SBIR/STTR Phase I: Detection Systems for High-Speed Optoelectronic Sortation of Low Z Metal Alloys

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This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project will develop a novel optoelectronic sensing system for the high-speed identification and sorting of metals including aluminum alloys. The goal is to demonstrate the ability to unambiguously identify metal alloys by alloy type, including low atomic number elements, in less than 50-milliseconds per sample. The Scrap Recycling Industry reports that more than 30 billion pounds of nonferrous scrap metals are produced each year in the U.S. alone. About 70% of this scrap is aluminum or aluminum alloys. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) reports that more than 10 billion pounds of these nonferrous metals are discarded each year in landfills, because recycling is neither technically nor economically practical. Existing methods of sortation use visual examination and hand sortation. Smelting facilities for mixed metals are polluting and expensive to build and operate. Using advanced spectrographic radiation and detection techniques, including computer analysis, the proposed technology will improve alloy identification accuracy and sort metal alloys automatically by type of alloy at speeds never before attainable.The commercial impact of this project will be increased scrap utilization, increased scrap value and reduced environmental pollution is enormous. The potential worldwide market exceeds $2 Billion annually.