ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD CONTROL BY METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITE REPROCESSING

NEW METHODS OF CRITICALLY EVALUATING THE POTENTIAL RISKS OF EMERGING MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES ARE NEEDED TO CONTROL THE SOURCES OF ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS AT THE POINTS OF ORIGIN. RECYCLE AND REPROCESSING OPTIONS MINIMIZE THE ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE TO POTENTIALLY HARMFUL MATERIALS BY OFFERING AN ALTERNATIVE TO DISSIPATIVE WASTE HANDLING METHODS SUCH AS LANDFILL DISPOSAL OR INCINERATION. THE MANUFACTURE AND FABRICATION OF METAL MATRIX COMPOSITE MATERIALS ILLUSTRATES ONE RAPIDLY EMERGING MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY WITH LARGELY UNADDRESSED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS. NEW METHODS OF RECOVERING THE VALUABLE METALLIC AND REINFORCING COMPONENTS ARE NEEDED IN ORDER TO ELIMINATE THE NEEDLESS ENVIRONMENTAL RELEASES OF FINE INERT PARTICULATES AND HARMFUL METAL LEACHATES. PYROMETALLURGICAL AND ELECTROMETALLURGICAL REPROCESSING OF ALUMINUM AND MAGNESIUM MATRIX MMC'S WILL BE EVALUATED AND A NEW FLOWSHEET WILL BE DESIGNED TO ACCOMODATE THE UNIQUE REPROCESSING TECHNOLOGY.