ECO-FRIENDLY LEACHING OF BASE METALS FROM WASTE PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS: EXPERIMENTAL STUDY AND MATHEMATICAL MODELING

Our research aims the development of an eco-friendly leaching method for the separation of electronic components with high gold content, from other parts of waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) without the use of any other separation technique. The base metals were removed in a specially designed leaching reactor using acidic FeCl3 solution. The dependency of the dissolution rate of base metals on the amount of FeCl3 and solid: liquid ratio was determined based on a kinetic model developed in MATLAB. The kinetic parameters identified by the experimental results indicate that the leaching rate of metals is more strongly dependent on the amount of FeCl3 used than on the solid: liquid ratio. The optimal values of the operating parameters were established in order to maximize the amount of dissolved metals and minimize the oxidant consumption.