Study on particle characteristics and metal distribution of waste printed circuit boards based on a shear crusher

The crushing process plays an important role in the separation and purification process of waste printed circuit boards (PCBs). In this work, the fine crushing of waste PCBs was conducted to investigate particle characteristics and metal distribution using a shear crusher. The results demonstrated that a better crushing was obtained with the feeding concentration of 183 g/L and crushing time of 60 s. Meanwhile, the coarse and fine particles pre-sented the characteristics of higher circularity and smaller aspect ratio than medium-size particles for waste PCBs. Main metal elements such as Cu, Al, Zn and Fe were distributed in waste PCBs with various particle sizes, and these total metal content in the coarse crushed products was obviously higher than that in the fine crushed products. Overall, waste PCBs can be effectively crushed to a desirable product for subsequent separation and purification process using a shear crusher.

Automated summary

The study investigates the particle characteristics and metal distribution during the fine crushing of waste PCBs using a shear crusher. The results show that better crushing efficiency is achieved with a feeding concentration of 183 g/L and crushing time of 60s. The coarse and fine particles of waste PCBs have higher circularity and smaller aspect ratio compared to medium-size particles. The main metal elements are distributed in waste PCBs with different particle sizes, and the total metal content in the coarse crushed products is higher than that in the fine crushed products.