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About the project

ELIOT aims to provide new innovative and green technologies for EoL of commonly used natural fibres and biobased resins with increased resource efficiency and fully align these biomaterials with the circular economy principles (Figure 1).
To this end, the project will propose and develop innovative solutions for the EoL of the new generation of biocomposites by:

  1. Reviewing the current treatment technologies for conventional FRP composite waste
  2. Evaluating their potential suitability to be applied to the biocomposite waste and selecting those treatment alternatives that appear as the most feasible
  3. Tailoring the selected treatment technologies to the characteristics of biocomposites and testing them at laboratory scale
  4. Demonstrating their technical feasibility and life-cycle sustainability under pre-industrial scale.
Figure 1

Different EoL approaches will be evaluated, including mechanical, thermal, chemical and biological methods for waste recovery and recycling. A comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the EoL methods in terms of cost and environmental sustainability will be conducted.
ELIOT will set the basis for a wider uptake of biocomposite materials in the aircraft industry (and other industrial sectors using composite materials) by providing cost-effective methods for their EoL treatment.

Objectives

Main objective at ELIOT

Main technical objective to be achieved by the consortium in this project is the full-scale demonstration of the most promising EoL methods for biocomposite waste. Full-scale demonstration will be provided for 2 EoL methods for 2 target biocomposites, respectively, including their technical validation at pre-industrial scale and their validation in terms of life-cycle sustainability. These EoL methods will be ready to be further scaled up in industrial environments.

To achieve this main objective, the consortium will need to achieve the following specific technical targets:

1. Definition and development of potential recovery solutions for biocomposite waste from EoL aircraft
A preliminary definition of EoL methods for the biocomposites targeted in the project will be based on a comprehensive review of the tate-of-the-art technologies applied for the conventional FRP counterparts (as well as any other previous study dealing with EoL of biocomposites). The technologies that will be critically reviewed will include mechanical, thermal, chemical and biological methods. The proposed EoL methods will rely on those existing technologies that show some transferability potential for the treatment of biocomposite waste. These will be further developed and tailored to the specific needs of the target biomaterials (natural fibres and biobased resins), obtaining a list of potential EoL methods with higher level of characterisation (in terms of resulting products, production yields, expected costs, environmental loads, etc.).
2. Selection of the best EoL methods for biocomposite waste
The EoL methods defined for the biocomposites targeted in the project will be assessed against a set of feasibility criteria, including technical feasibility and scalability, cost effectiveness, potential marketability of the resulting products, environmental performance and circularity, alignment with policy framework, etc. A weighted decision matrix will be developed to compare the EoL alternatives with respect to the multiple criteria, which will be weighted according to their levels of importance. Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) will thus be applied to rank the EoL methods based on their overall feasibility level.
3. Testing of the EoL methods for biocomposite waste at laboratory scale
The most promising EoL methods will be tested in laboratory, tailoring the methods to the specific characteristics of the biomaterials targeted in the project. A Design of Experiments (DoE) will be comprehensively defined for each EoL method and composite material to be tested, defining the parameters to be applied during each process step (samples, reagents and auxiliary materials, temperatures and pressures, processing times, etc.). These processing parameters will be monitored and optimised during laboratory trials based on the resulting output products, which will be fully characterised (in terms of yield, composition, purity, quality, etc.) and checked against the technical specifications for equivalent products in the market. Special attention will be given to the scalability of each method during the laboratory tests, considering up-scaling factors and carrying out techno-economic analysis and streamlined life cycle assessment (LCA).
4. Full-scale demonstration of the EoL methods for biocomposite waste
Among the EoL methods validated in laboratory, those showing the best results in terms of potential scalability will be demonstrated at a larger scale. The demonstration will involve the testing of each EoL method at pre-industrial scale using the pilot plants of project partners and samples of biocomposite panels with a size of 1 sqm. A target biocomposite will be selected (in agreement with the Topic Manager) for testing each EoL method at pre-industrial scale. The processing parameters will be monitored and optimised during the testing trials at pilot plant, collecting primary data to fine-tune the technoeconomic analysis and conduct a comprehensive LCA.
By reaching the objective and targets described above the consortium will contribute to reduce the environmental footprint of the aviation industry in the airframe parts that nowadays are manufactured with composites. Aviation must move towards more sustainable resources and solutions, with an industry that is clean, competitive, safe and secure.

Figure 2 - Funnel methodology followed in ELIOT.

Results

Consortium

AIMPLAS

AIMPLAS

València Parc Tecnològic Calle Gustave Eiffel, 4 46980 Paterna Valencia, ESPAÑA
https://www.aimplas.es
TNO

TNO

Anna Van Buerenplein, 1 Den Haag 2595 DA, Netherlands
https://www.tno.nl/en/

Team

Avatar
Nora Lardiés
Senior consultant. Chemical Recycling Group
Project role: Technical coordinator.
Expert on landfill, incineration and thermal technologies: pyrolysis (conventional, fluidised-bed and microwave-assisted). nlardies@aimplas.es +34 663459064
Avatar
Rajesh Mehta
Senior Consultant.
Climate, Air & Sustainability
Expert on gasification, solvolysis and dissolution. rajesh.mehta@tno.nl +31 621957530
Avatar
Toon van Harmelen
Project role: Project advisor. toon.vanharmelen@tno.nl +31 652803663
Avatar
Tom Ligthart
Expert sustainability assessment Climate, Air and Sustainability
Project role: LCA and sustainability expert tom.ligthart@tno.nl +31 615571118
Avatar
Judith Kessens
Senior Project Manager
Climate, Air & Sustainability
Project role: Project Management TNO, Data Management, Dissemination & exploitation board judith.kessens@tno.nl +31 622374428
Avatar
Sergio Fita
Project Manager at AIMPLAS
Project role: Project coordinator sfita@aimplas.es +34 663460764

Gallery

Eliot at media

  • End-of-life solutions for biocomposites: the ELIOT Project

    01/11/2022
    Jecmagazine composites

  • Biocomposites: Soluciones al final de su vida últil

    31/05/2022
    RETEMA

  • Biocomposites: Soluciones al final de su vida últil

    31/05/2022
    RETEMA - NewsLetter

  • Biocomposites: soluciones al final de su vida útil

    13/05/2022
    RETEMA

  • PROYECTO ELIOT: Biocomposites, soluciones al final de su vida útil

    09/05/2022

  • Investígase o desenvolvemento de tecnoloxías de reciclado de biocomposites do sector aeronáutico

    07/10/2020
    SOGAMA

  • The ELIOT project will improve environmental sustainability in aeronautics by using new biocomposite recycling methods

    23/09/2020
    Bio-Based News

  • EU project seeks to recycle biocomposites

    21/09/2020
    Plasteurope

  • El proyecto Eliot mejorará la sostenibilidad medioambiental de la aeronáutica con nuevos métodos de reciclado de los biocomposites

    16/09/2020
    Interempresas PLASTICO

  • El proyecto Eliot mejorará la sostenibilidad medioambiental de la aeronáutica con nuevos métodos de reciclado de los biocomposites

    16/09/2020
    Interempresas AERONÁUTICA

  • El proyecto Eliot mejorará la sostenibilidad medioambiental de la aeronáutica con nuevos métodos de reciclado de los biocomposites

    16/09/2020
    Interempresas Reciclaje y Gestión de Residuos

  • Aimplas project develops biocomposite recycling methods

    16/09/2020
    CW Composites World

  • El proyecto ELIOT mejorará la sostenibilidad medioambiental de la aeronáutica con nuevos métodos de reciclado de los biocomposites

    15/09/2020
    METALMADRID

  • BIOCOMPOSITES EN AERONÁUTICA.

    13/09/2020
    La Razón

  • Recycling Biocomposites for Aeronautics Industry

    12/09/2020
    Bioplastics News

  • EU ELIOT project to develop new biocomposite recycling methods

    11/09/2020
    Bioplastics Magazine

  • A project to improve sustainability in aeronautics by using new biocomposite recycling methods

    09/09/2020
    Jec Composites

  • Proyecto ELIOT para el reciclado de biocomposites en aeronáutica

    09/09/2020
    Mundoplast WEB

  • El proyecto ELIOT mejorará la sostenibilidad medioambiental de la aeronáutica con nuevos métodos de reciclado de los biocomposites

    08/09/2020
    Química y Sociedad

  • EL PROYECTO ELIOT INVESTIGA TECNOLOGÍAS DE RECICLADO DE BIOCOMPOSITES DEL SECTOR AERONÁUTICO

    08/09/2020
    Residuos Profesional WEB

  • El proyecto ELIOT mejorará la sostenibilidad medioambiental de la aeronáutica

    08/09/2020
    Actualidad Aeroespacial

  • El proyecto ELIOT mejorará la sostenibilidad medioambiental de la aeronáutica con nuevos métodos de reciclado de los biocomposites

    08/09/2020
    Bioval

  • Proyecto ELIOT: nuevos métodos de reciclado de biocomposites al servicio de la aeronáutica

    08/09/2020
    Gestores de Residuos

  • AIMPLAS’ ELIOT project set to improve sustainability in aeronautics

    07/09/2020
    Ecosistent

  • More sustainability in aeronautics by using biocomposite recycling methods

    07/09/2020
    Recycling Magazin

  • AIMPLAS’ ELIOT project set to improve sustainability in aeronautics

    07/09/2020
    EPPM Online

  • -AIMPLAS’ ELIOT project set to improve sustainability in aeronautics

    07/09/2020
    Polyestertime

  • El proyecto ELIOT mejorará la sostenibilidad medioambiental de la aeronáutica con nuevos métodos de reciclado de los biocomposites

    07/09/2020
    FuturEnviro

  • The ELIOT project will improve environmental sustainability in aeronautics by using new biocomposite recycling methods

    07/09/2020
    REDIT ingles

  • El proyecto ELIOT mejorará la sostenibilidad medioambiental de la aeronáutica

    07/09/2020
    RETEMA

      

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme for the Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative under grant agreement No 886416.