Recovery of Non-Ferrous Metals from PCBs Scrap by Liquation from Lead

This article presents the results of research on the recycling of non-ferrous metals from PCB scrap using melting in metallic lead. The idea of this process is to dissolve (transfer) metals from PCB scrap in lead, and then liquation them by cooling the lead-metals alloy. PCB scrap was crushed and then melted into liquid lead. The lead after process was then poured into the casting mold and its chemical composition was examined. Among the various metals in the PCB scrap, copper and tin in particular are dissolved in lead. The more scrap dissolved in lead, the higher the concentration of copper and tin in the alloy. The highest obtained concentration of copper in lead were about 2.2 wt.%, and for tin about 0.8 wt.%.

Automated summary

This article presents the results of research on the recycling of non-ferrous metals from PCB scrap using the melting in metallic lead method. It shows that copper and tin have a high solubility in lead, and the concentration of copper and tin in the alloy increases with a higher amount of scrap dissolved in lead.