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Energy Technology 2017 pp 379–386Cite as

Electrodynamic Eddy Current Separation of End-of-Life PV Materials

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Part of the book series: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series ((MMMS))

Abstract

In this work, we examine the efficacy of Electrodynamic Eddy Current Separation (EECS) to recover valuable materials from end-of-life solar panels. Traditional rotary-based eddy current separators are capable of excitation frequencies of ≈1 kHz or less and struggle to economically separate particles smaller than ≈1 cm. A new design of eddy current separators has been developed at the University of Utah which has no mechanically moving parts. The design is capable of excitation frequencies up to 50 kHz, allowing sorting of particles as small as 1.0 mm. Recently, we have been successful in separating mixtures of Si/Al and CdTe/Al particles (1–3 mm) with recovery and grades greater than 85%, an energy demand of 68 kWh/short ton of sorted material, and throughput of roughly 10 kg/h. Current and future challenges utilizing this method for valuable material recovery from end-of-life solar panels are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

YRS would like to acknowledge support provided though the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Sunshot Initiative Postdoctoral Research Award. RKR and JRN acknowledge support through the United States, Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) METALS Program under cooperative agreement grant DE-AR0000411. The authors would also like to acknowledge technical contributions by Dave Cohrs and Jacob Salgado.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Metallurgical Engineering Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    York R. Smith, James R. Nagel & Raj K. Rajamani

Authors
  1. York R. Smith
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  2. James R. Nagel
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  3. Raj K. Rajamani
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to York R. Smith .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Alaska System , Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

    Lei Zhang

  2. 512 Minerals & Matls Engg Bldg, Michigan Technological Univ 512 Minerals & Matls Engg Bldg, Houghton, Michigan, USA

    Jaroslaw W. Drelich

  3. IND LLC , South Jordan, Utah, USA

    Neale R. Neelameggham

  4. Idaho National Laboratory , Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA

    Donna Post Guillen

  5. CSIRO , Canberra, Australia

    Nawshad Haque

  6. Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh, USA

    Jingxi Zhu

  7. Queensland University of Technology , Brisbane, Australia

    Ziqi Sun

  8. Nucor Steel , Manila, Arkansas, USA

    Tao Wang

  9. Purdue University , West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    John A Howarter

  10. Turku, Finland

    Fiseha Tesfaye

  11. Department of Basic Sciences/Physic, Al Isra University Department of Basic Sciences/Physic, Amman, Jordan

    Shadia Ikhmayies

  12. Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Elsa Olivetti

  13. Proval Partners SA , Lausanne, Switzerland

    Mark William Kennedy

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© 2017 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

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Smith, Y.R., Nagel, J.R., Rajamani, R.K. (2017). Electrodynamic Eddy Current Separation of End-of-Life PV Materials. In: Zhang, L., et al. Energy Technology 2017. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52192-3_37

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