I-Corps: Recycling system for converting cellulosic and polyester components of textile waste into recycled thread

I-Corps：将纺织废料中的纤维素和聚酯成分转化为回收线的回收系统

• 批准号: 2132419
• 负责人: Olivia Robinson
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Carnegie-Mellon University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-06-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2132419&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Recycling; system; converting; cellulosic

The broader/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a textile recycling system that sorts and recycles discarded textile waste into new, reusable thread. More than 93 million tons of textile waste are generated annually, but 1% of this waste is recycled for new textile production. This waste occurs due to the recycling industry’s inability to inexpensively sort textile waste for efficient recycling, resulting in textile recycling being prohibitively expensive. The proposed system automates the sorting of textile waste by material, before entering a chemical treatment that converts cellulosic and polyester components of the waste into 100% recycled thread. The proposed technology may allow for over 93% of all global textile waste to be recycled into thread that would be 50% cheaper than virgin cotton. The recycled thread may then be sold to existing textile manufacturers for weaving, embroidery, etc. In addition, the proposed process may facilitate access to local, low-cost raw materials for textile production, enabling the possibility of localized textile production in designated, economically disadvantaged zones. The proposed recycling technology may have a significant impact in reducing the textile industry’s environmental footprint, by reducing textile landfill waste as well as the use of water, land, and pesticides that are used to make textiles.This I-Corps project is based on the development of an integrated recycling system that uses robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically sort textile waste and a chemical recycling process to convert sorted textile waste into new, reusable thread. The input to the proposed recycling system is bulk, post-consumer textiles sourced from existing textile collection companies. The proposed recycling system sorts the textile waste by material and color using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and image processing, leveraging AI to improve the accuracy of sorting. The textile then goes through a chemical pretreatment that chemically separates the polyester and cellulose fibers (cellulose being the main component of cotton and other plant-based textiles). This pretreatment process is tuned according to the material and color percentages, which is designed to achieve the highest material yield from the chemical process. The final step involves regenerating the new recycled thread that may be sold to existing textile manufacturers while providing a sustainable solution.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛/商业潜力是开发一个纺织品回收系统，将废弃的纺织品废物分类和重新分类成新的可重复使用的线。每年产生超过9300万吨纺织废料，但其中1%被回收用于新的纺织品生产。这种浪费的发生是由于回收行业无法廉价地对纺织品废物进行有效回收，导致纺织品回收成本过高。拟议的系统可自动按材料分类纺织废料，然后进入化学处理，将废料中的纤维素和聚酯成分转化为100%回收的纱线。这项技术可以将全球93%以上的纺织废料回收利用，制成比原棉便宜50%的线。 回收的线然后可以出售给现有的纺织品制造商，用于编织，刺绣等。此外，拟议的工艺可以促进获得当地的低成本纺织品生产原材料，使在指定的经济落后地区进行本地化纺织品生产成为可能。拟议的回收技术可能会对减少纺织工业的环境足迹产生重大影响，通过减少纺织垃圾填埋废物以及水，土地，这个I-Corps项目的基础是开发一个综合回收系统，该系统使用机器人技术和人工智能（AI）自动分类纺织废料和化学回收过程，将分类的纺织废料转化为新的，可重复使用的线。拟议的回收系统的投入是从现有的纺织品收集公司采购的散装消费后纺织品。拟议的回收系统使用近红外（NIR）光谱和图像处理按材料和颜色对纺织废物进行分类，利用人工智能提高分类的准确性。然后，纺织品经过化学预处理，化学分离聚酯和纤维素纤维（纤维素是棉花和其他植物基纺织品的主要成分）。该预处理工艺根据材料和颜色百分比进行调整，旨在从化学工艺中获得最高的材料产量。最后一步是再生新的回收线，可以出售给现有的纺织品制造商，同时提供一个可持续的解决方案。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。