Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) are used in increasing quantities as they have some of the best properties in terms of specific strength and stiffness of any widely available material. By 2020, annual global CFRP production is expected to be over 140,000 tonnes. However, the resulting increased quantity of CFRP waste has highlighted the need for sustainable treatment options as carbon fiber manufacture has high-energy intensity. A life cycle assessment methodology is used to evaluate primary energy demand (PED) and global warming potential (GWP) leveraging best available literature data, process models, and experimental work. Overall results indicate that recycling scenarios are generally the environmentally preferable options over landfill and incineration. However, the relative environmental benefits of advanced recycling processes (i.e., pyrolysis, fluidized bed, and chemical recycling process) depend on the method used to determine displacement of virgin carbon fiber by recycled carbon fiber. Totally, recycling processes can achieve a representative GWP from −19 to −27 kg CO₂eq and PED from −395 to −520 MJ per kg CFRP, providing superior environmental performance to conventional composite waste treatment technologies.

中文翻译：

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比较碳纤维复合材料回收技术和废物管理方案的生命周期能量和全球变暖潜能

碳纤维增强聚合物（CFRP）的使用量不断增加，因为就任何广泛使用的材料而言，它们在比强度和刚度方面均具有某些最佳性能。到2020年，全球CFRP的年产量预计将超过14万吨。然而，由于碳纤维制造具有高能量强度，因此导致的CFRP废物数量的增加突显了对可持续处理方案的需求。生命周期评估方法可用于利用最佳的现有文献数据，过程模型和实验工作来评估一次能源需求（PED）和全球变暖潜力（GWP）。总体结果表明，与填埋和焚化相比，回收方案通常是更环保的选择。但是，先进的回收工艺可带来相对的环境效益（例如，热解，流化床和化学回收过程）取决于用于确定原始碳纤维被回收碳纤维置换的方法。总而言之，回收过程可以实现从-19到-27千克二氧化碳的典型全球升温潜能值每千克CFRP为₂ eq和PED，从-395到-520 MJ，与传统的复合废物处理技术相比，具有出色的环保性能。