Overseas Chinese Envir Engineers & Scientists Association Oceesa

This project is to conduct green energy leadership training and hold a "Zero Emission, Circular Economy" forum, to cooperate with energy companies to solicit master student projects related to coal circular economy, and to use undergraduate summer program to engage in corporate practice or special research in circular economy. The "Zero Emission, Circular Economy" forum will be held in 2024 and 2025, and participated by OCEESA members and internationally renowned experts. In addition, a circular economy course will be developed and scheduled to be taught in the fall of 2024. This project will also promote the development of green energy and learn the common issues of circular economy thru student exchange from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

This project focuses on the concept of a circular economy for sustainable materials management by developing a recovery method of copper ions from plating waste copper nitrate solution to obtain copper oxalate and to recover nitric acid. Both lab-scale and pilot-scale studies will determine the scale-up factor for full-scale design and theTaguchi method will be employed to optimize size, yield, and crystallization kinetics. By using this effectively copper recovery approach, both energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions can be saved compared to extracting copper from natural sources.