MVJ COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, BENGALURU-560067

(Autonomous Institution Affiliated to VTU, Belagavi)

DEPARTMENT OF ____________ ENGINEERING

CERTIFICATE

Certified that the minor project work titled ‘Recovery of Gold from Printed Circuit Boards’ is
carried out by ASHUTOSH KOHLI (USN), ABHISHEKA K.B. (USN), and DEEKSHAYA
B.D. (USN) who are confide students of MVJ College of Engineering, Bengaluru, in partial
fulfilment for the award of Degree of Bachelor of Engineering in ---------- Engineering of the
Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi during the year 2021-2022. It is certified that
all corrections/suggestions indicated for the Internal Assessment have been incorporated in the
major project report deposited in the departmental library. The major project report has been
approved as it satisfies the academic requirements in respect of major project work prescribed by
the institution for the said Degree.

Signature of Guide Signature of Head of the Department Signature of Principal

Dr. ________________ Dr.__________________ Dr. P Mahabaleswarappa

External Viva

Name of Examiners Signature with Date

I
MVJ COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, BENGALURU-560067
(Autonomous Institution Affiliated to VTU, Belagavi)

DEPARTMENT OF _______________ENGINEERING

DECLARATION

We, Ashutosh Kohli, Abhisheka K.B., Deekshaya B.D. students of sixth semester B.E.,
Department of _____________Engineering, MVJ College of Engineering, Bengaluru, hereby
declare that the major project titled ‘Recovery of Gold from Printed Circuit Boards’ has been
carried out by us and submitted in partial fulfilment for the award of Degree of Bachelor of
Engineering in _____________ Engineering during the year 2021-2022.

Further we declare that the content of the dissertation has not been submitted previously by
anybody for the award of any Degree or Diploma to any other University.

We also declare that any Intellectual Property Rights generated out of this project carried out at
MVJCE will be the property of MVJ College of Engineering, Bengaluru and we will be one of
the authors of the same.

Place: Bengaluru

Date:

Name Signature
1. ASHUTOSH KOHLI (USN)
2. ABHISHEKA K.B (USN)
3. DEEKSHAYA B.D. (USN)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are indebted to our guide, Dr._______________, Professor, Dept of ___________

Engineering, MVJ College of Engineering for his wholehearted support, suggestions and
invaluable advice throughout our project work and also for the help in the preparation of this
report.

We also express our gratitude to our panel members Dr._________, Associate Professor,
Dr._______ ., Assistant Professor and ________, Assistant Professor, Department of ________l
Engineering, for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Our sincere thanks to Dr. ____________, Associate Professor and Head, Department of
___________ Engineering, MVJCE for his support and encouragement.

We express sincere gratitude to our beloved Principal, Dr. ______________ for all his support
towards this project work.

Lastly, we take this opportunity to thank our family members and friends who provided all the
backup support throughout the project work.

III
 ABSTRACT

The demand for gold recovery from low grade ores and flotation tailings is continuously
increasing, due to a raise in gold demand and thereby there is a rapid increase in gold prices.
Gold is being widely used in various electrical and electronic equipment’s because of its high
electrical conductivity, ductility, and resistance to oxidative corrosion. Under such
circumstances, the establishment of a technique to recover gold from gold-containing wastes is
very much needed.

Present work gives a compatible extraction reagent, with a major focus to reduce the harm
caused to environment in the recycling process. The synthesis of gold particles and their
characterization are the main objectives of the work, along with slight hint of the recovery of the
other useful metals present in the e-wastes and the provision of the alternative sources valuable
for this industry. The gold particles are leached from printed circuit boards (PCBs) using
thiourea, gold stripper, distilled water as the starting materials followed by an efficient
Electrolysis technique. The composites obtained can be characterized for morphology, elemental
composition, crystallinity, size, electrical and optical properties using techniques like SEM, EDX
and UV-VIS spectrometry. The crystallite sizes can be estimated from the XRD data using the
Scherrer equation.

The SEM and EDX spectra demonstrate the deposition of the gold-containing phase on the
copper substrate and the micrographic images shows that the deposition forms a continuous
coating layer, dense and clearly faceted, indicative of crystalline order, this EDX analysis also
shows that the sample of copper substrate covered with the gold-containing phase along with
some impurities such as iodine, iron and chromium but the concentrations vary at each point of
analysis. Also, some applications of gold nanoparticle are also mentioned.

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 ACRONYMS
Acronym Abbreviation
USN University Seat Number
SEM Semester

TABLE OF CONTENTS
V
 Page No

Certificate I
Declaration II
Acknowledgement III
Abstract IV
Acronyms V
List of Tables IX
List of Figures XI

Chapter 1
1. Introduction
1.1 Environment and Health Problems 1

1.2 Conventional Technologies 4

1.2.1 Pyrometallurgy 6
1.2.1.1 Smelting in Furnace 6
1.2.1.2 Alkali Smelting 7
1.2.1.3 Metal Trapping Method 7

1.2.1.4 Matte Collecting Method 7

1.2.1.5 Plasma melting Technology 7
1.2.2 Hydrometallurgy 8
1.2.2.1 Chlorination Leaching 8
1.2.2.2 Iodation Leaching 8
1.2.2.3 Thio-Urea Leaching 8
1.2.2.4 Halide Leaching 9
1.2.2.5 Thio-Urea Leaching 9
1.2.2.6 Supercritical Fluid Extraction 9
1.2.2.7 HCL + Oxidant Leaching 9
1.2.2.8 Microwave-assisted Leaching 10
1.2.3 Electrochemical Methods 10

VI
 1.2.4 Bio-Leaching Process 10
1.2.4.1 Autotrophic Chemo Lithotrophic Bioleaching 10
1.2.4.2 Heterotrophic Bioleaching 11
1.2.4.3 Hybrid Bioleaching 11
1.3 Challenges 12
1.4 Objectives 12
1.5 Methodology in Brief 13

1.6 Organization of the report 13

Chapter 2
2. Gold Recovery from PCBs: An Overview 15
2.1 Pyrometallurgy 17
2.1.1 Noranda Process 18

2.1.2 Ronnskar Smelters Process 19

2.1.3 Limitations of Pyro-Metallurgical Process 20

2.2 Hydro-Metallurgy 21
2.2.1 Cyanide Leaching 22
2.2.2 Thio-Urea Leaching 23
2.2.3 Thio-Sulphate Leaching 24
2.2.4 Aqua Regia Leaching 25
2.3 Bio Leaching 26
2.4 Stainless Steel as an alternative to Platinum Electrode 27

Chapter 3
3. Materials and methodology 30
3.1 Materials and Glassware 30
3.1.1 Thio-Urea 30
3.1.2 Gold Stripper-SG9 31
3.2 Preparing PCBs for Extraction 32

VII
 3.3 Extraction Process of Gold 33

3.4 Electrolysis 34
3.4.1 Equipment’s and their specification 34
3.4.2 Procedure 35
3.5 Separation of Gold from Metal 36
3.6 Characterization Techniques 37
3.6.1 U.V. Visible Absorption 37
3.6.2 Dynamic Light Scattering 38
3.6.3 Scanning Electron Microscope 38
3.6.4 Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy 39
Chapter 4
4. Application of Gold and its Nano-Particle 42
4.1 Synthesis of Nano-Particle 43
4.2 Modern Applications 43
4.2.1 Agricultural 43
4.2.2 Medical 44
4.3 Current Limitations 46

5. Conclusion 47
6. References 49

7. Appendix

VIII
 List of Figures
Figure No. Figure Title Page No.

1.1 Gold Production and their Prices 4

2.1 Schematic Diagram of Noranda-Process 19

2.2 Schematic Diagram for Ronnskar Process 20

2.3 Hydrometallurgical Technique 21

3.1 Removal of Pins from PCBs 32

3.2 Extracted Gold Pins 32

3.3 Vacuum Operated Filtration Tank 33

3.4 Thio-Urea Preparation 34

3.5 Addition of Pins 34

3.6 Gold Pregnant Solution 34

3.7 Filtered Gold Solution 34

3.8 Anode Plate 35

3.9 Electrolysis Experimental Setup 35

3.10 Deposition of Gold Dregs 35

3.11 Separation of Gold Dregs 35

3.12 Gold Dregs + Nitric Acid + Water 37

3.13 Dry Gold Dregs 37

3.14 Heating in Crucible 37

IX
Figure No. Figure Title Page No.

3.15 Gold Recovered 37

3.16 Dynamic Light Scattering Equipment 38

3.17 Scattering Electron Microscope Equipment 39

3.18 Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy 40

X
 List of Tables

Table No. Table Title Page No.

1.1 Materials Present in various types of E-Waste 5
2.1 Different Processing Technique’s 16
2.2 Primary, Secondary and Tertiary merits of using Cyanide 22
3.1 Chemicals Required 31
3.2 Glassware Required 32
4.1 Anti-Tumour Applications 46

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 LADY BUDDY APP

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

In today’s world, it is not safe for a person to travel alone at night especially for
women; it will be high time to travel alone because a woman is not highly strong as
men to protect herself from them. The good way to reduce chances in becoming a
victim of violent crime (robbery, sexual assault, rape, domestic violence) is to identify
and call on resources to help you out of unsafe situations. Whether you are in instant
trouble or got separated from friends during night and do not know to reach home,
having these apps on your phone can diminish our risk and bring assistance when we
require it. In this paper, we present Security Alert an application for smart phones
working over android platform. Our motto in developing this app is to provide a safe
environment to women through smart phone as today most of the people are carrying
smart phones to wherever they go. Of course, the Delhi Nirbhaya case has made the
Government to make the laws tougher, but even though the sexual crime rate in India
have not decreased. So, it is better to take our own safety measures rather than
becoming a victim of those crimes. Women’s safety is a big concern which has been
the most important topic till date. Women safety matters a lot whether at home,
outside the home or working place. Few crimes against ladies particularly rape cases
were terribly dread and fearful. Most of the women of various ages, till this day are
being subjected to violence, domestic abuse, and rape. As ladies ought to travel late
night generally, it’s necessary to remain alert and safe. Although the government is
taking necessary measures for their safety, still, there are free safety apps for women

that can help them to stay safe. Most of the females these days carry their smartphone
with them,so it is necessary to have at least one the personal safety apps installed.
Such a security app for ladies will definitely facilitate in a way or the opposite. This is
user-friendly application that can be accessed by anyone who has installed it in their

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smart phones. Our intention is to provide you with fastest and simplest way to contact
your nearest help. In this system user needs to feed three contact numbers, in case of
emergency on moving the phone up and down thrice, the system sends SMS and calls
on one of the numbers feeded into the system with the location. The phone starts
vibrating and siren starts ringing. This features for both everyday safety and real
emergencies, making it an ultimate tool for all. Women’s safety is a big concern in
now-a-days. Although the government is taking necessary measures for their safety,
still, there is a need to timely inform the concerned authorities regarding alert
situation. Keeping this in mind we are developing a smartphone application for this
purpose. Most of the women carry smartphone with them while leaving home. By
installing this app, they can send an alert to the emergency contact added to the
application. Such a security app for ladies will facilitate them.They can contact their
nearest help with fastest and simplest way. In this system user needs to add three
contact numbers, in case of emergency on moving the phone up and down thrice, the
system sends SMS on numbers added into the system with the location. This features
for both everyday safety and real emergencies, making it ultimate tool for all.

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CHAPTER 2
SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION

Android studio is the official Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for android
application development. Android Studio provides more features that enhance our
productivity while building Android apps. In recent times, Android became the world's
most popular operating system for various reasons. As an Android programmer, I want
to share what the Android Studio is? Android Studio is an IDE for Google Android
Development launched on 16th May 2013, during Google's I/O 2013 event. Android
Studio contains all the Android tools to design, test, debug, and profile your
application. The Android Studio uses Gradle to manage your project, a Build
Automation Tool.

Android Studio supports all the same programming language of IntelliJ (and CLion)
e.g. Java, C++, and more with extensions, such as Go and Android Studio 3.0 or later
supports Kotlin,and "all Java 7 language features and a subset of Java 8 language
features that vary by platform version. External projects backport some Java 9
features. While Intelli J states that Android Studio supports all released Java versions,
and Java 12, it's not clear to what level Android Studio supports Java versions up to
Java 12 (the documentation mentions partial Java 8 support). At least some new
language features up to Java 12 are usable in Android.Once an app has been compiled
with Android Studio, it can be published on the Google Play Store. The application
has to be in line with the Google Play Store developer content policy.

Libraries: This layer consists of Android libraries written in C, C++, and used by
various systems. This library tells the device how to handle different kinds of data and
are exposed to Android developers via Android Application framework. Some of these

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libraries includes media, graphics, 3d, SQLite, web browser library etc. The Android
runtime layer: which includes set of core java libraries and DVM (Dalvik Virtual
Machine) is also located in same layer. Runtime Android This layer includes set of
base libraries that are required for java libraries. Every Android application gets its
own instance of Dalvik virtual machine. Dalvik has been written so that a device can
run multiple VMs efficiently and it executes files in executable (.Dex) optimized for
minimum memory.
Kernel – Linux: This layer includes Android’s memory management programs,
security settings, power management software and several drivers for hardware, file
system access, networking and inter-process-communication. The kernel also acts as
an abstraction layer between hardware and the rest of the software stack.

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CHAPTER-3

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

REQUIREMETS

1 .HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIRMENTS : The hardware

required for the project is our team members laptops for programming and a WIFI
router for remote work since we all are in different cities .android studio is used as a
software requirement and many other java extensions are used.

2.DISCORD -for planning and discussing the project and connecting virtually
through video calls our team use DICORD application which is also used in the tech
industry for the same.

3.Android Studio-for the real work to be done in programming we use the Android
Studio code and java extension , emulator ,SDK manager.Two main to choose this
Android Studio is

1. Because we are app development ,so we are using Android Studio.

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CHAPTER 4
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METHODOLOGY

start

Initialize system

pressed

Call and send message to emergency contacts

Turn on siren spy camera detector

stop

CHAPTER 5

IMPLEMENTATION
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ALGORITHM
Step 1: Go to Launch Page.

Step 2: When we tap the launcher icon,these seven card view buttons include
Emergency SOS, Hidden Camera Detector, Women’s News, Siren Alarm, App Tour,
About us.

Step 3: In Emergency SOS , add the user contact number and three emergency
contact number then a phone call is of relatives or friends and save it .

Step 4: When we tap on try button a phone call is made and a message is sent with
help of SMS manager class which is embedded with the live location.

Step 5: Hidden camera detector,In this electronic cameras emit electromagnetic

radiations and these radiations strength in all three directions are detected by the
magnetometer sensor of our phone and if its resultant is greater than a certain
range ,then the phone starts beeping.

Step 6: Women’s News then it shows only women’s news screen which is populated
by the data of a news API fetched by the help of retrofit library.

Step 7: Siren Alarm shares a screen which starts a siren alarm in looping with the help
of implicit intents.Start Siren alarm by just tapping the power button three times.

Step 8: Stop the siren alarm by just tapping the power button again three times with
help of Media player API.

Step 9: Then we included App tour in which we get the whole tour of the lady buddy
app .

Step 10: About Us ,user can read about us and can also contact us with the help of
implicit intents.Share the app and save lives.

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CHAPTER 6

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TESTING
1.Functional Testing: Verify that all the features and functionalities of the app are
working as intended. This may include testing features like emergency alerts, location
tracking, self-defense tutorials, and contact management.

2.Usability Testing: Assess the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) of the
app. Ensure that the app is intuitive, easy to navigate, and user-friendly. Test different
scenarios to ensure that users can quickly access essential features, such as sending
alerts or contacting emergency services.

3.Performance Testing: Evaluate the performance of the app under different

conditions. Test its responsiveness, speed, and stability. Check if it functions well in
low connectivity areas or when the device's resources are limited.

4.Integration Testing: If the app integrates with other services or APIs, thoroughly
test the integration points to ensure smooth communication and proper data exchange.

5.Localization Testing: If the app supports multiple languages or regions, verify that
all translations are accurate and culturally appropriate. Test the app in different
languages, character sets, and time zones.

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CHAPTER 7

RESULT

Fig1:main page

Fig 2:Home page

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Fig 3: Contacts page

Fig4: siren button page

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Fig 5:spy camera detector page

Fig 6:About us page

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Fig 7:App tour page

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CHAPTER 8

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE ENHANCEMENT

In conclusion, women safety apps play a crucial role in empowering women and
ensuring their safety in various situations. These apps provide a sense of security by
offering features such as emergency alerts, real-time location tracking, and quick
access to helpline numbers. They have proven to be effective tools in helping women
feel more confident and protected when they are alone or in unfamiliar environments.
Emergency SOS service then phone no. of relatives is saved by the help of shared
preferences in the form of key value pair and when we tap on the try it button then a
phone call is made by the help of implicit intent and a message is sent by the help of
SMS Manager class and this message is also embedded with the live location of the
user which is provided by the help of fused location provider client API. Hidden
camera detector then we must be knowing that all the electronic cameras emit
electromagnetic radiations and these electromagnetic radiations strength in all three
directions are detected by the magnetometer sensor of our phone and if its resultant is
greater than a certain range then the phone starts beeping. Women’s News then it
shows only women’s news screen which is populated by the data of a news API
fetched by the help of retrofit library. Siren Alarm then this screen starts a siren alarm
in looping by the help of media player API. About Us then user can read about us and
can also contact us by the help of implicit intents. App tour then get the whole tour of
the app. Share app then they can share and save lives

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Future Enhancements in Women Safety Apps:

Offline Mode and Low Connectivity Support: Women safety apps should include an
offline mode that allows users to access essential features even when they have limited
or no internet connectivity. This can be particularly helpful in remote areas or during
situations where network coverage is weak. Offline mode could include features like
storing emergency contacts, offline maps, and pre-defined messages ,It is important to
regularly update and enhance women safety apps based on user feedback and
emerging technologies.

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REFERENCES

 https://developer.android.com/studio
 www.wikipedia.com
 https://www.geeksforgeeks.org
 Android Programming :The Big Nerd Guide

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APPENDIX

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