• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
• /
• 2001.10a
• /
• pp.193-197
• /
• 2001

This study was carried out to recover gold, silver and other valuable metals from the printed circuit boards (PCB) of waste computers. PCB samples were crushed to under 1mm by a shredder and initially separated into 30% conducting and 70% non-conducting materials by an electrostatic separator. The conducting materials, which contained the valuable metals, were then used as the feed material for magnetic separation where it was found that 42% was magnetic and 58% non- magnetic. The non-magnetic materials contained 0.227mg/g Au and 0.697mg/g Ag. Further leaching of the non-magnetic component using 2.0M sulfuric acid and 0.2M hydrogen peroxide at 85$^{\circ}C$ extracted more than 95% copper, iron, zinc, nickel and aluminium. Au and Ag were not extracted in this solution, however, more than 95% of Au and 100% of Ag were selectively leached with a mixed solvent (0.2M ammonium thiosulfate, 0.02M copper sulfate, 0.4M ammonium hydroxide). Finally, the residues were reacted with a NaCl solution to leach out Pb while sulfuric acid was used to leach out Sn. Recoveries reached 95% and 98% in solution, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.203-213
• /
• 2008

Benthic macro invertebrate communities were collected at six different sampling sites in the Musucheon stream in Korea from July 2006 to July 2007, and ecological exergy values were calculated based on five different functional feeding groups (collector-gatherer, collector-filterer, predator, scrapper, and shredder) of benthic macro invertebrates. Each sampling site was categorized to three stream types (perennial, intermittent and drought) based on the water flow condition. Exergy values were low at all study sites right after a heavy rain and relatively higher in the perennial stream type than in the intermittent or the drought stream type. Self-Organizing Map (SOM), unsupervised artificial neural network, was implemented to pattern spatial and temporal dynamics of ecological exergy of the study sites. SOM classified samples into four clusters. The classification reflected the effects of floods and droughts on benthic macroinvertebrate communities, and was mainly related with the stream types of the sampling sites. Exergy values of each functional feeding group also responded differently according to the different stream types. Finally, the results showed that exergy is an effective ecological indicator, and patterning changes of exergy using SOM is an effective way to evaluate target ecosystems.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.47-60
• /
• 2007

Plastic supply and recycling are increasingly becoming matters of social concern. In our country, Extended Producer Responsibility(EPR) system has been adopted in 2003 to expand recycle and reuse of waste resources at producer side, and due to expansion of the EPR system, amount of the mixed plastic waste generation has been drastically increased. Plastic-plastic separation is most fundamental technique to achieve effective plastic recycling. This paper reviews recent developments in plastic-plastic separation techniques and describe future tasks. The mechanisms of each separation which contain gravity separation, electrostatic separation, flotation, and separation of automotive shredder residue are described, and commercial scale and lab-scale results are introduced.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.43-49
• /
• 2008

In this study, a scrap sorting system using a color recognition method has been developed to automatically sort out specified materials from a mixture, and its application as been examined in the separation of Cu and other non-ferrous metal parts from a mixture of iron scraps. The system is composed of three parts; measuring, conveying and ejecting parts. The color of scrap surface is recognized by the measuring part consisting of a line-scan camera, light sources and a frame grabber. The recognition is program-controlled by a image processing algorithms, and thus only the scrap part of designated color is separated by the use of air nozzles. In addition, the light system is designed to meet a high speed of sorting process with a frequency-variable inverter and the air nozzled ejectors are to be operated by an I/O interface communication with a hardware controller. In the functional tests of the system, its efficiency in the recognition of Cu scraps from its mixture with Fe ones reaches to more than 90%, and that in the separation more than 80% at a conveying speed of 25 m/min. Therefore, it is expected that the system can be commercialized in the industry of shredder makers if a high efficiency ejecting system is realized.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.15 no.6 s.74
• /
• pp.3-9
• /
• 2006

In this study, a machine vision system using a color recognition method has been designed and developed to automatically sort out specified materials from a mixture, especially Cu and other non-ferrous metal scraps from a mixture of iron scraps. The system consists of a CCD camera, light sources, a frame grabber, conveying devices and an air-nozzle ejector, and is program-controlled by a image processing algorithms. The ejectors designed to be operated by an I/O interface communication with a hardware controller. In the functional tests of the system, its efficiency in the separation of Cu scraps from its mixture with Fe ones reaches to 90% or more at a conveying speed of 15m/min, and thus the system is proven to be excellent in terms of the separating efficiency. Therefore, it is expected that the system can be commercialized in the industry of shredder makers if an automated sorting system of high speed is realized.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.373-378
• /
• 2012

The end-of-life vehicles (ELV) are important recycling sources, and there are several stages involved in the recycling such as dismantling, shredding, and treatment of shredder residues (ASR). The legal recycling rate should be at least 95% on and after 2015, while we need a proper system to monitor recycling of ELV components and to calculate the practical recycling rate. The paper suggests a monitoring system that calculates practical recycling rates of dismantled components by use of a database of standard recycling rate as well as a web-based monitoring, which is linked to the Eco Assurance system for electric & electronic equipment and vehicle (EcoAS). Also the system supports dismantling and monitoring process by incorporating a standard vehicular component database, which facilitates recording dismantled weight data but also monitoring of dismantled components.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Resources Recycling Conference
• /
• 2005.05a
• /
• pp.57-61
• /
• 2005

In this study, the machine vision system for inspection using color recognition method have been designed and developed to automatically sort out a specified material such as Cu scraps or other non-ferrous metal scraps mixed in Fe scraps. The system consists of a CCD camera, light sources, a frame grabber, conveying devices and an air nozzled ejector, and is program-controlled by a image processing algorithm. The ejector is designed to be operated by an I/O interface communication with a hardware controller. The sorting examination results show that the efficiency of separating Cu scraps from the Fe scraps mixed with Cu scraps is around 90 % at the conveying speed of 15 m/min. and the system is proven to be excellent in terms of its efficiency. Therefore, it is expected that the system can be commercialized in shredder firms, if the high-speed automated sorting system will be realized.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.3-16
• /
• 2020

This work provides an overview of the steel production process, pretreatment and tramp elements of scraps and recycling technology of dust generated from steelmaking process. Steel is the most common metal used by mankind, with the world production of crude steel in 2018 exceeding 1.8 billion tonnes. Recycling of ferrous scraps reduces CO₂ emissions by about 42 % and saves about 60 % of energy, compared to production steel from iron ore. Steel scraps are usually recycled to both an electric arc furnace (EAF), scrap-based steelmaking and the basic oxygen furnace (BOF), in ore-based steelmaking. EAF steelmaking, which uses iron scrap as a main raw material, is changing to an energy-saving type with a device for preheating scrap. Dust generated from the steelmaking process is recycled in various ways in the steel mill to recover iron and zinc.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.489-499
• /
• 1993

Drifting aquatic insects were collected with using drift nets in the middle reaches of the Paenae stream. a tributary of the Naktong River in Korea, in four seasons from August 1989 to May 1990. During the study period, 6 orders and 31 families were collected. Drifted insects were the most diverse in autumn, while the number of collected individuals was the highest in spring. The abundant groups were the primary consumers such as Ephemeroptera and Diptera including Heptagenidae, Baetidae, and Chironomidae. The secondary consumers such as Plecoptera and Trichoptera, and the burrowers, Ephemeridae and Odonata were collected less than the primary consumers. Generally the first dominant species belonged to Ephemeroptera such as Pseudocloeotz sp., Heptagenia sp., and Baetis sp, In four seasons Ephemeroptera appeared more abundantly in drift(62%) than benthic samplings(33%). Diptera occurred similarly in drift and benthic samplings at 22%. Plecoptera and Trichoptera were collected at 4% and 11%, respectively, and appeared less than in benthic samplings. In functional groups collectors and scrapers were collected more than shredders and predators in drifts. In habit groups clingers and swimmers were present more than sprawlers and burrowers.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.10 no.5
• /
• pp.29-35
• /
• 2001

This study was carried out to recover gold, silver and valuable metals from the printed circuit boards (PCBs) of waste computers. PCBs samples were crushed under 1 mm by a shredder and separated into 30% conducting and loft nonconducting materials by an electrostatic separator. The conducting materials contained valuable metals which were then used as feed materials for magnetic separation. 42% of magnetic materials from the conducting materials was removed by magnetic separation as nonvaluable materials and the others, 58% of non magnetic materials, was used as leaching samples containing 0.227 mg/g Au and 0.697 mg/g Ag. Using the materials of leaching from magnetic separation, more than 95% of copper, iron, zinc, nickel and aluminium was dissolved in 2.0M sulfuric acid solution, added with 0.2M hydrogen peroxide at $85^{\circ}C$. Au and Ag were not extracted in this solution. On the other hand, more than 95% of gold and 100% of silver were leached by the selective leaching with a mixed solvent (0.2M($NH_4$)$_2$$S_2$$O_3$,0.02M $CuSO_4$,0.4M $NH_4$OH). Finally, the residues were reacted with a NaCl solution to leach Pb whereas sulfuric acid was used to leach Sn. Recoveries reached 95% and 98% in solution, respectively.