Thermo Chemical Processes: Potential Improvement of the Wind Blades Life Cycle

Wind power industry has shown a continuous technological improvement that has led to a structural scale up of the blades. The rotor has evolved in the last decades from a maximal diameter of 30 m at the beginning of the 1990s to 171.2 m in 2013. The bigger rotor allows to reach a far better effectiv...

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Main Authors: D. Pico, G. Seide, T. Gries
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIDIC Servizi S.r.l. 2014-04-01
Series:Chemical Engineering Transactions
Online Access:https://www.cetjournal.it/index.php/cet/article/view/5879
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spelling doaj-06b6da52396a4d30ae4a72249560edcc2021-02-21T21:02:12ZengAIDIC Servizi S.r.l.Chemical Engineering Transactions2283-92162014-04-013610.3303/CET1436036Thermo Chemical Processes: Potential Improvement of the Wind Blades Life CycleD. PicoG. SeideT. GriesWind power industry has shown a continuous technological improvement that has led to a structural scale up of the blades. The rotor has evolved in the last decades from a maximal diameter of 30 m at the beginning of the 1990s to 171.2 m in 2013. The bigger rotor allows to reach a far better effectiveness (1 MW compared to 7 MW) nowadays. The stressed evolution of wind blades is principally due to the use of glass fibre reinforced plastics (GFRP) that combine high strength to low price and specific weight. Even if the blade’s length has increased during the last decades, the quantity of GFRP required to install one kW of capacity is still the same. The old wind blades are made principally of GFRP whose only components are glass fibres (60 % - 70 %) and epoxy resin (30 % - 40 %). The new ones require a better fibrous reinforcement and therefore combine GFRP with a small fraction of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP). Independently from the type of reinforcement, the operating life time is from 15 to 25 years. According to the EU legislation the GFRP scrap cannot be landfilled anymore but must be recovered. Aim of this work is to analyse the different recovery processes. In particular this work will be focused on thermo-chemical processes that could be easily integrated in a refinery plant. In order to reduce the environmental impact of the wind blades their full life cycle from cradle to grave has been considered trying to implement the complete reuse of the fibre reinforcement with the potential recovery of the organic fraction after the recycling process.https://www.cetjournal.it/index.php/cet/article/view/5879
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author D. Pico
G. Seide
T. Gries
spellingShingle D. Pico
G. Seide
T. Gries
Thermo Chemical Processes: Potential Improvement of the Wind Blades Life Cycle
Chemical Engineering Transactions
author_facet D. Pico
G. Seide
T. Gries
author_sort D. Pico
title Thermo Chemical Processes: Potential Improvement of the Wind Blades Life Cycle
title_short Thermo Chemical Processes: Potential Improvement of the Wind Blades Life Cycle
title_full Thermo Chemical Processes: Potential Improvement of the Wind Blades Life Cycle
title_fullStr Thermo Chemical Processes: Potential Improvement of the Wind Blades Life Cycle
title_full_unstemmed Thermo Chemical Processes: Potential Improvement of the Wind Blades Life Cycle
title_sort thermo chemical processes: potential improvement of the wind blades life cycle
publisher AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.
series Chemical Engineering Transactions
issn 2283-9216
publishDate 2014-04-01
description Wind power industry has shown a continuous technological improvement that has led to a structural scale up of the blades. The rotor has evolved in the last decades from a maximal diameter of 30 m at the beginning of the 1990s to 171.2 m in 2013. The bigger rotor allows to reach a far better effectiveness (1 MW compared to 7 MW) nowadays. The stressed evolution of wind blades is principally due to the use of glass fibre reinforced plastics (GFRP) that combine high strength to low price and specific weight. Even if the blade’s length has increased during the last decades, the quantity of GFRP required to install one kW of capacity is still the same. The old wind blades are made principally of GFRP whose only components are glass fibres (60 % - 70 %) and epoxy resin (30 % - 40 %). The new ones require a better fibrous reinforcement and therefore combine GFRP with a small fraction of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP). Independently from the type of reinforcement, the operating life time is from 15 to 25 years. According to the EU legislation the GFRP scrap cannot be landfilled anymore but must be recovered. Aim of this work is to analyse the different recovery processes. In particular this work will be focused on thermo-chemical processes that could be easily integrated in a refinery plant. In order to reduce the environmental impact of the wind blades their full life cycle from cradle to grave has been considered trying to implement the complete reuse of the fibre reinforcement with the potential recovery of the organic fraction after the recycling process.
url https://www.cetjournal.it/index.php/cet/article/view/5879
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AT gseide thermochemicalprocessespotentialimprovementofthewindbladeslifecycle
AT tgries thermochemicalprocessespotentialimprovementofthewindbladeslifecycle
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