Process for recycling composite materials

Abstract

The present patent of invention describes a recycling process to recover fibrous reinforcing material of composite materials, particularly carbon fiber, primary reactor compound (), for the controlled pyrolysis and oxidation of the composite material matrix (resin) at low temperature (400° C. to 500° C.) and a system for treating waste gases produced by thermal decomposition of composite material matrixes which employs a secondary reactor (), containing within the same a thermal plasma arc (). The main characteristic of the process, within the scope of the carbon fiber recycling, is the possibility of maintaining the fabric web, obtaining fabrics made of pure carbon fiber, without a significant amount of residues and preserving their structural characteristics. The thermal plasma allows managing high temperatures (2,000° C. to 15,000° C.) in a controlled atmosphere, which allows the dissociation of long chains of molecules into ions that are recombined to produce combustible gases and other acid or alkaline gases that are easily neutralized and retained in gas cleaning systems.