GreenShift received the award for developing an electronic waste recycling solution called the Tornado Generator. Based on the principle of the tornado, the Tornado Generator is capable of drastically reducing the volume of waste materials (segregated stream of metals and plastics in case of electronics recycling). According to F&S, what makes the process noteworthy is that the product can effectively reduce the volume of the input waste material stream to about 90 percent by pulverizing it into micrometer-sized particles.
With directives such as waste electrical and electronic equipment and Restriction of Hazardous Substances coming into effect from 2006 in Europe, electronic waste recycling is increasingly receiving a major thrust.
"The process of electronic waste recycling involves a continuous chain of different operations such as conventional grinding and separation into plastic and metal streams, removal of hazardous components from these streams, pulverizing the plastic and metal streams, selective separation of high-value metals and plastics, and finally energy conversion of residual organics," notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Hari Ramamoorthy. "In this regard, the Tornado Generator represents a notable accomplishment as it can be employed in the critical step of pulverization of plastic and metal streams, enabling the increased availability of high-value metals in the process flow and also facilitates efficient reaction of the qualified plastics into energy and/or clean fuels such as ethanol or synthetic diesel."
The operation employs a stream of compressed air that is accelerated to high supersonic speeds in a closed cyclonic chamber, resulting in the formation of a powerful air vortex. The tornado grinds materials that are fed into it to micrometer-sized particles. Air is introduced at the bottom of the system and proceeds upwards, while the material, after grinding, is collected at the bottom of the system.
"GreenShift plans to use its Tornado Generator along with other proprietary technologies under a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy, to screen out chlorinated and brominated plastics and to fine-tune the overall electronic recycling process," says Ramamoorthy.