KR QUANTEC against electrical waste

ALR-4000: With automation against hazardous electrical waste

Gases such as mercury and sharp-edged parts make it dangerous for humans to disman-tle screens and monitors with LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) technology. The Irish technol-ogy company Votechnik has developed the automated application ALR-4000, which uses a KUKA industrial robot KR QUANTEC. By extracting the hazardous gases and re-moving sharp-edged elements such as fluorescent tubes and screens, the cell not only eliminates the hazards to humans, but also tackles the issue of growing electronic waste.

200 million LCD TVs and their possible effects

The impact of LCD televisions on the environment is massive. Every year, around 200 millions of them are sold worldwide. This generates waste streams that must then be disposed of efficiently, cheaply and safely. Experts suspect that the ‘hidden’ greenhouse gas nitrogen trifluoride, which is used in the production of flat-screen TVs, could acceler-ate global warming more than coal-fired power stations. However, consumer demand for such devices shows that more and more of them are entering the waste stream. Lisa O'Donoghue, founder and CEO of Votechnik, states: "The whole world is moving to-wards a circular economy, and Europe is leading the way with initiatives such as the Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan. Such initiatives are urgently needed to recover materials from the products we currently use and lead them back into circulari-ty."

Reduced dangers for humans thanks to robotics

With Votechnik's ALR-4000, this e-waste can be processed automatically and disposed of safely. In the past, many of these products were disposed of in landfills, where the mercury they contain can leach into the soil and water. If the mercury contained in the lamps of the devices enters the food chain, it can cause neuromuscular effects and cog-nitive disorders, for example. In a typical 40 inch TV unit, approximately 60 feet of thin lamps that contain mercury are to be found.

Brian Cooney, Managing Director of KUKA Robotics Ireland, points out: "This is an ideal application for robotics. The machines are not affected by the chemicals, especially if they are properly prepared for it." Process automation with robots eliminates the need for human contact with harmful gases and liquid crystals, as well as the risk of injury from, for example, shards of glass produced when pulling out fluorescent tubes and television screens.

KR QUANTEC: Heart of the recycling process

The system is equipped with the KUKA KR QUANTEC high payload industrial robot. "The KR QUANTEC is our greenest robot, it fits perfectly into a waste recycling environment," says Brian Cooney. The KR QUANTEC provides outstanding operating efficiency, cost-effective commissioning and maintenance. Thanks to its modular design, the number of components is greatly reduced, which helps to minimize the need for maintenance. Among other things, innovative cabling and power supply concepts additionally reduce operating costs. Moreover, the robot itself can be recycled up to 90 percent.

Liberating valuable and capturing hazardous materials

While minimizing manual labour and risk, the ALR-4000 increases throughput from five units to 60 units per hour compared to the manual process. An increase of 1,200 per cent. On top of that, the machine can work around the clock. "We see technologies such as ours leading the way in high throughput processing to liberate the valuable materials from the waste products, but also to de-pollute and capture the hazardous materials in the process," says Votechnik CEO Lisa O'Donoghue.

Effective carbon block filters enable plug-and-play system

As the depollution process takes place within the self-contained ALR-4000, a built-in carbon filter system ensures that harmful gases are captured and not released into the atmosphere. Carbon block filters are extremely effective at filtering out contaminants, including hazardous gases, so Votechnik has managed to create a 'plug-and-play' sys-tem.

When it comes to disposing of the LCD units, the ALR-4000 faces various challenges: different shapes and sizes, brands and models. LCD configurations can involve more than 150 screws and various different fastening devices, from glue to sticky tape to ca-ble ties. They may have speakers in the tops and bottoms or even a DVD player in the back. Therefore, Votechnik has conducted four rounds of development over ten years to create a robust, automated machine that can handle many different LCD iterations.

Robust and reliable KR QUANTEC as the ideal partner

The KR QUANTEC plays a significant part in ensuring that this has now been achieved. The industrial robot is very rigid, reliable and repeatable, but also has the load-bearing capacity to handle large loads, including heavy tools at the arm of the robot. Its robust-ness makes it the ideal partner in a waste processing environment where a high level of automated dexterity is required to perform tasks with a high degree of accuracy.

Worldwide service and support

Another consideration for Votechnik was also worldwide support for the robot, as the ALR-4000 cells will be used globally in waste recycling. KUKA's global presence and ability to support the ALR-4000 machines internationally were therefore of great importance in the decision for the KR QUANTEC.

After ten years of development, the ALR-4000, as an automated recycling solution, could be an answer to the many challenges presented by the consumer electronics industry.