The COMPASS project, a collaborative effort among 13 leading European partners, was officially launched with a kick-off meeting held in Steyr, Austria, on January 23-24, 2024. Funded under the European Union’s HORIZON EUROPE programme, COMPASS aims to revolutionize the remanufacturing of sheet metal and thermoplastic composites, significantly reusing material waste for high-quality components production, and promoting a circular economy approach in the aerospace and automotive industries.
The PROFACTOR research team, coordinator of the project, stated that: “The digital tools developed in COMPASS will make disassembly processes efficient for extracting sheet metal or panels from a decommissioned aircrafts or cars, where relevant component information will be collected and stored in the digital passport during the part’s life-cycle. In addition, remanufacturing process planning software will also optimize the matching of incoming and outgoing parts for the creation of new products”.
Below we present the key concepts of the project:
Driving Circularity through Advanced Remanufacturing
The COMPASS project addresses the growing challenge of efficiently recycling and remanufacturing components at the end of their lifespan. By employing advanced remanufacturing techniques, COMPASS will extend the life of these components, minimizing the need for raw material extraction and reducing the environmental impact of new component production.
A Data-Driven Approach for Enhanced Remanufacturing
COMPASS introduces a novel data-driven approach to remanufacturing, leveraging digital tools and a comprehensive digital component passport. This passport will capture real-time information about component performance and history, enabling intelligent remanufacturing strategies.
Optimizing Remanufacturing Processes and Quality
Digital tools will streamline dismantling processes, ensuring efficient extraction of sheet metal and composite panels. The passport will also facilitate the collection of relevant component data, facilitating improved quality control and optimization of remanufacturing operations.
Partnership for Innovation and Impact
COMPASS brings together a diverse consortium of experts from academia, research institutions, and industry, representing Austria, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and Germany. This collaboration will bring together cutting-edge technologies and expertise to develop and drive innovation in remanufacturing processes.
Achieving Sustainable Manufacturing for the aerospace and automotive sectors
The COMPASS project aims to achieve a significant impact by enabling the remanufacturing of approximately 30% of sheet metal parts and thermoplastic composite panels.
The remanufacturing process will utilize end-of-life components, or production scrap, from aircraft or cars, retaining a high value in sheet metal and composite panels, rather than reprocessing them as secondary raw materials and/or sending them to landfill.
The total commercial value will be in the order of EUR 60 million per year (30,000t/year of end-of-life scrap and 14,000t/year of production scrap) for metal alloys and EUR 500 million per year for composites (10,000t/year) by 2035. This will lead to substantial resource savings and contribute to a more sustainable future for the aerospace and automotive sectors. This will lead to substantial resource savings and contribute to a more sustainable future for the aerospace and automotive sectors.
Project Summary
Project Title: A Data-driven remanufacturing process for sheet metal and thermoplastic composites
Project Acronym: COMPASS
Project Number: 101136940
Funding Programme Call – type of action: HORIZON-CL4-2023-TWIN-TRANSITION-01 – Innovation Actions
Project Starting Date: January 1, 2024
Project End Date: December 31, 2026
Project Duration: 36 months
Web fact sheet: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101136940
Partners:
PROFACTOR GMBH (Austria) – Project Coordinator
CIRCULARISE BV (Netherlands)
FACC OPERATIONS GMBH (Austria)
AIRCRAFT END-OF-LIFE SOLUTIONS BV (Netherlands)
KONINKLIJK NEDERLANDS LUCHT- EN RUIMTEVAARTCENTRUM – NLR (Netherlands)
AIT AUSTRIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY GMBH (Austria)
NEROSUBIANCO SRL – NSB (Italy)
MARK METALLWARENFABRIK GMBH (Austria)
FUNDACION AITIIP (Spain)
EDAG ENGINEERING GMBH (Germany)
SCHILD & PARTNER GMBH (Austria)
VOESTALPINE METAL FORMING GMBH (Austria)
LKR LEICHTMETALLKOMPETENZZENTRUM RANSHOFEN GMBH (Austria)
