Modeling and simulation of PCB recycling process

Abstract

A model that predicts the size and grade distribution of the printed circuit board (PCB) product issued from grinding mill and Knelson concentrator is introduced. Printed circuit board, otherwise known as printed wired board, can be considered as bicomponent material which consist of copper with 99.99% purity and glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin. These materials are quite different from each other in terms of their breakage behaviors, densities, etc. Taking advantage of these characteristics, impact grinding and gravity separation are being applied in order to recover copper from printed circuit board. In this study, we proposed mathematical model which describes breakage phenomenon and concentration process and conducted the simulation of the recycling process to predict the result of copper concentration.