Copper Recovery from Printed Circuit Boards Waste Sludge: Multi-step Current Electrolysis and Modeling

Heavy metals recovery from Printed Circuit Boards industrial wastewater is crucial because of its cost effectiveness and environmental friendliness. In this study, a copper recovery route combining the sequential processes of acid leaching and LIX 984N extracting with an electrowinning technique from Printed Circuit Boards production’s sludge was performed. The used residual sludge was originated from Hanoi Urban Environment One Member Limited Company (URENCO). The extracted solution from the printed circuit boards waste sludge containing a high copper concentration of 19.2 g/L and a small amount of iron (0.575 ppm) was used as electrolyte for the subsequent electrolysis process. By using a simulation model for multi-step current electrolysis, the reasonable current densities for an electrolysis time interval of 30 minutes were determined, to optimize the specific consumption energy for the copper recovery. The mathematical simulation model was built to calculate the important parameters of this process.