Lineat - ReCaFiDi Recyled Carbon Fibre Dispersion

该分析创新者项目应用斯旺西ASTUTE卓越中心的专业知识对材料表面表征，以Lineat的新型碳纤维回收过程。碳纤维以其高强度和轻质特性而闻名，但其成本和环境负担沉重。它比钢铁贵40倍，每公斤二氧化碳排放量高20倍，但回收利用率不到10%，使其成为世界上最昂贵的一次性材料之一。碳纤维可以从碳纤维复合材料制成的物品中回收，但再利用的不到10%，全球每年约有5万吨垃圾填埋。而且，英国严重依赖碳纤维进口。改进和扩大回收碳纤维的能力是一项明确而迫切的需求。回收利用目前仅限于填料或毛毡，性能较差，因此市场的数量和价值限制在1万吨以下或2亿美元用于基本复合应用。Lineat已经展示了如何将高达50%的原始纤维替换为其排列的再生纤维，提供高价值的解决方案。Lineat的工艺将短切纤维恢复成由排列的不连续纤维组成的新的连续带，排列后可以替代原始材料。定位是通过首先将纤维分散到水中，然后通过专利的水力定位装置喷洒它们来完成的。然而，目前该工艺的生产率和经济性受到分散较高浓度纤维的困难的限制。碳纤维的表面在不同的废物来源之间差异很大，需要不同的分散策略。根据理论限制，生产速度提高10倍应该有助于节省更多的碳纤维，否则将被填埋。为了实现这一目标，ASTUTE将使用先进的技术来表征纤维表面，从而优化添加剂的选择，以促进纤维的分散。与此同时，Lineat将在其工艺中试用这些技术，以最大限度地提高分散浓度和纤维对齐质量，从而为回收碳纤维提供高价值的解决方案。

This Analysis for Innovators project applies Swansea ASTUTE Centre of Excellence expertise on on material surface characterisation to Lineat's novel carbon fibre recycling process. Carbon fibre is well known for its high strength and lightweight properties but has a heavy cost and environmental burden. It is 40x more expensive than steel with 20x higher CO2 emissions per kg, yet less than 10% is recycled making it one of world's most expensive single-use materials. Carbon fibre may be recovered from articles made from carbon fibre composites, but less than 10% is re-used with about 50,000 tonnes landfilled globally p.a. And, the UK relies heavily on carbon fibre import. Improved and expanded capabilities for recycling carbon fibre is a clear and urgent need. Recycled use is currently limited to filler or felt, with poor performance, and as a consequence the market is volume and value limited to less than 10,000 tonne or 200mn USD for basic compounding applications. Lineat has shown how up to 50% of virgin fibre can be replaced with its aligned recycled fibre, offering a high value solution.Lineat's processes recovered short chopped fibre into a new continuous tape consisting of aligned discontinuous fibres which when aligned can substitute virgin material. Alignment is done by first dispersing fibres into water and then spraying them through a patented hydro-alignment set-up. However, the productivity and economics of the process are at present limited by difficulties in dispersing fibre at higher concentrations. The surface of the carbon fibres can vary greatly between waste sources and require different dispersion strategies. Based on theoretical limits, a 10x increase in production speed should be possible helping to save more carbon fibre otherwise destined for landfill.To achieve this objective ASTUTE will use advanced techniques for characterisation of the fibre surface, leading to optimal selection of additives to promote fibre dispersion. In parallel, Lineat will trial these in its process to maximise dispersion concentration and fibre alignment quality, leading to a high value solution for recycled carbon fibre.