Movement behavior in electrostatic separation: Recycling of metal materials from waste printed circuit board

Recycling of metal materials from waste printed circuit board (PCB) is one of the major applications of the electrostatic separation technologies. This paper analyzed the particle shape factor that affected the efficiency of electrostatic separation and addressed influence of the particle shape from both a computational and an experimental point of view. It was performed on three kinds of different shapes of metal materials from scrap PCBs: sphere, cylinder, and flake. Three theoretical models were established based on shapes, and the effect of different shapes on movement behavior was analyzed. Theoretical studies showed that movement behavior of three shape particles was distinguishing: the sphere particles could be projected farther, subsequently cylinder particles, flake could be projected closer, and the experimental results were in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. The results can be used for the design of electrostatic separation technologies and recycling of metal materials from waste printed circuit board.