Institutional Repository
Technical University of Crete
Technical University of Crete
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| URI: | http://purl.tuc.gr/dl/dias/3428B86F-A91A-4CC6-8E40-D881627628E6 | ||
| Year | 2023 | ||
| Type of Item | Diploma Work | ||
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| Bibliographic Citation | Georgios Kalogerakis, "Hydrothermal leaching of silver from mono-crystalline photovoltaic panels", Diploma Work, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Chania, Greece, 2023 https://doi.org/10.26233/heallink.tuc.96611 | ||
| Appears in Collections |
This study explores the need for more environmentally friendly energy production methods due to the ever-increasing effects of climate change. Green energy (GE), which encompasses all energy produced from renewable sources (RES), has led to a surge in photovoltaic (PV) panel installations, especially after the 2000s. However, this transition to green energy will result in significant volumes of PV waste, due to the estimated lifespan of PV at around 20-25 years, requiring appropriate treatment and processing of spent materials. Recycling PV unit is particularly challenging due to the numerous components of the panel, including several metallic elements, including rare earth elements. This thesis focuses on the optimal experimental parameters for extracting silver (Ag) from PV waste using the hydrothermal method. The six parameters analyzed are : 1) Concentration of nitric acid (HNO3), 2) Temperature, 3) Liquid/Solid ratio, 4) Stirring, 5) Residence time and 6) milled/not milled waste. The experimental procedure involves : 1) PV waste classification, 2) Pre-treatment, 3) Individual component separation, 4) Hydrothermal treatment, 5) Pulverization of samples, 6) Centrifugation and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis. Overall, this report emphasizes the importance of designing a qualitative process for PV waste recycling that considers the rarity of some metals and the economic potential to ensure the sustainability of the process. Considering the five parameters mentioned above, was found that 1.5 Ν, 120 °C, 120 minutes, a L/S ratio of 10/1, and a pulverized sample resulting in an extraction efficiency of 81.94%. On the other hand, the utilization of all six parameters, the optimized conditions were 2 Ν, 45 °C, 1440 minutes, a L/S ratio of 10/1, pulverized sample, and stirring at a speed of 200 rpm, resulted in extraction efficiency of Ag at 100%.
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