Material Flux through an Innovative Recycling Process Treating Different Types of End-of-Life Photovoltaic Panels: Demonstration at Pilot Scale

Energies

Pietro Altimari¹  Antonio Rubino¹  Pier Giorgio Schiavi¹  Francesca Pagnanelli¹  Flavia Carla dos Santos Martins Padoan¹  Gianmaria Belardi² 

[1] Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy;Department of Physics, Tor Vergata University of Rome, via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy;

关键词: photovoltaic panel;    recycling process;    pilot scale;    mass balance;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en14175534

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

A quantitative assessment of the material flux emerging from a pilot plant for the treatment of end-of-life photovoltaic panel waste was reported. The process included the manual dismantling of aluminum frames, mechanical treatment for size reduction, and the physical treatment of the milled materials for the release of coarse glass from the encapsulant polymer. Demonstration activities were performed using 1 ton of Si-, 1 ton of CdTe-, and 1 ton of CIGS-based photovoltaic panels (investigated separately), confirming the ability of the process to treat different photovoltaic technologies. The characterization of the input materials was performed and compared with previous literature data. The major bottleneck in the definition of an effective process option for the treatment of different panel technologies was emphasized by the high heterogeneity reported. Mass balances for the proposed process were derived by the recovered material flow. It was highlighted that in processes based on mechanical treatments, producing predominantly coarse fractions allows for the facile separation of most of the valuable components. In this perspective, the present work offers further insights into the design of recycling process to reach increased profitability/sustainability, especially considering the distributions of valuable metals in the process products.

【 授权许可】

Unknown