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- Life cycle analysis (2)
- Recycling (2)
- Aggregetes (1)
- CIS (1)
- CdTe (1)
- Demolition waste (1)
- Ecomaterial (1)
- Hazardous substances (1)
- Jig (1)
- Material properties (1)
In Germany, about 60 million tons of demolition waste are generated annually. Approximately 70% of the demolition waste is currently recycled. Most recycling applications, for example in roadbed substructures, can be seen as a kind of downcycling. However, there are also some high-level applications for demolition waste. For instance, crushed and sieved concrete demolition waste can be used as concrete aggregate instead of natural materials. Depending on the crushing process, about a third of the broken concrete is currently concrete sand. At present, concrete sand fraction (0-4 mm) is rarely reused as a concrete aggregate. This is due to the fact that some important characteristics of crushed concrete sand are different from those of natural sand. As a result, it does not reach the standards required for aggregates. Concrete containing such aggregate is of lower quality than concrete made of natural aggregate. This paper describes an experimental investigation on the treatment of concrete sand gained from demolition waste by wet processing using a jig whereby the sand is separated by grain size and, more importantly, by density. Concrete produced with concrete sand which has been treated in this manner should have the same quality as concrete prepared with natural aggregate. Recycled sand used as aggregate substitutes natural resources and avoids disposal of waste. It has all the characteristics of an Ecomaterial. (author abst.)
A sustainable recycling of photovoltaic (PV) thin film modules gains in importance due to the considerable growing of the PV market and the increasing scarcity of the resources for semiconductor materials. The paper presents the development of two strategies for thin film PV recycling based on (wet) mechanical processing for broken modules, and combined thermal and mechanical methods for end-of-life modules. The feasibility of the processing steps was demonstrated in laboratory scale as well as in semi-technical scale using the example of CdTe and CIS modules. Pre-concentrated valuables In and Te from wet mechanical processing can be purified to the appropriate grade for the production of new modules.
An advantage of the wet mechanical processing in comparison to the conventional procedure might be the usage of no or a small amount of chemicals during the several steps.
Some measures are necessary in order to increase the efficiency of the wet mechanical processing regarding the improvement of the valuable yield and the related enrichment of the semiconductor material.
The investigation of the environmental impacts of both recycling strategies indicates that the strategy, which includes wet mechanical separation, has clear advantages in comparison to the thermal treatment or disposal on landfills.
The use of renewable energy technologies, such as photovoltaics (PV) should be sustainable and environmentally compatible and therefore protect the environment from risks and damaging impacts. Regarding the growing number of installed photovoltaic systems, the end-of-life management of the pv-modules will become increasingly important. Thin film panels contain hazardous substances that may harm the environment if they are not recycled or disposed properly after reaching the end of their service life. Heavy metals, for example, can be toxic as well as carcinogenic or teratogenic. Processing methods for the recycling of PV thin film modules have to take these facts into account. Currently the available recycling techniques usually utilise chemicals such as acids for a wet-chemical treatment of end-of-life modules. The aim of RESOLVED was to identify and test alternative methods for a wet-mechanical treatment in order to reduce the consumption of chemicals in the recycling of thin film modules. Furthermore, the recovered Cadmium-Telluride (CdTe) and Copper-Indium-Diselenide/Disulfide (CIS) should be helping to save scare resources especially for limited elements such as tellurium and indium. The project RESOLVED investigated the recovery of semiconductors material as secondary raw material and the decontamination of the residues of the PV thin film modules. These goals were achieved by testing and optimising existing technologies for the recycling process as well as for the enrichment of the semiconductor materials. The target is to re-use the enriched recovered material in the production of new PV modules. Special efforts were made to look into life cycle analysis, process sustainability, economical aspects, and resource availability.