Advancing Thermal Demisability in Composites
Aurora Catalytic pioneers advanced chemical additives to enhance the thermal breakdown of carbon fiber composites. Our mission is to reduce space debris risks and offer sustainable solutions for aerospace and renewable energy materials, ensuring safer atmospheric reentry and eco-friendly recycling.
Lifecycle Management
Our product line under development dramatically increases the thermal demisability rates of carbon fiber composites used in spacecraft and rocket body applications during atmospheric reentry conditions. In addition to mitigating terrestrial risk from falling space debris, the technology also has significant applications for disposal and recycling of end-of-life wind turbine blades that are currently being put in massive landfills worldwide.
The world is drowning in carbon fiber waste. The annual objects launched into space have increased by a factor of 10 over the past 5 years and continue to rise. When these objects reach end of life, they are supposed to completely burn up, but this isn’t happening. Large pieces are still surviving and striking the earth. Since the 2000’s, carbon fiber composites have been the main source of surviving reentry debris. In addition, end-of-life carbon fiber wind turbines are currently being disposed of in massive landfills worldwide. Our technology enables treated carbon fiber composites to demise in 1/10 of the time and lose strength/fail 180 times faster above a trigger temperature point.
Our technology is a new approach for enhancing the thermal demisability of carbon composites. Application of this technology to mitigate risk of reentry debris is unprecedented. Carbon composites are exceptionally difficult to predict and control, but our treatment allows them to predictably demise like aluminum. Complete demise upon reentry is achieved with no loss of strength prior to high heating. In addition, disposal of end-of-life wind turbine blades is an ever-increasing need. Our technology allows for recycling or complete disposal of carbon fiber blades at a lower cost compared to conventional landfill practices, and in many cases may be cheaper than digging the hole.
