THERMODYNAMIC SIMULATION OF PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD SMELTING — INFLUENCE OF FEED COMPOSITION AND SMELTING CONDITION ON SMELTING OUTPUT

• Main Author: Yap, Wilbert
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/82908
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Over the past few decades, e-waste has attracted considerable global attention due to its worldwide environmental concerns. Indonesia is the largest e-waste producer in ASEAN producing around 1,700 kilotons of e-waste in 2020 and is expected to continue to increase to 3,250 kilotons in 2040. The use of e-waste as raw material for secondary copper smelting is a solution that can be done to recycle this waste. This research was conducted to study the melting behavior of various printed circuit board (PCB) compositions in order to determine the effect of feed composition on smelting output using FactSage 8.2. Simulations were conducted with feeds of PCBs, scrap copper, and slag. Two methods of thermodynamic simulation of e-waste melting at high temperatures have been carried out. The first method was carried out by adjusting the melting conditions by setting the temperature (900, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400, 1500°C) and partial pressure of oxygen (pO2) (10-6, 10-7, 10-8, 10-9, 10-10, 10-11) at PCB variations in the feed mixture (25%, 50%, and 75%) to provide an overview of the optimal conditions of the smelting process. The second method was simulated by varying the feed to air ratio (feed/blast), the amount of coke (0%, 1%, 3%, 6%, 12%), and the amount of heat loss (0, 1, 2 MJ/kg feed) from the furnace to study the resulting melting output. The simulated data were then analyzed to study the effect of feed composition and smelting conditions on the type and composition of phases formed during the smelting of e-waste at high temperatures. Increasing temperature and decreasing pO2, decreased the copper loss in the slag but also decreased the copper purity in the black copper. The optimum condition for secondary copper smelting is at T=1400°C and pO2=10-9 atm for 50% PCB in the feed. At 50% PCB in feed and heat loss scenario = 1 MJ/kg feed (10,582 MJ), the optimal condition can be achieved at the addition of air amount of 2 kg/kg-feed, addition of 6% coke/kg-feed where the copper content in black copper is 85%, copper loss in slag is 0.65%, and dioxin partial pressure is 10-14.09 atm.