Venice-based 9-tech has developed a thermomechanical course of to recycle end-of-life PV panels, with early outcomes exhibiting an 87% restoration yield of supplies akin to silicon, copper, and silver.
From pv journal Italy
Italian startup 9-tech has developed a thermomechanical recycling course of for end-of-life PV panels. The first outcomes present an 87% restoration yield for supplies akin to silicon, copper, and silver, with aggressive vitality consumption.
The recovered supplies are reported to have a purity degree enough to be reused in different purposes. The course of consists of guide disassembly to take away the aluminum body and junction field, adopted by slicing the panels for the removing of the encapsulant in a steady furnace designed to attenuate vitality loss, utilizing a warmth exchanger to cut back the warmth that required for therapy.
“The course of consists of a primary guide disassembly part, the place the aluminum body and the junction field, normally manufactured from plastic and copper, are dismantled,” mentioned 9-tech CEO Pietrogiovanni Cerchier. pv journal. “The panels are then reduce into 33 cm strips to cut back their measurement and make them appropriate for the following part. The panel strips are subjected to a warmth therapy to acquire full combustion of the EVA encapsulant.
After this part, the items of copper, silicon cells, and glass are mechanically separated. Rollers first take away the copper wires, and the fabric is filtered to get rid of advantageous particles. A vibrating sieve then separates the PV cells from the glass.
The course of additionally features a fume abatement system with a pocket filter and activated carbon. Silicon is obtained as small items of foil underneath 20 cm², and a washing therapy is examined to take away silver and aluminum.
The firm optimizes processes for scaling, completes lifecycle analyses, and explores methods to reuse recovered supplies, particularly silicon, in numerous worth chains .
The pilot plant achieved 87% restoration yield. From 898 kg of PV panels, it obtained 581 kg of glass, 146 kg of aluminum, 14 kg of junction bins, 26 kg of PV cells, 6 kg of copper tapes, 0.45 kg of silver, and 9 kg of mud.
“The evaluation exhibits that the purity of the obtained supplies is excessive sufficient to be appropriate for different purposes,” Cerchier defined. “The recovered glass, aluminum and copper present that they meet the specs for end-of-waste standing, in accordance with level 1.2 of Annex I of Council Regulation (EU) No 1179/2012 of 10 December 2012.”
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