ECOSERV is a Lebanese non-profit organization with the primary goal of promoting good environmental practices among the Lebanese community for sustainable solutions and sound development, focusing on electronic waste (e-waste). ECOSERV collects all old, end of life, obsolete, and defective electronic products to forward to recycling and/or disposal with environmentally sound processes. Since no local e-waste recycling capabilities with safe and environmentally sound treatment of hazardous waste exist, ECOSERV relies on exporting e-waste primary material.
We plan on working with ECOSERV to explore optimal methods for the recovery of valuable materials from electronic waste (e-waste) using chemical engineering processes, including solvent extraction, precipitation, and pyrolysis. The development of a local solution for e-waste treatment providing materials recovery has several advantages, including: resolving a bottleneck in the e-waste collection and treatment process, developing a scalable, sustainable process for a worldwide challenge pertaining to e-waste treatment, and providing valuable material that will enhance the financial sustainability of the process.
Challenges
E-waste is a heterogeneous mix of materials comprising valuable components as well as materials that require dedicated handling for disposal to minimize environmental impact. Materials in e-waste include silver, gold, copper, and aluminum, glass, and plastics mixtures. Separating these components for the recovery of relatively pure material to obtain streams of elements with a commercial value is a significant challenge.
We will use chemical engineering processes, including precipitation, extraction with solvent recovery, and pyrolysis for the efficient recovery and treatment of e-waste, producing streams of materials with purity levels of a commercial value. We will rely on process design simulation to guide the process development, including energy optimization and financial sustainability, and will use lab experiments to demonstrate proof of concept for our selected approach.
Methods
analytical chemistry
process simulation
experimental design
sustainability
Academic Majors of Interest
chemistry
chemical engineering
Preferred Skills
UV
HPLC
LC/MS
HYSYS
ASPEN+
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