SBIR-STTR Award

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project will develop a novel optoelectronic sensing system for the high-speed identification and sorting of metals including aluminum alloys. The goal is to demonstrate the ability to unambiguously identify metal alloys by alloy type, including low atomic number elements, in less than 50-milliseconds per sample. The Scrap Recycling Industry reports that more than 30 billion pounds of nonferrous scrap metals are produced each year in the U.S. alone. About 70% of this scrap is aluminum or aluminum alloys. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) reports that more than 10 billion pounds of these nonferrous metals are discarded each year in landfills, because recycling is neither technically nor economically practical. Existing methods of sortation use visual examination and hand sortation. Smelting facilities for mixed metals are polluting and expensive to build and operate. Using advanced spectrographic radiation and detection techniques, including computer analysis, the proposed technology will improve alloy identification accuracy and sort metal alloys automatically by type of alloy at speeds never before attainable. The commercial impact of this project will be increased scrap utilization, increased scrap value and reduced environmental pollution is enormous. The potential worldwide market exceeds $2 Billion annually

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop a novel prototype optoelectronic sensing system for the high-speed identification and sorting of metals, particularly aluminum alloys. The goal is to develop the capability to sort aluminum into its exact alloy designations. The technology is expected to sort materials in less than 50-milliseconds per item automatically without operator intervention while the scrap is in motion on a high-speed conveyor belt. The scrap recycling industry reports that more than 30 billion pounds of nonferrous metals are produced each year in the U.S. alone. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) reports that more than 10 billion pounds of these nonferrous metals are discarded each year in landfills, because recycling is either technically or economically impractical. Existing methods of sortation that employ visual examination and hand sortation, or alternatively employ heavy media separation, cannot sort aluminum by alloy type. Refining is accomplished in smelting facilities that are expensive to build and often polluting. Using advanced spectrographic detection techniques, including computer analysis; the proposed technology will improve alloy identification accuracy and automatically sort aluminum metal alloys at speeds never before attainable. The commercial impact of this project will be increased scrap utilization, increased scrap value, reduced pressure on non-renewable resources, and reduced environmental pollution. The potential worldwide market exceeds $2 billion annually