Application of electrodynamic fragmentation to process pre-comminuted photovoltaic modules: A process parameter study

There is an increasing demand for the usage of photovoltaic (PV) modules due to the global high energy requirement. Therefore, the waste generation from used PV modules raises a concern as the standard method of disposal is landfilling. Hence, recycling waste solar modules is essential. During PV recycling, comminution plays a significant role which facilitates effective material recovery. However, due to the special arrangements of layers inside the PV modules, the utilisation of traditional crushing techniques has become difficult. While electrodynamic fragmentation has shown great potential as a novel comminution technique, its application in the PV recycling industry remains limited. This study investigates the use of electrodynamic fragmentation (EDF) as a method for comminuting waste PV modules and compares it with a conventional impact crusher. EDF experiments were conducted by selFrag Lab 2.1 at two voltage levels, 150¿kV and 200¿kV, with different pulse settings of 100, 150, 175 and 200 pulses. The resulting fine fractions were analysed through visual observations, particle size distribution, swim-sink analysis, microscopic imaging and quantification. The same procedure was continued with the Impact crusher to compare the two comminution methods. The optimum performance was observed at 200¿kV with 175 pulses. Fully liberated glass and metal particles were concentrated in the coarser fractions, while Silicon was in the finer fractions. Swim-sink analysis, microscopic imaging and quantification further revealed complete material liberation in EDF samples, unlike the impact crusher output, which showed poor liberation and mixed particles across all size ranges.