The collaborative Green-Al-Light project deals with the reprocessing of secondary aluminium from various sources, but in particular from end-of-life (EoL) scrap from vehicles, to create a fully integrated recycling route for immediate re-use in high-strength automotive part production. For this purpose, the entire process chain, starting from the EoL material sorting, the alloy production and composition through the processing to the component, is considered and adapted and thereby built up across locations and digitally networked. Corresponding increases in efficiency can only be achieved through this holistic view of all steps along the process chain. Furthermore, it shall be proven that through targeted adaptation of the entire process chain, the use of EoL material is also possible and cost-effectively mapped for highly stressed aluminium components.
The Green-Al-Light project is a collaborative of a consortium of the partners Audi AG, cleanLASER GmbH, cleansort GmbH, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Otto Fuchs KG, Trimet SE and Matplus GmbH, and is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.
The project relies on a digital infrastructure fully covering all aspects of the development and process chain. A digitized model-based LCA will go hand-in-hand with industry-scale trials and tests. The high influence of material and especially scrap properties on the energy and material flows is taken into account by utilizing a state-of-the-art material data management system, Matplus EDA®, thereby providing seamless integration of material data, production efforts and costs. Additional functionality includes a classifications database, modelling, accumulation and analysis of material test data, and knowledge management. As a result, a complete digital twin of the process chain will be established and comprehensive LCA data will be generated.
This lecture is aiming to give an overview on the “digital side” of Green-Al-Light.