es5030383_si_001.pdf (538.43 kB)
State-of-the-Art of Recycling E‑Wastes by Vacuum Metallurgy Separation
journal contribution
posted on 2014-12-16, 00:00 authored by Lu Zhan, Zhenming XuIn
recent era, more and more electric and electronic equipment
wastes (e-wastes) are generated that contain both toxic and valuable
materials in them. Most studies focus on the extraction of valuable
metals like Au, Ag from e-wastes. However, the recycling of metals
such as Pb, Cd, Zn, and organics has not attracted enough attentions.
Vacuum metallurgy separation (VMS) processes can reduce pollution
significantly using vacuum technique. It can effectively recycle heavy
metals and organics from e-wastes in an environmentally friendly way,
which is beneficial for both preventing the heavy metal contaminations
and the sustainable development of resources. VMS can be classified
into several methods, such as vacuum evaporation, vacuum carbon reduction
and vacuum pyrolysis. This paper respectively reviews the state-of-art
of these methods applied to recycling heavy metals and organics from
several kinds of e-wastes. The method principle, equipment used, separating
process, optimized operating parameters and recycling mechanism of
each case are illustrated in details. The perspectives on the further
development of e-wastes recycling by VMS are also presented.