Abstract
The incorporation of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), being used as composite materials in automobiles and aircraft, is expected to significantly reduce transportation energy. The objective of this research is to optimize the two-staged thermal treatment system, which consists of a carbonizing furnace to decompose the plastic components in the CFRP thermally and an oxidizing furnace to burn the residual carbon on carbonized carbon fibers. Results confirmed that with the carbonizing furnace, the heat capacity of the product gases and tar after decomposition of the resin components thermally can cover the amount of heat required for CFRP pyrolysis and that the superheated steam can give an energy savings of 63 % for the small CYT-1700 (1 m3) furnace and 56 % for the large CYT-7000 (5 m3) furnace. For the oxidizing furnace, an oxidizing condition of less than 500 °C was revealed to be appropriate and it can achieve an energy savings of 33 %. This can be further improved to 48 % in stable operating conditions. In research on carbon fiber strength tests, it was confirmed that recycled carbon fiber can obtain a strength that is 80 % greater than that of virgin carbon fiber.
