Study on the Gasification and Melting Characteristics of Electronic Waste

The disposal of WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) or ¿electronic waste¿ is an important issue in the whole world. Its gasification and melting characteristics were studied here. The experiments proved that over 50% of WEEE would be decomposed through gasification or pyrolysis and its total heat value could amount to more than 20000 MJ/Kg. After gasification stage, the abundant metals, such as Fe, Cu, etc., would be more convenient to be recovered. Then melting would be a good method to dispose of the remainders of WEEE. The final melting production would be fairly stable because some metals would be solidified into various compounds that are difficult to be digested. Thus, by means of gasification and melting, it is potential to realize the energy utilization, metal recovery as well as pollution avoidance of heavy metals for the WEEE.