Development of apparatus for automatic identification and separation of waste fluorescent lamps

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K14523
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Earth system and resources engineering
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: Hirajima Tsuyoshi 九州大学, 工学研究院, 教授 (00175556)
• Research Collaborator: TAYAOKA Atsunori ; TAYAOKA Eriko
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: リサイクル / レアアース / 廃蛍光管 / 自動識別 / 画像処理 / アコースティック・エミッション / 希土類蛍光体 / 選別

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we developed an apparatus which separates three-band fluorescent lamps, fluorescent lamps with conductivity, and plastic covered fluorescent lamps from waste fluorescent lamps. The results are summarized as follows:
1) Three wavelength fluorescent tubes were identified by processing UV light illuminated images. 2) We used a Tesla coil and camera images to determine the conductivity of fluorescent lamps. 3) We developed two methods to determine whether fluorescent lamps were covered with film or not, namely a method using AE sensors and linear discrimination, and a method using image processing and a neural net. 4) Each identification accuracy was 100% and the processing capacity was 2700 lamps/hour. 5) Further, we developed a prototype of apparatus which peels off the plastic films and cuts the glass tubes.

Free Research Field

資源処理工学