Resolving the end-of-life of thermoset Composites:
- ROBOMIMIC: Efficient and Safe Dismantling of Thermoset Composites
- SSS Thermoset EoL: Sustainable chemical recycling to recover the components of composites
Addressing the end-of-life challenge of thermoset composites requires groundbreaking innovations. ROBOMIMIC revolutionizes dismantling with efficient and safe robotic solutions, while SSS Thermoset EoL pioneers sustainable chemical recycling to recover valuable composite components. Here is how:
A PLANET OF PLASTIC
Plastic waste is one of the major threats to our ecosystems. The current end-of-life given to plastics adversely affects the environment.
The use of composite materials has gained interest in recent years due to their unique properties such as high mechanical strength, corrosion resistance, lightness and long durability. These materials can be found in a large number of applications such as aeronautics, construction, and energy.
However, the management of thermoset composite materials has become a double challenge. On one hand, the handling and dismantling of large structures and the need for the process to be precise and safe and, on the other hand the recovery and valorisation of thermoset composite waste that nowadays ends in landfills or incinerated.
For example, Did you know that, only in the aeronautical industry, 700 aircraft with composite parts are reaching the end of their operational lives every year? Or if we talk about wind turbines, more than 50,000 will be over 20 years old and therefore will reach the end of their useful life in 2030?
THE CHALLENGE OF PRECISE AND SAFE DISMANTLING
The utilisation of new composites like carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) for several decades in large structures such as airplanes, wind turbines or civil engineering works entails the challenge, once they reach the end of their service life, of proper dismantling to handle and cut large pieces with precision to prepare the parts for recycling treatments and in a safe manner for workers.
The current state-of-the-art offers solutions which are limited with regards to handle big pieces or they are not flexible enough to manage different tasks or the additional equipment and calibration procedures are long and expensive.
To address this challenge, Aitiip Technology Centre, through its research activities in various R&D projects at European and national level, has developed ROBOMIMIC.
ROBOMIMIC is an advanced imitation programming platform that uses multi-camera 3D capture and real-time processing to revolutionise robot learning for complex tasks, particularly in handling large components. By combining 3D capture technology with real-time data processing, ROBOMIMIC enables intuitive, no-code robot programming, making automation more accessible. Its cameras capture movement from multiple angles, while a central processor translates the data into precise 6D trajectories, allowing robots to learn and adapt to dynamic environments
This system bridges the digital gap by enabling workers with no prior technical skills to program robots effortlessly through imitation or demonstration.
THE CHALLENGE OF RECYCLING THE COMPONENTS OF COMPOSITES
Composites materials are difficult to recycle and the separation technology must be complemented with other technological developments that allow to revalorise the composite components and provide a clear benefit and a new life to each of the components.
In this sense Aitiip has worked towards the development of a technological breakthrough with the solvolysis process and its capacity to separate each of the different components of a composite material. The results is SSS Thermoset EoL, our Sustainable Solvolysis technology to recover components from thermoset composites.
The solvolysis process has proven to be useful to separate matrix and reinforcement and Aitiip is demonstrating the quality of the fibre after the process and the capacity of the solvolysis technology to recover not only short fibre but also long fibre and continuous textiles.
In order to achieve a zero waste economy, Aitiip is also developing separation and revalorisation technologies for all the monomers and oligomers recovered. Which will enable the Technology centre to disrupt the recycling of composites with capacity to separate and revalorise composites materials while maintaining the maximum value.
VALORISING PLASTIC AND FIBRE WASTE
As a result of the application of SSS Thermoset EoL (our solvolysis process), the fibres are not soluble in green solvents, so they are easily recovered by filtration and characterised to understand their physicochemical properties for further valorisation. Furthermore, the decomposed resins remain in the solvent. These monomers or oligomers are reused for same or novel chemical purposes and the solvent media is recovered for reuse.
A PLANET OF CIRCULAR BIO-BASED PLASTIC
The recovered fibres and resins become building blocks to be transformed into a new generation of high-tech products.
ROBOMIMIC and SSS Thermoset EoL are complementary and revolutionary process for the collection, sorting and recycling of thermoset-based composite materials.
In the near future, we will find a new generation of high-tech products such as aircrafts, boats, wind-mills, cars, trains… manufactured with fully recycled complex thermoset composites, making the dream of a planet free of plastics come true.