Copper is a very commonly used material, however natural concentrated deposits are decreasing and recycling seems unavoidable. In the evaluation of end-of-life management of aerodynes, consideration of materials, such as copper, is important.
The work carried out has two aspects: firstly, the evaluation of the potential copper deposit which is contained in the electrical wiring of an end-of-life aircraft and, secondly, its characterization for heat treatment.
Usually, the devices are roughly cut to separate the different materials, and mainly, in order to savage the aluminum. Only a fraction of the electrical wiring is recovered. The evaluation of a specific wiring removal operation before the cutting device could improve the recycling rates of copper and reduce the amount of impurity in the aluminum fraction.
The evaluation was carried out on a real aircraft as part of the development of a dismantling platform. The main objectives were to evaluate the copper deposit contained in the electric cables, the separation possibilities of the materials by mechanical and thermal ways and their energy potential.
The obtained results are encouraging. The copper deposit contained in the wiring represents 1 to 2 % of the weight of the aircraft studied. After grinding, the metallic and plastic fractions are disunited and therefore separable. The simulation of a heat treatment also showed a good level of separation of the fractions with 98,5 % removal of plastic part and a cable average energy value of 4 MJ/kg. The choice of one or the other is therefore possible. Conducting this reasoning on all the materials would allow selecting the best applicable techniques.
| Date | 14 Mar 2017 |
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| Original language | French |
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| Awarding Institution | - École de technologie supérieure
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| Supervisor | Robert Hausler (Supervisor) |
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Viot, L. (Author),
Hausler (Supervisor),
14 Mar 2017Student thesis: Master's thesis › Master in Engineering: Environmental Engineering