Technological advancements and the ever-increasing demand for the latest electronic gadgets lead to the huge generation of waste. Printed circuit boards are key connecting components of any electronic device, and the presence of significant metallic values such as copper can be regarded as a valuable secondary source. The discarded printed circuit boards are grounded to − 1 mm size and they consist of 30–40% metal values and 60–70% plastic–organic fraction. Due to the presence of a high amount of plastics in the feed, separation between the plastic and the metallic fraction is necessary for effective recycling. In this study, air and water-based fluidization processes are experimentally investigated for the separation of metallic values. Combined fluidization concentrate yielded a grade of about 90% with an overall recovery of 35%. It was found that the combination of air and water fluidization is a promising route to recover metals from electronic scrap as it is cost-effective and environment-friendly. The underflow fraction obtained consists of 87% metal fraction (Al, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Sn) and can be further used in alloy-making applications.

中文翻译：

---

评价从废弃印刷电路板中回收金属的流化工艺

技术进步和对最新电子产品的不断增长的需求导致产生大量废物。印刷电路板是任何电子设备的关键连接组件，并且诸如铜之类的重要金属价值可被视为有价值的辅助来源。废弃的印刷电路板的接地尺寸为− 1 mm，由30–40％的金属值和60–70％的塑料-有机成分组成。由于进料中存在大量的塑料，因此塑料和金属部分之间的分离对于有效回收是必需的。在这项研究中，以空气和水为基础的流化过程进行了实验研究，以分离金属值。合并的流化浓缩液的品位约为90％，总回收率为35％。人们发现，空气和水的流态化相结合是从电子废料中回收金属的一种有前途的途径，因为它既经济又环保。所获得的底流组分由87％的金属组分（Al，Cu，Zn，Pb和Sn）组成，可进一步用于合金制造应用。