Fraunhofer UMSICHT Institute Branch Sulzbach-Rosenberg
Recycling of old electronic and electrical appliances
The iCycle® process is a thermochemical process for separating materials, especially composite materials. Plastics and other organic components are thermally decomposed in an oxygen-free atmosphere. In this way, the metals or fibers contained are gently exposed and at the same time energy sources rich in calorific value are obtained in the form of oil and gas. These can be used for the process's own energy supply.
Metal recovery from electronic scrap
With iCycle® technology, precious metals can be recovered from electronic scrap and its shredder residues. These are generated, for example, during the mechanical processing of end-of-life vehicles or electronic scrap. Although these fractions still contain valuable metals and energy, they are currently generally recycled thermally.
The iCycle process enables metals to be sufficiently broken down from plastics. The resulting mixture of solids (carbonate) and metals can be fed directly into integrated copper smelters. Up to 20 individual metals can be recovered in this way.
At the same time, the plastic components contained in the composites, which are converted into oil and gas (pyrolysis gas) under the given process conditions, serve as an energy source for the self-sufficient operation of the plant and / or as a source of valuable chemical raw materials that can be isolated in downstream processes (chemical recycling).
Industrial-scale systems
At the Sulzbach-Rosenberg site, Fraunhofer UMSICHT has iCycle® plants ranging from pilot plant scale (0.5 kg/h) to industrial scale (70 kg/h).
In addition, appropriate infrastructure is available for upstream and downstream processing as well as meaningful analysis of the input materials and products.
