Thermal treatment and disposal of carbon fiber reinforced composites

From the point of view of rational resource management polymer composites treatment is at the same time environmental pollution prevention during their burial and the opportunity to recover valuable resources — fibers and other fillers. This article presents an analysis of the various processes of thermal utilization of carbon fiber reinforced composites. Incineration technologies in specialized installations and in cement production kilns allow to get rid of the significant amounts of a wide variety of wastes, including polymer composites, with useful energy potential, therefore, it is a popular way to solve the problem of such materials in a place where their disposal is prohibited. However, in this case, valuable resources, like carbon fiber, which production is very energy-consuming, are lost. Therefore, the priority is technologies that allow recycled carbon fiber recovery. One of the most widely used methods that meet most requirements is pyrolysis; therefore, investigation of optimal conditions for this process is an urgent task for research.