EXTRACTION OF METALS
FROM E-WASTE
GUIDED BY PRESENTED BY
PROF.ANAND LALI NEERA BESSY JOHN
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR S2,M.Tech
DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
GEC, Thissur
INTRODUCTION
• Development of consumer oriented electrical and
electronic technology.
• Very short useful life.
• Creates large stream of e waste.
• E-waste is classified as hazardous material.
• It also serves as source of secondary raw materials.
• Extraction of metals: Chemical leaching, biological
leaching and hybrid technique.
E-WASTE
• Average annual growth of e-waste is three times that of
municipal waste stream.
• In next five year, one billion computers will be discarded.
• E-waste and waste electrical and electronic
equipment(WEEE): Discarded appliances that use
electricity.
E-waste: Waste electronic goods.
WEEE: also includes non-electronic goods.
Item Typical life(year)
WEEE considered as e waste
COMPUTER 3
MOBILE PHONE 2
RADIO 10
TELEVISION 5
DVD PLAYER 5
ELECTRONIC GAMES 5
PHOTOCOPIER 8
Item Typical life(year)
WEEE not considered as e waste
REFRIGERATOR 10
ELECTRIC COOKER 10
ELECTRIC HEATER 10
TELEPHONE 5
WASHING MACHINE 8
MICROWAVE 7
IRON 10
COMPOSITION OF E-WASTE
non
ferrous • Plastic :22%
plastic
• Metals: 52%
metals • Non ferrous metals :14%
others • Others :12%
E-waste
Bright side Dark side
Serves as the
Negative impacts
source for
on environmental
secondary raw
and health
materials
DARK SIDE BRIGHT SIDE
Metal Occurrence in waste Impact on health
lead Cathode ray tube (CRT), batteries, Skin damage, headaches, nausea,
printed wiring boards gastric and duodenal ulcers, damage
the nervous, blood and reproductive
system in adults.
Cadmium (Cd) Rechargeable computers batteries, Respiratory system, kidney, bones
contacts and switches, older CRTs problems, carcinogenic and defect
neurodevelopment of fetus as well as
young children
Mercury (Hg) Lightening devices for flat screen Effects brain, central nervous system,
cause of tremor, depression, and
behavioral disturbance,
Lithium (Li) Li- batteries Affects gastrointestinal and neurologic
systems
Chromium(Cr Production of metal housings, data defect neurodevelopment, multiple
) tapes, floppy-disks. organ failure, carcinogenic lead to
oxidative stress.
Arsenic (As) Light emitting diodes(in the form of Affects breathing, cardiovascular
gallium arsenic) diseases, increase in risk of bladder
cancer, gastrointestinal disturbances,
liver an renal disease, reproductive
health effects.
Nickel(Ni) Electron gun in CRT, rechargeable Skin allergy and carcinogenic.
Ni- Cd batteries
Selenium (Se) Older photo copying machines( photo Gastrointestinal disorders, hair loss,
drums) sloughing of nails, fatigue, irritability,
and neurological problems.
Zinc (Zn) Interior or CRT screen Cytotoxicity, ischemia, trauma
MANAGEMENT OF E WASTE
• Disposal to landfill
• Incineration
• Re-use method
• Avoidance and reduction method
• Extended producer responsibility
• Legislation
• Export to developing countries
• Recycling
RECYCLING
BEST METHOD FOR E-WASTE
MANAGEMENT
•ECONOMIC FACTOR
•ENVIRONMENTAL/RESOURCE FACTOR
•PUBLIC HEALTH FACTOR
•DATA SECURITY FACTOR
CONCENTRATION OF HEAVY METALS IN E-WASTE
CONCENTRATION OF PRECIOUS METALS IN E-WASTE
E-WASTE RECYCLING PROCESS
E-WASTE COLLECTION DISMANTLING
FINAL PRE-
END
METAL PROCESSING
PROCESSING
RECOVERY
Collection
• Several collection programmes exist.
Municipal collection points.
Informal method.
• Materials are classified, evaluated and separated
a/c to recoverability & metal content.
Dismantling
• Removal of functioning component.
• Dismantling and sorting of non-functioning
component.
• Removal of hazardous substances.
• Two methods:
Mechanical shredding and sorting.
Manual dismantling and sorting.
Pre-processing
• Mechanical processing is an integral part.
• Metals and non-metals are separated using
different techniques.
Screening
Magnetic separation: ferrous metals.
Eddy current separation: non ferrous metal.
Density separation: plastic
End Processing
• Metals and non-metal fractions are further
processed
Final Metal Recovery
• Metallic fractions are further processed to
extract minor metals/elements.
• For the extraction of metals, different leaching
techniques are used.
LEACHING
• Process of extracting minerals from a solid by
dissolving them in a liquid.
• Different types of leaching techniques.
Chemical leaching
Biological leaching
Hybrid technique
CHEMICAL LEACHING
• Cyanide leaching
4Au+8CN 4Au(CN)2+ 4e-
O2 + 2H2O+4e-4OH
• Halide leaching
2HNO3 +6HCL2NO +4H2O+3Cl2
2Au +11HCl+3HNO32HAuCl4 +3NOCl + 6H2O
• Thiourea leaching
Au +2CS(NH2)2 Au(CS(NH2)2)2+ + e-
• Thiosulphate Leaching
Au(S2O3)23- + 4NH3 + Cu(S2O3)35-
2Cu(S2O3)35- +8 NH3 +1/2 O2 + H2O 2Cu(NH3)42+
+2OH +6S2O32-
Chemical Leaching Involving Ligands
• Chemical leaching can also be performed by
involving complexometry, where ligands get
complexed with metals.
• EDTA: a strong chelating agent ,used for recovery
of Cr, Cu, and Zn.
• DTPA, NTA are also used as chelating agent for
Cr, Cu, Zn and Pb
Chemical Leaching Involving
Acid Treatment
• Extraction of metals using inorganic acid like
Sulfuric acid
Hydrochloric acid
Aquaregia
Solution of sulfuric acid and nitric acid
Sodium hypochlorite along with acid can be used for
recovery of gold.
Hydrometallurgical Etching
• Kind of chemical leaching that incorporate the
use of chemicals.
FeCl2
CuCl2
HCl
Organic solvents
Chemical Leaching of Cu in Waste PCB
ADVANTAGES OF CHEMICAL LEACHING
• Rapid
• Efficient
DISADVANTAGE OF CHEMICAL LEACHING
• Environmental consequences
BIOLOGICAL LEACHING
• Microbes dissolve the metals present in solid
matrix of waste into soluble form.
• Occurs in acidic medium
• Acidophilic bacteria play key role.
• Autotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria and
heterotrophic fungi are the three major group.
• Interaction of microbes depends on whether they are
prokaryotic or eukaryotic.
• Ability to bind metal ion at cell surface or transport
them into cell.
• Removal of metal by biosorption & bioaccumulation
• Involves ion exchange process.
• Metal ion is exchanged for a counter ion attached to
biomass
ADVANTAGES OF BIOLOGICAL LEACHING
• Cost effective compared to chemical leaching.
• Flexible
• Represented as green technology.
• Complete recovery of metal
DISADVANTAGES OF BIOLOGICAL
LEACHING
• Time consuming
• Not possible in most of cases
HYBRID TECHNIQUE
• Combination of chemical and biological leaching.
• Extraction of Zn, Cd, Pb involving EDTA with
ferrooxidans bacteria.
• Fungi secrets acid like citric, oxalic, tartaric acid
which act as chelating agent
ADVANTAGES OF HYBRID TECHNIQUE
• Enhance the efficiency of metal extraction from E
waste.
• Comparatively less time consuming than biological
leaching alone.
• Ligands like DTPA are strong, reusable and relatively
biostable hence can be recycled.
• By using certain specific ligands and microbes it is
possible to achieve metal specific extraction.
CASE STUDY
• Testing of biological leaching of e-waste.
• Waste material
PCB from cell phone ,grounded in cutting mill to a
particle size <0.5mm (mass of waste was 1g)
• Concentration of metals in analysed e-waste.
Metal Cu Fe Zn Pb
Content(%) 35.9074 0.6293 0.2074 0.6763
• bacteria of the acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans
species was used in study.
• Initial pH was 2.5,was corrected with H2SO4.
• Carried out in erlenmeyer flask.
• Bacteria were inoculated into medium at volume
doses of 10%, 20%, 50% and 100%.
• Copper concentration in solution and pH were
analysed.
• Experiments were carried out for 21 days.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
• E-waste has alkaline nature, optimum pH of bacteria
is 2.5.
• Upper limit of pH can reduce microbial activity.
• Higher dose of bacteria accelerates the copper
extraction.
• Full transfer of copper from solution was observed
after 17 days for 100% of bacteria.
• 10% of bacteria showed lowest efficiency.
CONCLUSION
• Revolution in information and communication
technology: major problem E-WASTE.
• E-waste has dark and bright side.
• Recycling is the best management method.
• Metal extraction by chemical and biological leaching
has many limitations.
• Hybrid technique increases the extraction efficiency.
REFERENCES
• Saidan M, Brown B and Valix M (2012): ‘Leaching of Electronic Waste
Using Biometabolised Acids’, Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering,
Vol.120,No.3,March 2012,pp. 530-534.
• Cui Jirang and Zhang Lifeng(2008): ‘Metallurgical recovery of metals from
electronic waste: A review’, Journal of Hazardous
Materials,Vol.158,No.4,May 2008,pp. 228–256.
• Pant Deepak, Joshi Deepika, K. Upreti Manoj , K. Kotnala Ravindra
,(2012): ‘Chemical and biological extraction of metals present in E waste’,
Journal of waste management’, Vol.100,No,32, June 2012, pp. 979–990.
• Brandl H, Bosshard R. and Wegmann M ( 2001): ‘Computer-munching
microbes: metal leaching from electronic scrap by bacteria and fungi’,
Journal of Hydrometallurgy,Vol. 59,No.5,March 2001,pp.319–326.
• H.Robinson Brett(2009): ‘E-waste: An assessment of global production
and environmental impacts ’,Journal of Science of the Total Environment,
Vol. 408,No.4,Octobrer 2009,pp.183–191.
• Joanna Willner and Agnieszka Fornalczyk (2013) : ‘Extraction of metals
from electronic waste by bacterial leaching’ , Journal of Environment
Protection Engineering, Vol. 39, No. 10,March,pp.115-130.
GET RID OF YOUR
E-WASTE
Thank You….
