Proposta para processamento de placas de circuito impresso de computadores desktop obsoletos da UFRN

Abstract

The technological advance of Electronic Electrical Equipment (EEE) and the frenetic consumerism of the population constantly favor the purchase and exchange of such equipment. Continuous disposal becomes an environmental problem due to its accumulation in open skies beyond the actual depreciation of the equipment over time. Among the EEE, in particular the printed circuit boards of obsolete computers of UFRN, after becoming non-functional are discarded, accumulated and alienated by the Department of Material and Heritage (DMP). This disposition is carried out in a unique way for a set fixed amount which ends up devaluing the equipment individually. A route for valorization of such equipment is to recycle its components through a study already carried out experimentally, treating the PCI by the leaching process, using little raw material and producing new metallic, polymeric and ceramic secondary resources. In this work, a pilot-scale study was carried out to meet the demand for residues of circuit boards generated by UFRN, analyzing the essential equipment to perform the established unit operations, as well as the quantification of PCI to be treated and the raw material necessary for such a reaction. The economic analysis of the process was studied with a simple comparison between the process of alienation already carried out and how the project contributes to decrease the impacts generated in a more sustainable way.