Aplicación de la separación en campo eléctrico a la recuperación de metales a partir de residuos de la industria electrónica

Abstract

The continuous progress of the electronic and computer systems produce important amounts of components discarded as a waste. In this work the feasibility of a separation method to obtain a metal concentrate from the comminuted residue was studied. The sample was reduced to below 1 mm size. In this condition the liberation index for the metallic fraction is higher than 90%. Further reductions in size are not recommended because the obtained increase in the liberation index does not compensate for the decrease in metal recovery. A two factorial experimental design with factors at three and four levels was implemented in order to establish the best operating conditions of a Carpco electrodynamic cylinder separator. For the fraction 1/0,1 mm a combination of 125 rpm and 35 kV voltage allows for a 94% metal recovery rate with a 96% metal content in the metallic fraction. So, the proposed separation method is effective for the production of a concentrate suitable for metallurgical treatment in order to extract the precious metals contained in it.