scholarly journals Tackling the Circular Economy Challenges—Composites Recycling: Used Tyres, Wind Turbine Blades, and Solar Panels

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. 243
Author(s):  
Kinga Korniejenko ◽  
Barbara Kozub ◽  
Agnieszka Bąk ◽  
Ponnambalam Balamurugan ◽  
Marimuthu Uthayakumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
Material Recovery ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Circular Economy System ◽  
Economy System

Transformation of waste into resources is an important part of the circular economy. Nowadays, the recovery of materials in the most effective way is crucial for sustainable development. Composite materials offer great opportunities for product development and high performance in use, but their position in a circular economy system remains challenging, especially in terms of material recovery. Currently, the methods applied for recycling composites are not always effective. The aim of the article is to analyse the most important methods of material recovery from multilateral composites. The manuscript presents three case studies related to the recycling of products manufactured from composites: used tyres, wind turbine blades, and solar panels. It shows the advantages and disadvantages of currently applied methods for multilateral composite utilisation and presents further trends in composite recycling. The results show that increasing volumes of end-of-life composites have led to increased attention from government, industry, and academia.

Unsustainable Wind Turbine Blade Disposal Practices in the United States

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 581-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katerin Ramirez-Tejeda ◽  
David A. Turcotte ◽  
Sarah Pike
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
The United States ◽  
Wind Turbine Blade ◽  
Thermoplastic Composites ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
Material Recovery

Finding ways to manage the waste from the expected high number of wind turbine blades in need of disposal is crucial to harvest wind energy in a truly sustainable manner. Landfilling is the most cost-effective disposal method in the United States, but it imposes significant environmental impacts. Thermal, mechanical, and chemical processes allow for some energy and/or material recovery, but they also carry potential negative externalities. This article explores the main economic and environmental issues with various wind turbine blade disposal methods. We argue for the necessity of policy intervention that encourages industry to develop better technologies to make wind turbine blade disposal sustainable, both environmentally and economically. We present some of the technological initiatives being researched, such as the use of bio-derived resins and thermoplastic composites in the manufacturing process of the blades.

scholarly journals Development of High Performance Airfoils for Application in Small Wind Turbine Power Generation

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Yeboah Osei ◽  
Richard Opoku ◽  
Albert K. Sunnu ◽  
Muyiwa S. Adaramola
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Turbine Rotor ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
Small Wind Turbine ◽  
Stall Angle ◽  
Power Generation Systems ◽  
Drag Ratio

Small wind turbine power generation systems have the potential to meet the electricity demand of the residential sector in developing countries. However, due to their exposure to low Reynolds number (Re) flow conditions and associated problems, specific airfoils are required for the design of their blades. In this research, XFOIL was used to develop and test three high performance airfoils (EYO7-8, EYO8-8, and EYO9-8) for small wind turbine application. The airfoils were subsequently used in conjunction with Blade Element Momentum Theory to develop and test 3-bladed 6 m diameter wind turbine rotors. The aerodynamic performance parameters of the airfoils tested were lift, drag, lift-to-drag ratio, and stall angle. At Re=300,000, EYO7-8, EYO8-8, and EYO9-8 had maximum lift-to-drag ratios of 134, 131, and 127, respectively, and maximum lift coefficients of 1.77, 1.81, and 1.81, respectively. The stall angles were 12° for EYO7-8, 14° for EYO8-8, and 15° for EYO9-8. Together, the new airfoils compared favourably with other existing low Re airfoils and are suitable for the design of small wind turbine blades. Analysis of the results showed that the performance improvement of the EYO-Series airfoils is as a result of the design optimization that employed an optimal thickness-to-camber ratio (t/c) in the range of 0.85–1.50. Preliminary wind turbine rotor analysis also showed that the EYO7-8, EYO8-8, and EYO9-8 rotors had maximum power coefficients of 0.371, 0.366, and 0.358, respectively.

Recycling and reuse of composite materials for wind turbine blades: An overview

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 567-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junlei Chen ◽  
Jihui Wang ◽  
Aiqing Ni
Keyword(s):  
Composite Materials ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Natural Fiber ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Resource Conservation ◽  
Commercial Production ◽  
Thermoplastic Resin ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades

Based on the increasing number of end of life wind turbine blades and the emphasis on resource conservation and environmental protection, more and more attention has been paid to the recycling and reuse of thermoset composite materials for wind turbine blades. This paper gives an overview of the main recycling technologies and reuse of recycled products. Current recycling technology still needs more work to move from laboratory stage to commercial production. Cheaper, less polluting, and more efficient recycling technologies are needed, along with remanufacturing technologies for high performance products can be obtained to expand the market for recycled materials. In addition, new environmentally friendly blade materials should be designed from the source, using natural fiber, modified thermosetting resin and recyclable thermoplastic resin, which make wind energy a truly clean energy.

Study on Material Selection and Manufacturing Process of Wind Turbine Blades

2010 ◽  
Vol 150-151 ◽  
pp. 1621-1624
Author(s):  
Jin Xu ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Chun Xia Wang
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Manufacturing Process ◽  
Material Selection ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Manufacturing Technologies

The materials and structural characteristics of several kinds of wind turbine blades are introduced and analyzed as well as the advantages and disadvantages of blades composites in this paper. Then the manufacturing technologies between traditional and high-quality composite wind turbine blades are studied and compared in this paper.

scholarly journals A Multidisciplinary Review of Recycling Methods for End-of-Life Wind Turbine Blades

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4247
Author(s):  
Ebbe Bagge Paulsen ◽  
Peter Enevoldsen
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Cement Industry ◽  
Waste Materials ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
Material Recovery ◽  
Energy Technologies ◽  
Technology Readiness Level ◽  
Readiness Level

Wind energy has seen an increase of almost 500 GW of installed wind power over the past decade. Renewable energy technologies have, over the years, been striving to develop in relation to capacity and size and, simultaneously, though with less focus on, the consequences and challenges that arise when the products achieve end-of-life (EoL). The lack of knowledge and possibilities for the recycling of fiber composites and, thus, the handling of EoL wind turbine blades (WTBs) has created great environmental frustrations. At present, the frustrations surrounding the handling are based on the fact that the most commonly used disposal method is via landfills. No recycling or energy/material recovery is achieved here, making it the least advantageous solution seen from the European Waste Commission’s perspective. The purpose of this research was thus to investigate the current recycling methods and to categorize them based on the waste materials. The opportunities were compared based on processing capacity, price, environment and technology readiness level (TRL), which concluded that recycling through co-processing in the cement industry is the only economical option at present that, at the same time, has the capabilities to handle large amounts of waste materials.

On Icing and Icing Mitigation of Wind Turbine Blades in Cold Climate

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bengt Sunden ◽  
Zan Wu
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Meteorological Parameters ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Ice Accretion ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Ice Detection ◽  
Future Work

A review on icing physics, ice detection, anti-icing and de-icing techniques for wind turbines in cold climate has been performed. Typical physical properties of atmospheric icing and the corresponding meteorological parameters are presented. For computational modeling of ice accretion on turbine blades, the LEWINT code was adopted to simulate ice accretion on an aerofoil for a 2 MW wind turbine. Ice sensors and the basic requirements for ice detection on large blades are described. Besides, this paper presents the main passive and active ice mitigation techniques and their advantages and disadvantages. Scope of future work is suggested as wind turbine blades scale up.

A Critical Assessment of Computer Tools for Calculating Composite Wind Turbine Blade Properties

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Chen ◽  
Wenbin Yu ◽  
Mark Capellaro
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Wind Turbine Blade ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
Computer Tools ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
The Right ◽  
Effective Design

Several computer tools are critically assessed for calculating the inertial and structural properties of wind turbine blades. The theoretical foundation of each tool is briefly summarized and the advantages and disadvantages of each tool are pointed out. Several benchmark examples are used to evaluate the performance of different tools. Such a systematic and critical assessment provides guidance for wind turbine blade engineers to choose the right tool for effective design and analysis of wind turbine blades.

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