BEFESA

Befesa’s research and development is structured into three core research and development programs focusing on industrial waste recycling. The research and development programs and their highlight projects are summarized below.

Aluminium waste recycling program

Befesa Aluminio’s R&D is implemented as a single program primarily directed to fulfill targets set by the company’s afore-mentioned R&D strategic plan. Some of the highlights of its research and development within this program in 2010 are outlined below.

• • Obtaining second-meltdown aluminum alloys for use in safety components

    This project, conducted in partnership with Edertek, Fagor Automoción’s technology center, and Cofundi, an SME that manufacturers die-cast parts, applies research findings to use recycled aluminum to make safety parts for the automobile and rail sectors, such as car hubs and hub carriers, still produced to-date using low-iron primary aluminum. Taking a global approach to the issue of secondary aluminum’s high iron content, the project processes the melt with chemical alloying agents, liquid-state thermal and mechanical treatment, further thermal treatment, new part-manufacturing processes, etc.

  • Obtentining secondary aluminium through a solid-state process

    This project lies halfway between the line of research concerned with processing new raw materials and the research area focusing on processing technology. The company is looking at integrated enhancement of fines processing in the 1-5 mm range across the various processing lines operated by the unit’s facilities. Input materials are derived from aluminium slag, compound scrap or other companies’ recycling processes sold on the market, such as white-goods fines. A pilot plant is processing 1-4 t per day of fines for subsequent briquette manufacture at Bostlan, a company running trials at the 200-500 kg scale in a pilot rotary furnace and pot at the Inasmet technology center operated by the Fundación Tecnalia.

    As a long-term goal, the company is working on the potential for raising the aluminium content of fines to a level that makes them marketable to part manufacturers as briquettes of a standard composition in accord with the desired alloying, thus avoiding the need for meltdown at an aluminum refinery.

Waste treatment and value recovery program

The aim of the program is to develop thermal waste treatment technologies and transform wastes into fuels and input materials usable in energy value recovery and recycling processes. Some of the highlights of the company’s research and development within this program in 2010 are outlined below.

• • Extracting value from materials through catalytic oxidation

    The goal of the project is to design an industrial waste pretreatment process to make waste usable as a direct fuel for an industrial catalytic oxidation facility. Applied research must be brought to bear to create a thermal waste treatment technology that, marking Europe’s first radical departure from conventional methods, achieves a high degree of catalysis so as to lower the flashpoint, speed up isothermal oxidation, and enable combustion gases to remain in the oxidative chamber over extended periods. The novel features of this technology allow for exhaustive control of gas emissions and ensure that slags will be inert, while achieving energy recovery via electricity production. One of the key issues in developing this technology is to pre-treat wastes to create uniform physical and chemical conditions at the process entry point. Funded by CDTI in the amount of €1.4 M, the project is being undertaken in partnership with the Tekniker technology center.

  • Producing fiberglass-reinforced polypropylene

    Befesa Plástico is developing an innovative technology to produce fiberglass-reinforced plastic. Recycled polypropylene and fiberglass waste is utilized to produce material that improves the mechanical performance of recycled plastics. The project involves building a demonstration plant capable of producing 1,000 kg/h per line. Domestic and European funding have made for a total budget of €5 M. The technology lowers carbon dioxide emissions by 60 % versus new raw materials.

Alternative treatments and new markets program

The goal here is to create and develop emerging, sustainable technologies that enable the company to diversify into new environmental markets and broaden the range of processable wastes. Some of the highlights of its research and development within this program in 2010 are outlined below.

• • Producing biodegradable plastics from industrial waste (bioplastics)

    One of the overarching concerns of the project is to utilize petrochemical plastic wastes, sewage sludge and other wastes to obtain medium-chain polyhydroxyalkanoates (mclPHA), a high valueadded biodegradable plastic.

    The scope of the project embraces the construction, commissioning and operation of the first pilot plant to produce biodegradable plastics from wastes, on the basis of the lab research completed by Bioplastech, a spin-off company based in Ireland.

    The project is funded at “CDTI Technology Fund Inter-Entrepreneurial Program”, and is developing in collaboration with Idesa, an Asturias-based equipment manufacturer, and Enia, an Asturias- based SME specializing in automation and control equipment. Successful completion of the Project will result in a new waste recycling technology enabling the company to broaden the range of “processable” wastes and diversify its business by entering new markets, such as bioplastics.

    The overall project goal is closely aligned with Abengoa’s core strategy of sustainable development by restricting raw material consumption, recycling waste, and creating biodegradable, environmentfriendly products.

  • Feasibility study for the application of advanced oxidation techniques to liquid effluents with high DQO (photocatalysis)

    The project is focused on the evaluation of the solar treatment techniques to detoxify the landfill´s leachates and other effluents. Specifically, the goal is to assess the ability to detoxify using advanced oxidation processes, in particular, Foto-Fenton, a process that destroys the total organic load (DQO) of a liquid via oxidation with hydroxyl groups (OH) formed by exposing hydrogen peroxide to sunlight.

    The study encompasses lab tests of various effluents, and trials at a pilot plant at the Almeria Solar Platform. The company has partnered with the Ciesol (Spanish, Centro de Investigaciones de Energia Solar), a solar energy research center attached to Almeria University and the project is funded by the CTA (Spanish, Corporación Tecnologica de Andalucía) and the IDEA agency.