Recycling of Glass Fibers from Fiberglass Polyester Waste Composite for the Manufacture of Glass-Ceramic Materials

This work presents the feasibility of reusing a glass fiber resulting from the thermolysis and gasification of waste composites to obtain glass-ceramic tiles. Polyester fiberglass (PFG) waste was treated at 550℃ for 3 h in a 9.6 dm3 thermolytic reactor. This process yielded an oil (≈24 wt%), a gas (≈8 wt%) and a solid residue (≈68 wt%). After the polymer has been removed, the solid residue is heated in air to oxidize residual char and remove surface contamination. The cleaning fibers were converted into glass-ceramic tile. A mixture consisting of 95 wt% of this solid residue and 5% Na2O was melted at 1450℃ to obtain a glass frit. Powder glass samples (<63 μm) was then sintered and crystallized at 1013℃, leading to the formation of wollastonite-plagioclase glass-ceramic materials for architectural applications. Thermal stability and crystallization mechanism have been studied by Differential Thermal Analysis. Mineralogy analyses of the glass-ceramic materials were carried out using X-ray Diffraction.

Characterization of Solid Wastes from Aluminum Tertiary Sector: The Current State of Spanish Industry

Aluminum recycling is an important activity that allows returning this metal to the market saving energy and resources. This activity generates slag and dross, both hazardous materials, which are recovered by other industries (tertiary sector). In that process, new wastes are produced, but most of them are disposed in security storage facilities because of their hazardousness and scarce marketable value. In Spain, the statistical data analysis on waste reveals that this sector is increasing every year. This study aims to characterize the wastes generated by the tertiary aluminum industries in Spain. Samples were collected in different aluminum recycling industries and characterized by chemical analyses, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction and particle size determination. Wastes rich in aluminum oxide and alkaline elements also comprise metallic aluminum and aluminum nitride. Such components are the main responsible for the waste hazardousness since they generate toxic gases in the presence of water. Besides, their fine granulometry (x50 < 30 μm) also contributes highly to the hazardousness.

Physico-Chemical Characteristics of the Products Derived from the Thermolysis of Waste <i>Abies</i><i>alba</i><i>Mill</i>. Wood

This paper reports the physico-chemical characteristics of the products derived from the thermolysis (thermolytic distillation) of waste silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) wood at different temperatures (400℃- 600℃) in a pilot scale plant. Depending on the thermolysis temperature, the procedure yielded 45 - 53 wt% pyroligneous acid with a high water content (80 - 86 wt%) and pH ≈ 3.6. The process also produced a carbonaceous solid or biochar (23 - 26 wt%), its properties strongly dependent on the thermolysis temperature. Gases (20 - 31 wt%) were also produced;these were transformed into electrical energy via a gas turbine. The pyroligneous acid was centrifuged to isolate a subfraction composed mostly of phenols (phenol, mequinol and furfural) with a total C content of 68 - 74 wt%. The remainder was subjected to fractionated distillation at laboratory scale, and the distillate subjected to liquid-liquid extraction using diethyl ether in two stages to obtain a bio-oil composed mainly of acetic acid (≈47%), aldehydes, ketones and alcohols (≈31%), phe- nols (≈18%) and aliphatic alcohols. The characteristics of the bio-oil depended on the thermolysis temperature.