ABSTRACT
Recycling and reuse of automotive plastics have elicited global attention due to the increasing number of end-of-life vehicles. Through the single-factor experiment, a high-voltage triboelectrostatic sorting device was developed to separate polypropylene (PP), polyurethane (PU), and polyvinylchloride (PVC) in a plastic mixture commonly used in exterior and interior parts of passenger vehicles. Products of PP, PU, and PVC were obtained after two-stage separation; their purity exceeded 95%, and their productivities were 74%, 94%, and 41%, respectively. The appropriate experimental parameters for high voltage level and rotational speed of the friction drum and cylinder electrode for the first stage of separation were 35â¯kV, 30â¯rpm, and 35â¯rpm, respectively, and the parameters for the second stage of separation were 35â¯kV, 30â¯rpm, and 25â¯rpm, respectively. Results showed that hybrid materials should be selected based on the triboelectric series to separate three-component plastic mixtures feasibly.