Title:

Recycling of gold from waste electrical and electronic equipment by electrorefining of copper

Alternative title:

Recykling złota ze zużytego sprzętu elektrycznego i elektronicznego poprzez elektrorafinację miedzi

Creator:

Wędrychowicz, Maciej ; Piotrowicz, Andrzej ; Gabryelewicz, Izabela ; Krupa, Patryk ; Okoniewska, Oliwia ; Besta, Petr ; Samolejová, Andrea

Subject:

gold electrorefining ; e-waste ; gold recovery

Description:

This article presents the methods of processing gold-plated pins from, among others, used computer equipment and discusses the results of own research on the recovered metal. Due to the relatively small structure of the pins and the fact that the gold layer is only a few microns thick, recovering gold from them constitutes a significant challenge. On the other hand, gold is a precious metal which enables the collective removal of other metals to obtain pure gold. The suggested method involves compacting the gold-plated pins into an anode form and carrying out the electro-refining process. Metals such as copper, tin and iron pass into the anode sludge from which they can be extracted or serve as a commercial intermediate to be sold to smelter plants. The anode sludge was melted in the flame of an oxy-acetylene torch in a graphite crucible by adding borax. As a result of the melting, several metallic precipitates were obtained, which were then hot-incorporated into a sample with a diameter of 30 mm and a height of 12 mm. Eventually, a pure gold alloy sample was obtained containing Cu 40.69%, Sn 9.61% and Au 48.58%.

Place of publishing:

Koszalin

Publisher:

Politechnika Koszalińska

Date:

2022

Type:

artykuł w czasopiśmie

Language:

eng

Is part of:

Rocznik Ochrona Środowiska. Vol. 24, s. 371-382

Rights:

Biblioteka Politechniki Koszalińskiej

Access rights:

internet

License:

Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0