Patent ID: 7922871

Claim:
A method of recycling a composite material comprising carbon fibers and a resin, wherein the method comprises: providing a furnace having at least a heating portion; loading the composite material on a transporter and transporting the composite material through the furnace; detecting a percentage of oxygen in an atmosphere in the heating portion when the composite material has entered the heating portion; and removing at least a portion of the resin from the composite material, as the composite material travels through the heating portion of the furnace on the transporter, by a thermochemical decomposition at a first temperature, with a resultant generation of fumes, wherein the fumes are removed from the heating portion in a controlled manner such that the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere in the heating portion is controlled, with a rate of removal of the fumes being controlled so as to ensure that there is oxygen present in the heating portion in a controlled amount, such that the thermochemical decomposition of the resin occurs in the presence of oxygen.