Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Circuit Board Component Recovery for Electronic Waste Reduction
EPA Contract Number: EPD15021Title: Circuit Board Component Recovery for Electronic Waste Reduction
Investigators: Tietjen, Byron W
Small Business: Advanced Recovery and Recycling LLC
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: I
Project Period: September 1, 2015 through February 29, 2016
Project Amount: $96,360
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase I (2015) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) , SBIR - Air and Climate
Description:
The goal of this SIBR project was to design a production version Depopulator, based on a prototype fabricated several years ago. The purpose of the Depopulator is to reduce the amount of e-Waste sent to refineries. This is turn reduces smelting based, heavy metals pollution.
Background: The Depopulator is a patented device which applies electrically generated radiated heat to a circuit board to melt the solder so that the integrated circuits and other parts on the board can be simply shaken off. This device automatically removes parts from circuit boards, and in one mode can do so without electrically damaging them. This reuse mode removes the circuits, but leaves them functionally intact. In another mode, called a refining mode, the Depopulator can remove parts even more rapidly without concern about leaving the parts undamaged. Whether the parts are functionally intact does not matter if they are to be refined for precious metals. Parts that are not refined will be disposed of in accordance with SERI R2 requirements regarding mercury, batteries and solder.
The Depopulator consists of a conveyor belt upon which the circuit boards travel. The conveyor belt moves the circuit boards past one or more heater stages. The final stage heater contains a shaker mechanism which literally vibrates the parts off the boards. At this point the circuit parts fall down through the conveyor to a collection area. After this, the depopulated circuit boards exit the system. The baseline design is a two stage heater system, which is sufficient to meet the processing rate specified in the system specification.
A schematic diagram of the Depopulator demonstrating its method of operation is shown in Figure 1.
The prototype Depopulator operated at a relatively slow rate. The purpose of the redesign is to increase the processing rate several fold to meet demands of the recycling operations of companies interested in the concept. The throughput requirements are given in the next section.
Figure 1: Depopulator Schematic Diagram
A rendering of the production Depopulator is shown in Figure 2. The deliverables for this contract are: The key products of this effort are a full list of mechanical parts; a full list of electrical parts and full electrical schematics.
Figure 2: Rendering of the D2000 – the production Depopulator
The Depopulator will be operated in two basic modes: Reuse and Refining.
- Reuse: The reuse mode will be a slower, more “delicate” mode in which the temperature of the PCB while in the Depopulator will be controlled not to exceed the melting point of solder by any significant amount. It will also control the rate of temperature increase so as to not place undue thermal stress on the components. In so doing, the ICs on the PCBs will not heat up nor be thermally stressed to the point of failure, thus preserving their functional integrity.
- Refining: The refining mode will operate at a faster conveyor rate, higher temperature, and at a higher rate of temperature change than the reuse mode. This will cause parts to fall off earlier in the process compared to the reuse mode, which should increase the throughput rate. In this mode, the functional integrity of the depopulated ICs is not a concern, rather a faster throughput rate is the goal.
For both modes, parts that are neither reused nor refined, but rather are disposed of, will be in compliance with the SERI R2 requirements on batteries, mercury and solder.
Summary of Findings:
The production Depopulator will be able to process the required amount of circuit boards. The design is based on a two stage heater system. The first stage heats the circuit boards up to near the melting point of the solder. Before the parts start falling off, the circuit boards are transferred via conveyor to the second stage heater which completes the heating process and proceeds to remove the parts by mechanically shaking the circuit boards.
The parts fall off and exit the bottom of the system, to be collected by the user in any fashion suited to their needs. The depopulated circuit boards exit the Depopulator out the back, and also fall into a collection device suited to the end user. This could be in the form of a conveyor system, or a collection bin which can be manually emptied.
Commercialization analysis shows that a single Depopulator can save an e-Waste recycler money versus a process which does not use the Depopulator.
Conclusions:
The goal of this project has been achieved. The production Depopulator will be a very reliable device which will meet or exceed all requirements laid out in the system requirements specification. The design comes complete with mechanical and electrical drawings and parts lists, and as such is very ready to go to a Phase II.
Publications:
During this phase of the project, the following documents were developed, and are included in the appendices:
- System Level Hardware Requirements Specification which is the system level set of requirements, specifying the outputs and rates of processing of populated circuit boards
- Thermal Test Verification Procedure. This documents the fabrication of a thermal test fixture and test procedures whose purpose is to determine the rate of temperature increase of populated circuit boards.
- Critical Item Development Specification which details the design concepts of the D2000.
Commercialization
The approach of this development at this point is to apply for a Phase II award and at the same time go to market with the Depopulator. The marketing of the Depopulator is made possible by the fact that progress on this Phase I award not only covered the Research and Development of the system but the production level design as well, down to every nut and bolt. The CAD files and drawings are ready for every part. This level of production readiness is what would normally be expected well into a Phase II.
For production and marketing, we will offer several versions of the Depopulator tailored to the needs of the user. The versions will vary in the number of heater stages. Increasing the number of heating stages increases the length of the Depopulator which, in turn, increases the processing rate as shown in Figure 3. The net profit generated with each version is also shown. Marketing will start in the Spring of 2016.
Figure 3: Performance of the various Depopulator versions
SBIR Phase II:
Circuit board Component Recovery for Electronic Waste Reduction | Final ReportThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.