Recovery of precious metals from WEEE using circulating particulate bed reactor

Abstract

Recovery of precious metals from Waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) using 3-D electrode fluidized bed reactor is one of the hydrometallurgical ways. Hydrometallurgical method starts with leaching of WEEE sample by 4M Potassium Iodide (KI) solution with Hydrochloric acid (HCl). Platinum and Ruthenium were found from the leaching solution of pH 5 by determine the element composition in filtered sample. Leaching solutions filtered and used as electrolyte during electro-deposition experiment with 3-D electrode fluidized bed reactor. 3-D electrode provides larger surface area per volume ratio compared to 2-D plate electrode. Fluidization condition in reactor promotes the contact between ions and electrode. The reactor was designed and fabricated based on the prototypes from previous researches. The reactor operated under room temperature with constant 600mL/min electrolyte flow rate. Different voltages (0.1V, 0.15V, and 0.2V) were applied to determine the best recovery efficiency of precious metal. However, only Ruthenium was successfully deposited on the harvested activated carbon after electrodeposition experiment. The element composition of ruthenium decreases as the voltage supplied increase. TABLE OF CONTENTS 4