published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Over the last two decades, the assembly of printed circuit boards (PCB) has generated a huge amount of industrial activity. One of the major developments in PCB assembly was introduction of surface mount technology (SMT). SMT has displaced through-hole technology as a primary means of assembling PCB over the last decade. It has also made it easy to automate PCB assembly process. The component placement machine is probably the most important piece of manufacturing equipment on a surface mount assembly line. It is used for placing components reliably and accurately enough to meet the throughput requirements in a cost-effective manner. Apart from the fact that it is the most expensive equipment on the PCB manufacturing line, it is also often the bottleneck. There are a quite a few areas for improvements on the machine, one of them being component placement sequencing. With the number of components being placed on a PCB ranging in hundreds, a placement sequence which requires near minimum motion of the placement head can help optimize the throughput rates. This research develops an application using genetic algorithm (GA) to solve the component placement sequencing problem for a single headed placement machine. Six different methods were employed. The effects of two parameters which are critical to the execution of a GA were explored at different levels. The results obtained show that the one of the methods performs significantly better than the others. Also, the application developed in this research can be modified in accordance to the problems or machines seen in the industry to optimize the throughput rates. / Graduation date: 2004

For some decades, the assembly of printed circuit boards (PCB), had been thought to be an ordinary example of mass production systems. However, technological factors and competitive pressures have currently forced PCB manufacturers to deal with a very high mix, low volume production environment. In such an environment, setup changes happen very often, accounting for a large part of the production time. PCB assembly machines have a fixed number of component feeders which supply the components to be mounted. They can usually hold all the components for a specific board type in their feeder carrier but not for all board types in the production sequence. Therefore, the differences between boards in the sequence determines the number of component feeders which have to be replaced when changing board types. Consequently, for each PCB assembly line, production control of this process deals with two dominant problems: the determination for each manufacturing line of a mix resulting in larger similarity of boards and of a board sequence resulting in setup reduction. This has long been a difficult problem since as the number of boards and lines increase, the number of potential solutions increases exponentially. This research develops an approach for applying Genetic Algorithms (GA) to this problem. A mathematical model and a solution algorithm were developed for effectively determining the near-best set of printed circuit boards to be assigned to surface mount lines. The problem was formulated as a Linear Integer Programming model attempting to setup reduction and increase of machine utilization while considering manufacturing constraints. Three GA based heuristics were developed in order to search for a near optimal solution for the model. The effects of several crucial factors of GA on the performance of each heuristic for the problem were explored. The algorithm was then tested on two different problem structures, one with a known optimal solution and one with a real problem encountered in the industry. The results obtained show that the algorithm could be used by the industry to reduce setups and increase machine utilization in PCB assembly lines. / Graduation date: 1998

The research presented in this thesis entailed an investigation of heavy metal uptake by Palmaria palmata, a red marine alga. The alga was dry and organically certified. The heavy metals of interest were those commonly found in the wastewaters of the printed wiring board industry, namely Cu2+Pb2+, Cd2+, Zn 2+ and Ni2+. The ultimate objective of the work was to determine whether or not the factors expected to influence the metal uptake to the greatest extent could be optimized within functional ranges, leading eventually to process design (beyond the scope of this thesis). These factors were pH, temperature, initial concentration of metal in aqueous solution, and contact time. A number of preliminary experiments were performed to establish a basis for the design of the optimization studies. / Although it was not possible to adequately define optimal regions of operation for the biosorption of heavy metals by Palmaria palmata , general trends were elucidated, and the limitations of the methodology used were clarified. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

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A utilização de resíduos industriais na produção de materiais pode mitigar os impactos gerados pelo agente gerador. A utilização na costrução civil de materiais gerados a partir de resíduos, minimizaria também os impactos gerados pela extração de recursos naturais para este setor. Os resíduos industriais utilizados nesta pesquisa são classificados como resíduos perigosos e, sendo a pesquisa sustentada na hipótese de que é possível produzir um material cerâmico para utilização na construção civil a partir de lodo de indústria de placa de circuito impresso, lama vermelha do processamento de bauxita e escória siderúrgica, foram produzidas composições cerâmicas utilizando estes resíduos como matéria prima. Os corpos de prova (CPs) foram confeccionados com 20g em molde de 20x60 mm e com prensa uniaxial de 5 MPa. Os CPs foram sinterizados à temperaturas de 800, 900, 1000, 1050, 1100 e 1150°C durante 6 horas. Foram realizadas análises de umidade, granulometria, densidade, perda ao fogo, FRX, DRX, MEV/EDS, retração linear de queima, absorção de água, resistência à flexão e lixiviação, a fim de caracterizar as matérias primas e o material cerâmico desenvolvido. Os resultados demonstram que houve fusão dos elementos que compõem as matérias primas. A composição que apresentou o melhor resultado alcançou 5,48 MPa de resistência à flexão, 4,57% de retração linear de queima, 2,06 de densidade e 19,94% de absorção de água. O resultado do ensaio de lixiviação aponta que o material cerâmico após a sinterização apresenta traços de Pb, tendo imobilizado apenas parte dos metais pesados analisados presentes na composição dos corpos de prova, o que o classifica como resíduo perigoso. Em comparação com as normas brasileiras, os aspectos de absorção de água e resistência atenderam aos requisitos para uso em blocos cerâmicos para alvenaria estrutural e nas categorias A, B e C de tijolos maciços comuns para alvenaria, respectivamente, no entanto, a imobilização de metais pesados carece de ajustes para que se alcance um material cerâmico inerte. / The use of industrial waste in the production of materials can mitigate the impacts generated by the generating agent. The use in civil construction of materials generated from waste, would also minimize the impacts generated by the extraction of natural resources for this sector. The industrial waste used in this research is classified as hazardous waste and the research is based on the hypothesis that it is possible to produce a ceramic material for use in civil construction from printed circuit board industry sludge, bauxite red processing sludge and steel slag, ceramic compositions using these residues as raw material were produced. The sample were made with 20g in mold 20x60 mm and with uniaxial press 5 MPa. The sample were sintered at temperatures of 800, 900, 1000, 1050, 1100 and 1150°C for 6 hours. Moisture tests were carried out, density, granulometry, loss on ignition, XRF, XRD, SEM/EDS, linear firing shrinkage, water absorption, flexural strength and leaching in order to characterize the materials and the ceramic material developed. The results show that there has been fusion of the components of the raw materials. The composition showed the best result achieved flexural strength 5.48 MPa, 4.57% of linear firing decrease, 2.06 density and 19.94% water absorption. The results of the leaching test indicate that the ceramic material after sintering presents traces of Pb, having immobilized only part of the analyzed heavy metals present in the composition of the test specimens, which classifies it as hazardous waste. In comparison with the Brazilian standards, the water absorption and resistance aspects met the requirements for use in ceramic blocks for structural masonry and in categories A, B and C of solid bricks common for masonry, respectively, however, the immobilization of metals is required to achieve an inert ceramic material.