A chance conversation at the 2022 STC Conference resulted in two members coming together to complete a proof-of-concept study funded through a Higher Education Innovation Funding Knowledge Transfer Voucher administered through the Open University.
Saietta is a leading provider of complete electric drivetrain (eDrive) solutions. Their ambitions to be a global frontrunner in sustainable electric vehicle component manufacturing, led them to an opportunity to collaborate with the Open University (OU).
Keen to improve their overall sustainability via minimising wastage, material use, and overall carbon footprint, they embarked on a proof-of-concept project with the OU, which explored the use of smouldering combustion as a simple, energy-efficient recycling technique.
This project idea has the potential to support our ambitions to be a global leader in sustainable electric vehicle component manufacturing. We look forward to future projects with the Open University.
Dr Chris Lines – Head of R&D, Saietta GroupSmouldering was shown to be a suitable technology to recover valuable metal parts from end-of-life electric drivetrain components from Saietta for subsequent recycling.
This novel application presents strong potential to improve Saietta’s overall sustainability. The project supports a circular economy for critical metals, which is a key target for the EU, UK, and globally, and aligns strongly with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production.
Dr Chris Lines from Saietta explained, “This project with Dr Rashwan and Dr Collinson provided us valuable results on a novel method to improve the circularity of our spent components. Electric motor stators are particularly challenging to recycle given that they are a complex composite of different metals and polymers.
“This project idea has the potential to support our ambitions to be a global leader in sustainable electric vehicle component manufacturing. We look forward to future projects with the Open University.”
Dr Tarek Rashwan, Lecturer in Sustainability and the Smart Environment at the OU, had nothing but praise for their collaborators, commenting “Saietta is a fantastic industry collaborator. They provided outstanding feedback throughout the project that really guided the priorities. At the same time, they provided flexibility and openness in exploring alternative methods to best understand the fundamental chemistry in the system.”
If you have challenging wastes that are limiting your sustainability ambitions, then please reach out to Dr Rashwan at tarek.rashwan@open.ac.uk to explore possible collaborations. Dr Rashwan’s lab is actively developing novel solutions for challenging wastes that promote a low-carbon and circular economy.
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