[en] The NOVA process was specifically developed to pre-treat low-grade Printed Circuit Board (PCB) concentrates. It generates three specific concentrates where the valuables metals are distributed as:
- Precious metals (MP) in an electronic components concentrate (Cu and MP concentrate);
- Cu in a pure Cu concentrate (i.e. with low leachable metals content) = depopulated PCB;
- Sn in a Sn and MP concentrate.
The objective of performing such metals separation is double:
1) It enables the recovery of Sn that is currently not valorised by the industrial smelting route;
2) It enables to concentrate the MP in specific outputs allowing a better economical valorisation.
The heart of NOVA is the combination of mechanical activation and electrochemistry. The technology has been validated on post-shredding PCB coming from Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and End-of-Life (EOL) vehicles provided by Comet Traitements. During this validation at pilot scale, PM concentration factors of 5 and 15, respectively for Ag and Au, were observed. Note that the PM concentration factors are depending on EoL PCB characteristics (PCB design, WEEE category, step of the recycling process which PCB were sampled).
The Nova process is currently running at pilot scale TRL7 (15kg/day, upscaling possible).
