Photovoltaic Module Resin Burnoff for Clean Material Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for recycling photovoltaic modules, particularly those with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) back sheets, face challenges in complete thermal decomposition, leading to soot formation and contamination of glass and inorganic powders, making it difficult to recover valuable materials efficiently and safely.
Innovation Solution
A method involving loading the photovoltaic module on a heat-resistant porous molded body with the back sheet facing down and heating in an oxidizing atmosphere to melt and combust resin components, using a transition metal oxide to suppress soot generation, allowing for stable combustion and effective material recovery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If thermal decomposition is performed at high temperature (around 450°C) to completely decompose resin components, then decomposition completeness is improved, but rapid combustion occurs causing fire hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The thermal decomposition process is divided into multiple temperature stages: a first heating stage at a lower temperature range (20-100°C/min heating rate) to slowly decompose resin components, followed by a second heating stage at higher temperature (100-200°C/min) to complete decomposition. This segmentation prevents rapid combustion while ensuring complete resin decomposition.
Solution Approach 2:
The first heating stage performs preliminary decomposition of resin components at controlled lower temperature before the main decomposition stage. This preliminary action reduces the resin content gradually, preventing explosive decomposition when reaching higher temperatures, thus avoiding fire hazards.
2Reliability
If thermal decomposition is performed slowly to prevent rapid combustion, then safety is improved, but treatment time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The heating process uses periodic temperature adjustment with two distinct stages: the first stage heats at 20-100°C/min to prevent rapid combustion, then the second stage increases heating rate to 100-200°C/min to accelerate decomposition. This periodic heating pattern balances safety and efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating rate parameter is dynamically changed during the process: initially set at 20-100°C/min for safe preliminary decomposition, then increased to 100-200°C/min for rapid complete decomposition. This parameter optimization reduces total treatment time while maintaining safety.
3Manufacturing precision
If complete thermal decomposition is achieved to remove all resin components, then material recovery purity is improved, but soot formation contaminates glass and inorganic powders
Solution Approach 1:
The heating rate is optimized to 20-200°C/min range, preventing excessive temperature rise that causes soot formation. This controlled parameter change ensures complete resin decomposition while minimizing soot generation, thus avoiding contamination of glass and inorganic powders.
Solution Approach 2:
The two-stage heating process with different rates allows controlled decomposition at each stage, preventing the rapid temperature increase that leads to soot formation. The periodic heating pattern ensures complete decomposition while maintaining low soot generation throughout the process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach prevents rapid combustion, allows for the recovery of tempered glass without cracking, and reduces soot formation, enabling the efficient recovery of valuable materials like glass, cells, and inorganic powders from photovoltaic modules.
Implementation Method 1
the resin components, which have been melted before ignition, permeate into the heat-resistant porous molded body to expand their surface areas
Implementation Method 2
arranging a heat-resistant material carrying a transition metal oxide in the furnace, generation of 'soot' when combusting an aromatic resin such as PET can be suppressed
Implementation Method 3
heating a load including the photovoltaic module (X) and the porous molded body (A) in a heating furnace in an oxidizing atmosphere to melt and then combust the resin components
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a method to recycle valuable materials included in a photovoltaic module having a resin back sheet or the like, for efficiently and easily recovering the valuable materials by removing the resin components from the photovoltaic module. The method of recovering valuable materials from a photovoltaic module, includes: a loading step of loading a photovoltaic module (X) having a resin back sheet and a sealing resin layer on a heat-resistant porous molded body (A) with the back sheet surface facing down; and a heating step of heating a load including the photovoltaic module (X) and the porous molded body (A) in a heating furnace in an oxidizing atmosphere to melt and then combust the resin components.