The application of pneumatic jigging in the recovery of metallic fraction from shredded printed wiring boards

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams worldwide with volumes increasing by 40% each year. WEEE has attracted increasing concern worldwide due to its high metal content and the potential environmental threat which results from uncontrolled recycl...

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Main Authors: Wang, Zheng, Hall, Philip, Miles, Nicholas J., Wu, Tao, Lambert, Peter, Gu, Fu
Format: Article
Published: SAGE Publications 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50406/
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author Wang, Zheng
Hall, Philip
Miles, Nicholas J.
Wu, Tao
Lambert, Peter
Gu, Fu
author_facet Wang, Zheng
Hall, Philip
Miles, Nicholas J.
Wu, Tao
Lambert, Peter
Gu, Fu
author_sort Wang, Zheng
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams worldwide with volumes increasing by 40% each year. WEEE has attracted increasing concern worldwide due to its high metal content and the potential environmental threat which results from uncontrolled recycling practices. Innovative physical separation techniques for WEEE recycling are preferential compared with chemical methods because of the reduction of energy and chemical consumption as well as potential environmental threats. Pneumatic jigging is a dry separation process capable of achieving good separation of coarse material within a very narrow density range, which makes it suitable as a pretreatment process for WEEE recycling. The work presented in this paper investigates the potential application of pneumatic jigging in metal recovery from WEEE. A pilot scale pneumatic jig has been developed by University of Nottingham Ningbo to separate shredded printed wiring boards into two streams: a light fraction (mainly non-metallic fraction consisting of glass fiber, fluffs, and plastic pieces) and dense fraction (metallic fraction). The novelty of work presented in this paper is the application of a dry separation technique in WEEE recycling for metal recovery. Compared with conventional wet separation processes involved in WEEE recycling industry, dry separation has the advantage of zero secondary pollution. The results of this experimental program show pneumatic jigging to be an effective and environmental friendly technique as a pretreatment process for the recovery of the metallic fraction from shredded WEEE.
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spelling nottingham-504062020-05-04T17:16:08Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50406/ The application of pneumatic jigging in the recovery of metallic fraction from shredded printed wiring boards Wang, Zheng Hall, Philip Miles, Nicholas J. Wu, Tao Lambert, Peter Gu, Fu Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams worldwide with volumes increasing by 40% each year. WEEE has attracted increasing concern worldwide due to its high metal content and the potential environmental threat which results from uncontrolled recycling practices. Innovative physical separation techniques for WEEE recycling are preferential compared with chemical methods because of the reduction of energy and chemical consumption as well as potential environmental threats. Pneumatic jigging is a dry separation process capable of achieving good separation of coarse material within a very narrow density range, which makes it suitable as a pretreatment process for WEEE recycling. The work presented in this paper investigates the potential application of pneumatic jigging in metal recovery from WEEE. A pilot scale pneumatic jig has been developed by University of Nottingham Ningbo to separate shredded printed wiring boards into two streams: a light fraction (mainly non-metallic fraction consisting of glass fiber, fluffs, and plastic pieces) and dense fraction (metallic fraction). The novelty of work presented in this paper is the application of a dry separation technique in WEEE recycling for metal recovery. Compared with conventional wet separation processes involved in WEEE recycling industry, dry separation has the advantage of zero secondary pollution. The results of this experimental program show pneumatic jigging to be an effective and environmental friendly technique as a pretreatment process for the recovery of the metallic fraction from shredded WEEE. SAGE Publications 2015-09-30 Article PeerReviewed Wang, Zheng, Hall, Philip, Miles, Nicholas J., Wu, Tao, Lambert, Peter and Gu, Fu (2015) The application of pneumatic jigging in the recovery of metallic fraction from shredded printed wiring boards. Waste Management & Research, 33 (9). pp. 785-793. ISSN 0734-242X WEEE pneumatic separation jigging printed wiring board metal recycling http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0734242X15589782 doi:10.1177/0734242X15589782 doi:10.1177/0734242X15589782
spellingShingle WEEE
pneumatic separation
jigging
printed wiring board
metal recycling
Wang, Zheng
Hall, Philip
Miles, Nicholas J.
Wu, Tao
Lambert, Peter
Gu, Fu
The application of pneumatic jigging in the recovery of metallic fraction from shredded printed wiring boards
title The application of pneumatic jigging in the recovery of metallic fraction from shredded printed wiring boards
title_full The application of pneumatic jigging in the recovery of metallic fraction from shredded printed wiring boards
title_fullStr The application of pneumatic jigging in the recovery of metallic fraction from shredded printed wiring boards
title_full_unstemmed The application of pneumatic jigging in the recovery of metallic fraction from shredded printed wiring boards
title_short The application of pneumatic jigging in the recovery of metallic fraction from shredded printed wiring boards
title_sort application of pneumatic jigging in the recovery of metallic fraction from shredded printed wiring boards
topic WEEE
pneumatic separation
jigging
printed wiring board
metal recycling
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50406/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50406/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50406/