Download Separation of non-metal from waste printed circuit board for rubber

National Conference on Green Engineering and Technologies for Sustainable Future-2014
Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
ISSN: 0974-2115
Separation of non-metal from waste printed circuit board for rubber composite
S. Shylin H. Jose *, .R.A.Sankaran,1 R.Manikandan,2 Channankaiah,3 A.G.Ganesh Kumar,4
*Department of Mechanical Engineering, Adhiyamaan College of Engineering, Hosur.
1
Salem College of Engineeering and Technology – Salem.
*Corresponding author: Email: [email protected],
ABSTRACT
The usage of electronic components is increasing day to day and their impacts on environment are huge. The disposal of printed
circuit boards is a major issue. Since it has hazardous effects on the environment. An efficient way of using the waste Printed circuit
boards was developed in this paper. The reclamation and reuse of non-metallic materials from waste PCBs is developed by thermal
treatment. The major constituents of the recovered non-metals are epoxy resins and glass fibres. The Energy dispersive X–ray
spectroscopic analysis is carried out to identify the percentage of other constituents present in it. Since Epoxy resins have good binding
properties with other materials and glass fibres can withstand high compressive strength, it can be used as an ad-mixture in rubber
composite.
Keywords: Rubber, Printed circuit board, ad-mixture.
INTRODUCTION
Printed circuit board is an essential part of almost all electronic equipment systems. Advanced PCBs may contain many
components such as capacitors, resistors, heat sink present in the substrate.This tendency causes large amount of the waste and becomes
a serious environmental problem. Every year 20–50 million tonnes of Waste Electronic Equipment (WEE) are generated worldwide,
which could bring serious risks to the human health and the environment. The recovered non-metals were used to make models,
construction materials, composite boards, sewer grates. The PCB non-metal products have better mechanical characteristics and
durability than traditional materials and fillers. The compressive strength of the PCB non-metallic material composite boards is 30%
greater than that of standard products. The 30wt% of non-metals recycled from waste PCBs can be added in the PP composites without
violating the environmental regulation. The non-metallic powder recycled from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) is used as a filler
material in recycled HDPE (rHDPE) in production of rHDPE/PCB composites. Nowadays rubber products are developed to provide
the acceptable engineering properties and to fulfil the industrial requirements through rubber composites. Natural rubber is one of the
most important elastomers widely used in industrial and technological areas and also it is an unsaturated elastomer with some good
properties such as high strength, outstanding resilience, high hardness and high elongation at break. The rubber materials are used to
tyres, bearings, seals, electrical cables etc. This paper aims to reclaim the non-metallic powder from waste printed circuit boards and to
analyse the composition of materials present in it.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Separation Methods of PCB:
Collection of Printed Circuit Boards:
1. Waste Printed Circuit Boards (WPCB) of television and computer monitors were collected.
2. These WPCBs consist of components like heat sinks, transistors, resistors which are not advised to be treated in the induction
furnace.
3. The heat sinks, transistors, resistors are removed manually and by desoldering. The collected printed circuit boardswere shown in
figure 1.1.
Disassembling of Electronic Components:
1. Desoldering process was employed to remove small components such as resistors, transistors, from the WPCBs.
2. Components like heat sinks, transformers are big in size and cannot be removed by desoldering process.
3. These components were shredded using shearing machine.
4. The shredded printed circuit boards prepared for further processing.
Separation of Different Metalsfrom shredded PCB:
1. The shredded printed circuit boards of dimension 15cm x10cm are prepared.
2. Induction furnace was used for the separation of different metals of PCB; the figure 1.3 shows the crucible with PCB at a volume
of 1.45 kg inside the furnace.
3. The operating temperature for this process is around 300 oC - 700oC where the properties of the non-metals are retained.
4. The shredded printed circuit boards were treated for a period of 15 minutes to obtain desired optimum properties.
Manual Chipping Process:
1. The thermally treated PCB material were taken out of the crucible and allowed to cool down.
2. Manual chipping process was used to separate non-metals from metals.
3. Non-metallic powder of coarse grain size was obtained from this process.
4. Further the coarse grain was ground to get fine powder.
5. The figure 1.4 shown below illustrates about the manual chipping process
Sieving:
1. The obtained nonmetallic powder is sieved to get a finer and uniform grain size.
2. The sieving is done in three steps where a 500 micron sieve is initially used to remove the larger metal flakes present in them.
3. Secondly, the sieved non-metal is further sieved to 300 microns where it removes the small metal particles present in them.
JCHPS Special Issue 4: December 2014
www.jchps.com
Page 166
National Conference on Green Engineering and Technologies for Sustainable Future-2014
Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
ISSN: 0974-2115
4. Finally, a 212 micron sieve was used to obtain a fine powder,which can be used as an ad-mixture in rubber.
5. The figure 1.5 shows the sieved Non metal powder.
TEST RESULT
EDAX Test:
a. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy is an analytical technique used for the elemental analysis of a sample.
b. The figure 1.6 shows the spectroscopic view of the 212 microns non-metal powder.
c. The table1.1 illustrates the weight content of different materials in the Non metal powder, and the atomic percentage is also shown
in the table.
Table 1.1 EDAX Test Result
Weight%
Element Weight%
Atomic%
Sigma
Mg
2.47
0.58
5.07
Al
3.34
2.85
6.17
Si
16.40
1.60
29.15
P
9.26
1.41
14.91
Ca
4.99
0.83
6.21
Ti
3.89
0.79
4.05
Fe
5.76
1.02
5.15
Br
37.19
4.48
23.23
Sn
11.36
1.83
4.78
Pb
5.35
3.02
1.29
100%
Totals
Figure 1.1 COLLECTED
PCB’s
Figure 1.2 Wastes Components Removed
from PCBs
Figure 1.3 Heat treated WPCBs
Figure 1.4 Manual chipping
Figure 1.5 Sieved Non Metal Powder at 212
Figure 1.6 Spectroscopic view of the nonProcesses
microns
metal powder
DISCUSSION
The reclamation of the non-metals from the Waste Printed Circuit Boards (WPCB), which is 70% of the weight of the Non –
metals in PCB, was carried out successfully by thermal treatment. The presence of bromine content in the WPCB is found by energy
dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis, which improves the curing property of the rubber composites. Hence, the non-metals from
waste printed circuit boards can be used as an ad-mixture for rubber and this rubber composite can be used for low quality rubber
products such as mats, bushes, washers, cushions, balls, shoes, blankets etc.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are would like to thank Mr. K.Shanmuga Ram., Mr. K.Sharathbabu, And Mr. M. Prasad for giving valuablesupport
throughout this project. The authors also thank all faculty members and all friends of Mechanical Engineering Department, Adhiyamaan
College of Engineering, Hosur,for their valuable suggestions and who are directly or indirectly associated with this.
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National Conference on Green Engineering and Technologies for Sustainable Future-2014
Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
ISSN: 0974-2115
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