Resumen
[0000] The present invention relates to a process for breaking up microplastic/magnetic material aggregates. The process allows both regenerating the magnetic material and obtaining magnetic material-free microplastics. The present invention consists fundamentally of breaking up magnetic material/microplastic aggregates by means of treatment thereof with a concentrated aqueous saline solution, and subsequently separating both types of solids by density and/or by applying a magnetic field.
Reivindicaciones
1. A process for breaking up magnetic iron material/organic particle aggregates, the process comprising: a) providing the magnetic iron material/organic particle aggregates, b) introducing the aggregates of step a) in an aqueous saline solution for breaking up the aggregates, wherein the salt of the aqueous saline solution is selected from the group consisting of NaH<2>PO<4>, Na<2>HPO<4>, Na<3>PO<4>, NaCl, Nal, and mixtures thereof, and wherein the salt concentration of the aqueous saline solution is in the range of 100 g/L to 1000 g/L, and c) optionally separating the magnetic iron material particles from the organic particles by density and/or by applying a magnetic field; wherein the organic particles are selected from the group consisting of microplastics, non-plastic organic particles, and a mixture thereof, and wherein said organic particles have a size in the range of 0.1 µm to 5 mm. 2. The process according to claim 1, wherein the organic particles are microplastics. 3. The process according to claim 2, wherein the microplastics are selected from the group consisting of polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE) including high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polycarbonate (PC), polyurethane (PU), and mixtures thereof, preferably from the group consisting of polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and mixtures thereof. 4. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the organic particles have a size in the range of 0.1 µm to 1 mm, preferably from 0.1 µm to 500 µm, more preferably from 100 µm to 500 µm, even more preferably from 100 µm to 250 µm. 5. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the salt of the aqueous saline solution of step b) is selected from the group consisting of NaH<2>PO<4>, NaCl, Nal, and mixtures thereof. 6. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the magnetic iron material comprises an iron species selected from the group consisting of Fe(II), Fe(III), metallic Fe, and a mixture thereof. 7. The process according to claim 6, wherein the magnetic iron material is magnetite. 8. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the average diameter of the magnetic iron material is comprised between 0.1 µm and 10 µm. 9. The process according to claim 8, wherein the average diameter of the magnetic iron material is comprised between 0.1 µm and 0.3 µm. 10. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the concentration of aggregates introduced in the aqueous saline solution in step b) is 1 mg/L to 2000 g/L. 11. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the mixture resulting from step b) is subjected to stirring. 12. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein step c) is performed, preferably wherein the magnetic iron material particles are separated from the organic particles in step c) by density. 13. Process according to any of the preceding claims further comprising the characterization of the organic particles and/or the recovery of the magnetic iron material.
