Resources Recycling (자원리싸이클링)

The Korean Institute of Resources Recycling (한국자원리싸이클링학회)
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Life Cycle Environmental Analysis of Valuable Metal (Ag) Recovery Process in Plating Waste Water

폐도금액내 유가금속(Ag) 회수 공정에 대한 전과정 환경성 분석

  • Da Yeon Kim (Program in Circular Economy Environmental System, Graduate School, Inha University) ;
  • Seong You Lee (Program in Circular Economy Environmental System, Graduate School, Inha University) ;
  • Yong Woo Hwang (Department of Environmental Engineering, Inha University) ;
  • Taek Kwan Kwon (Program in Circular Economy Environmental System, Graduate School, Inha University)
  • 김다연 (인하대학교 순환경제환경시스템전공) ;
  • 이성유 (인하대학교 순환경제환경시스템전공) ;
  • 황용우 (인하대학교 환경공학과) ;
  • 권택관 (인하대학교 순환경제환경시스템전공)
  • Received : 2023.02.22
  • Accepted : 2023.03.15
  • Published : 2023.04.30
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Abstract

In 2018, the demand for silver (referred to as Ag) in the electrical and electronics sector was 249 million tons. The demand stood at 81 million tons in the solar module production sector. Currently, due to the rapid increase in solar module installation, the demand for silver is increasing drastically in Korea. However, Korea's natural metal resources and reserves are insufficient in comparison to their consumption, and the domestic silver ore self-sufficiency rate was as low as 2.2% as of 2021. This implies that a recycling technology is necessary to recover valuable metal resources contained in the waste plating solution generated in the metal industry. Therefore, this study compared and analyzed, the results of the impact evaluation through life cycle assessment according to an improvement in the process of recovery of valuable metals in the waste plating solution. The process improvement resulted in reducing GWP (Global Warming Potential) and ADP(Abiotic Depletion Potential) by 50% and 67%, respectively. The GWP of electricity and industrial water was reduced by 98% and 93%, respectively, which significantly contributed to the minimization of energy and water consumption. Thus, the improvement in recycling technology has a high potential to reduce chemical and energy use and improve resource productivity in the urban mining industry.

우리나라는 2018년 기준 전기전자 분야에서 은 수요는 249백만 톤으로 조사되었으며, 태양광 모듈용으로는 81백만 톤으로 조사되었다. 현재 태양광 모듈 설치의 급증으로 해당 분야의 은 사용량 또한 증가하고 있는 추세이다. 그러나 우리나라의 금속자원 및 부존량은 소비량 대비 부족한 실정이며, 금속자원 중 은광의 국내 자급률은 2021년 기준 약 2.2%로 매우 낮은 상황으로 조사되어 이를 개선하기 위해 금속산업에서 발생하는 폐도금액내 함유되어 있는 유가금속 자원회수기술을 통한 재활용이 필요하다고 판단된다. 따라서, 본 연구에서는 전과정평가를 통해 폐도금액 내 유가금속 회수공정 개선에 따른 영향평가 결과를 비교 분석하고자 하였다. 그 결과, 개선을 통해 GWP 및 ADP는 각각 약 49% 및 67% 저감되는 것으로 나타났다. 그 중, 전기 및 상수의 GWP는 각각 98% 및 93% 저감되는 것으로 나타나 에너지 소비 최소화에 크게 기여하는 것으로 나타났다. 따라서, 재자원화 기술의 발전이 화학물질 및 에너지의 사용 절감할 수 있으며, 이를 통해 도시광산산업에서 자원생산성을 향상시킬 수 있을 것으로 판단된다.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

이 논문은 정부(환경부)의 재원으로 한국환경산업기술원의 지원을 받아 수행된 연구(지식기반 환경서비스 특성화대학원사업)임.

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