Home / News / CRTC to find ways for processing recycled carbon fibre

CRTC to find ways for processing recycled carbon fibre

24 Jul '17

3 min read

Courtesy: Composite Recycling Technology Center

The Composite Recycling Technology Centre (CRTC) under a new contract with a national manufacturing institute will pioneer ways to automate processing of carbon fibre composite pre-preg scrap. This technology is essential to process recycled carbon fibre (rCF) in high volumes fulfilling its enormous potential for energy savings and carbon reduction.

This will also help in creating a global composites recycling industry.

The one-year contract with the Institute for Advanced Composite Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) will provide over $400,000 for the CRTC’s work to design and build processing equipment designed specifically to prepare uncured aerospace carbon fibre scrap for high volume manufacturing applications. The CRTC plans to begin making products using this process by the end of 2017 and quadruple the throughput of scrap material by the middle of 2018.

The novel manufacturing machinery developed under this contract will be instrumental in growing the number and volume of products made at the CRTC. Moreover, the technology developed by the CRTC will be made available to other facilities seeking to recycle composites in high volume, boosting the emergence of this new industry. This contract announcement further cements the CRTC/IACMI partnership announced one year ago. at a celebratory MOU signing event featuring leadership from the two partnering organisations, the Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, Washington’s Department of Commerce, the Port of Port Angeles, and local economic development groups.

In 2016, the CRTC became the first facility in the world to transform carbon fibre composite pre-preg scrap into new products.

“The IACMI contract is a landmark achievement,” said the CRTC’s CEO Bob Larsen. “It validates the CRTC’s technology approach from the national level and is a strong vote of confidence in our young company and its business plans. It supports our drive to self-sufficiency and for creating good-paying local jobs and advances the growth of the carbon fibre recycling industry, a core part of the CRTC’s and IACMI’s missions.”

IACMI, the Composites Institute is one of over ten national manufacturing innovation institutes that accelerate US advanced manufacturing by supporting research and development of new technologies, production processes, and workforce training opportunities via shared contributions from the public and private sectors. IACMI’s focus on advancing composite material technology includes a significant effort in recycling of composite materials – a sizable challenge constraining the growth of the industry.

Washington Senator Maria Cantwell, a longtime champion of CRTC, said: “Washington state and the Composite Recycling Technology Centre are continuing to lead the way on carbon fibre recycling technology. These are the types of public-private partnerships we should be investing in to grow good paying manufacturing jobs.”

“Technical innovation is a major driver of Washington state’s economy and it’s happening everywhere, not just Seattle,” said commerce director Brian Bonlender. “Our Clean Energy Fund is one way in which we invest to strengthen rural communities by cultivating new business opportunities and jobs for the low-carbon future. The Port Angeles CRTC leveraged state and local funding to attract national and international attention and additional investment that is advancing their world-leading work to produce new high-volume, low-cost products out of scrap aerospace carbon fibre.”

The contract also includes planning support from the CRTC for IACMI’s recycled composites programme. The CRTC will be working closely with IACMI’s Materials and Processing researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville throughout the contract. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India