PRESS INFORMATION
Carbon fibre recycling set to take off in aviation
sector
As part of the European Commission’s Clean Sky project, SELFRAG has
developed an economically and environmentally sustainable method for recycling
carbon fibre aircraft components using high voltage
pulse power fragmentation.
Aviation is an essential part of today’s globalised society,
transporting three billion passengers and contributing over
half a trillion dollars to the world’s GDP each year. In recent
times, however, there has been growing public concern over
the sustainability of the aviation industry – not just emissions
and noise pollution but the green lifecycle of the aircraft themselves.
“Right now, recycling carbon fibres is one of the biggest challenges facing the future of
the aviation industry,” says Eva Romeijn, recycling applications specialist at SELFRAG,
a Swiss technology company hoping to make a step change in the industry. “The average
lifetime of an aeroplane is about 30 years so the aeroplanes that are being recycled today
– such as the Boeing 747s from the 1960s and70s – still have a lot of aluminium and
SELFRAG AG
Biberenzelgli 18 | CH-3210 Kerzers | Switzerland
T: +41 31 750 32 32 | F: +41 31 750 32 33 | [email protected] | www.selfrag.com
different alloys in them, which are relatively easy to melt down and form into something
new.
“Modern aeroplanes, however, such as the Dreamliner or the new Airbus A380 are made
increasingly out of carbon fibres – as much as 50%. Carbon fibres are strong and
lightweight so help reduce fuel requirements – perfect for reducing emissions – but have
so far proven difficult and costly to recycle. There is currently no economical way of
doing it – and in 20 to 30 years’ time we will have a lot of carbon fibre composite
aeroplane parts on our hands that we will need to be reprocessed.”
Making the ‘unrecyclable’ recyclable
SELFRAG, however, has found the solution through its work with the European
Commission’s Clean Sky project – Europe’s most ambitious aeronautical research
programme to date. A Public-Private Partnership between the European Commission
and some of the industry’s biggest players including EADS, Clean Sky aims to help
speed up technological breakthroughs and shorten the time to market for solutions that
dramatically reduce the environmental impact of aviation.
At the recent Clean Sky
conference in Brussels, held
12-14th March, Romeijn along
with associates from the
Fraunhofer Institute and
FHNW (Fachhochschule
Nordwestschweiz), presented a
paper on how high voltage
power fragmentation could be
used to recycle aircraft
components made from carbon
fibres. In layman’s terms, an
electrical discharge, similar to a lightning bolt, is applied to the component to be
recycled, such as the wings or the fuselage, and as it finds its way through the object to
the negative electrode, it weakens or fragments the object along the natural material
boundaries. This means that carbon fibres could be successfully liberated from other
component materials in an energy efficient manner – without jeopardising their strength
or quality.
“At SELFRAG we’ve been using sheets of different carbon fibre composites for our
experiments but FHNW took a real carbon fibre door hinge, deconstructed it using
SELFRAG technology and remade it again with 83% of the original strength. With other
SELFRAG AG
Biberenzelgli 18 | CH-3210 Kerzers | Switzerland
T: +41 31 750 32 32 | F: +41 31 750 32 33 | [email protected] | www.selfrag.com
emerging technologies such as microwaves or hydrolysis, this would be practically
impossible,” says Dr. Alexander Weh, head of the applications team at SELFRAG.
SELFRAG is now working on a demonstrator plant concept, capable of processing larger
pieces of carbon fibre that it will present to the European Commission and its partners
later in the year.
Valuable technology now
“Even though the latest generation of carbon
fibre aircraft won’t come to the end of their
lives for decades, the aviation industry is keen
to prepare itself as soon as possible, as there is
always waste in the manufacturing process that
needs to be reprocessed,” says Weh.
And it’s not just the aviation industry, the use
of carbon fibre in the automotive industry is
also increasing – and cars have a much shorter
life cycle than aircraft before needing
recycling.
Beyond carbon fibres, SELFRAG’s technology
could potentially be used to ecycle all manner
of objects or substances, where individual
components need to be cleanly and distinctly
separated from one another – including
electronics, slag and concrete. In the case of
incinerator slag, for example, SELFRAG’s high voltage technology can be used to
liberate salts encrusted on the surface of the waste, revealing recyclable particles of glass
and metal.
“Together with the SELFRAG team, I am proud to be at the forefront of recycling
technologies – making the previously ‘unrecyclable’ recyclable – for a greener and more
sustainable future,” he concludes.
Ends.
April 2014
Contact:
SELFRAG AG
Biberenzelgli 18 | CH-3210 Kerzers | Switzerland
T: +41 31 750 32 32 | F: +41 31 750 32 33 | [email protected] | www.selfrag.com
Giselle Stefanelli
SELFRAG
Biberenzelgli 18
CH-3210 Kerzers
Switzerland
Tel: + 41 31 750 32 08
Email: [email protected]
Hannah Kitchener
SE10
London
Tel: +44 (0) 207 923 5863
Email: [email protected]
SELFRAG AG specializes in the development, engineering and marketing of high voltage pulse power products,
plants and systems for the selective fragmentation of solids in the mining, recycling and solar industries. Founded in
2007, the company is headquartered in Kerzers in the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland and currently employs 30 staff.
Privately held, investors include Affentranger Associates, Ammann Group, Credit Suisse and the Swiss Helvetia
Fund.
SELFRAG AG
Biberenzelgli 18 | CH-3210 Kerzers | Switzerland
T: +41 31 750 32 32 | F: +41 31 750 32 33 | [email protected] | www.selfrag.com