Separation and Recovery of Fine Particles from Waste Circuit Boards Using an Inflatable Tapered Diameter Separation Bed

Table 1

Experimental results from respectively separating 0.5–0.25 mm, 0.25–0.125 mm, and −0.125 mm WPCB.

Size (mm)	Metal content of WPCB (%)	Water feed rate (m^3/h)	Gas flow rate (m^3/h)	Product	Yield; (%)	Metal content; (%)	Recovery; (%)	Separation; efficiency; (%)
0.5~0.25	5.02	0.5	0.4	Concentrate	52.12	9.05	94.17	94.20
				Tailing	47.88	0.61
		1	0.4	Concentrate	40.32	11.21	90.04	90.01
				Tailing	59.68	0.84
		1.5	0.4	Concentrate	35.65	12.33	87.56	87.71
				Tailing	64.35	0.96
		0.5	0.8	Concentrate	44.28	10.57	90.59	90.46
				Tailing	55.72	0.84
		0.5	1.2	Concentrate	36.41	12.22	88.63	88.73
				Tailing	63.59	0.89
0.25~0.125	4.21	0.5	0.4	Concentrate	46.54	8.32	91.97	91.86
				Tailing	53.46	0.64
		1	0.4	Concentrate	38.1	10.06	91.04	91.03
				Tailing	61.9	0.61
		1.5	0.4	Concentrate	30.72	12.05	87.89	87.99
				Tailing	69.28	0.73
		0.5	0.8	Concentrate	42.16	9.01	90.23	90.25
				Tailing	57.84	0.71
		0.5	1.2	Concentrate	33.76	10.57	84.76	84.74
				Tailing	66.24	0.97
−0.125	3.01	0.5	0.4	Concentrate	40.25	6.21	83.04	83.14
				Tailing	59.75	0.85
		1	0.4	Concentrate	30.78	7.98	81.6	81.86
				Tailing	69.22	0.79
		1.5	0.4	Concentrate	22.64	9.72	73.11	73.00
				Tailing	77.36	1.05
		0.5	0.8	Concentrate	32.01	7.45	79.23	78.96
				Tailing	67.99	0.93
		0.5	1.2	Concentrate	25.67	9.16	78.12	78.01
				Tailing	74.33	0.89