was formed during the milling process, and the Cu-Sn alloy was also enriched in the tailings. The results presented here establish that ball milling and sieving is an alternative approach to recovering high-grade copper from WPCBs.

Pyrolysis treatment of nonmetal fraction of waste printed circuit boards: Focusing on the fate of bromine

Advanced thermal treatment of electronic waste offers advantages of volume reduction and energy recovery. In this work, the pyrolysis behaviour of nonmetallic fractions of waste printed circuit boards was studied. The fate of a bromine and thermal decomposition pathway of nonmetallic fractions of waste printed circuit boards were further probed. The thermogravimetric analysis showed that the temperatures of maximum mass loss were located at 319°C and 361°C, with mass loss of 29.6% and 50.6%, respectively. The Fourier transform infrared Spectroscopy analysis revealed that the spectra at temperatures of 300°C-400°C were complicated with larger absorbance intensity. The nonmetallic fractions of waste printed circuit boards decomposed drastically and more evolved products were detected in the temperature range of 600°C-1000°C. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis indicated that various brominated derivates were generated in addition to small molecules, such as CH₄, H₂O and CO. The release intensity of CH₄ and H₂O increased with temperature increasing and reached maximum at 600°C-800°C and 400°C-600°C. More bromoethane (C₂H₅Br) was formed as compared with HBr and methyl bromide (CH₃Br). The release intensity of bromopropane (C₃H₇Br) and bromoacetone (C₃H₅BrO) were comparable, although smaller than that of bromopropene (C₃H₅Br). More dibromophenol (C₆H₄Br₂O) was released than that of bromophenol (C₆H₅BrO) in the thermal treatment. During the thermal process, part of the ether bonds first ruptured forming bisphenol A, propyl alcohol and tetrabromobisphenol A. Then, the tetrabromobisphenol A decomposed into C₆H₅BrO and HBr, which further reacted with small molecules forming brominated derivates. It implied debromination of raw nonmetallic fractions of waste printed circuit boards or pyrolysis products should be applied for its environmentally sound treating.

The effect of additives on migration and transformation of gaseous pollutants in the vacuum pyrolysis process of waste printed circuit boards

The effect of six additives (CaCO₃, HZSM-5, CaO, Al₂O₃, FeOOH and Ca(OH)₂) on the generation, migration, transformation and escaping behaviours of typical gaseous pollutants in the pyrolysis process were studied by vacuum pyrolysis experiments on epoxy resin powder from waste printed circuit boards with tube furnace. The results show that the additives Al₂O₃, CaO, Ca(OH) ₂ and FeOOH could reduce the yield of the gas phase. The removal rates of pollutants, such as benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, phenol, p-xylene, HBr, NO₂ and SO₂ in the gaseous products, has changed variously with the increasing percentage of the above additives. Judging from the control of gas-phase pollutant discharge, the calcium-base additives are superior to the others. Ca(OH)₂ has the best inhibition effect among them. The increase of the pyrolysis temperature and vacuum degree enhanced the volatility of organic pollutants and weakened the Ca(OH)₂ inhibition effect on organic pollutants, while it improved the removal rate of SO₂. Under the condition of 500 °C pyrolysis temperature and 0.09 MPa vacuum degree, when the additive proportion of Ca(OH)₂ was one-fifth, the average removal rate of pollutants in gas phase is up to 66.4%.

Production and characterization of polypropylene composites filled with glass fibre recycled from pyrolysed waste printed circuit boards

Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) are composed of nearly 70% non-metals, which are generally recycled as low-value filling materials or even directly dumped in landfills. In this study, polypropylene (PP) composites reinforced by recycled pure glass fibres (RGF) from pyrolysed WPCBs were successfully produced. The manufacturing process, mechanical properties and thermal behaviour of the composites were investigated. The results showed that the appropriate addition of RGF in the composites can significantly improve the mechanical properties and thermal behaviour. When the added content of RGF was 30%, the maximum increment of tensile strength, impact strength, flexural strength and flexural modulus of the glass fibre (GF)/PP composites are 25.93%, 41.38%, 31.16% and 68.42%, respectively, and the vicat softening temperature could rise by 4.6°C. Furthermore, leaching of the GF/PP composites was also investigated. The GF/PP composites exhibited high performance and non-toxicity, offering a promising method to recycle RGF from pyrolysed WPCBs with high-value applications.