The new fan blades can be recycled and reused in only three steps!

Key words:Blade, GE, environment

Recently, a study on "ecological fan blades" surfaced.

The research project is called Zebra (Zero wastE Blade ReseArch) and was initiated by the research institute IRT Jules Verne. French developer Engie, GE's blade manufacturer LM Wind Power and a number of companies in the industry chain participated in the joint investment. 21.8 million US dollars, aimed at developing a wind turbine blade with all materials easily recycled.

After the end of the wind farm operation period, how to decommission and dismantle the wind turbine is the approval of foreign wind farms, and it is the content that the developer must explain to the competent authority. According to a latest research report, 85% to 90% of the wind turbine, such as the foundation, tower and nacelle components, can be recycled, but the recovery of the blades is "a challenging task." It is estimated that in the next three years, nearly 14,000 wind turbine blades in Europe will face removal; between 2030 and 2034, the number of wind turbine blades to be removed worldwide will reach 1 million tons.

This research project is to solve the problem of blade recycling in the production process. It is understood that this new type of blade uses thermoplastic materials, that is, injected with a new type of resin named "Elium" developed by the professional organization Arkema. The person in charge of LM Wind Power said: "Using Arkema's Elium resin and optimizing the design, manufacturing, and recycling process will greatly help reduce blade costs, shorten production time, and reduce the impact of wind turbine blades on the environment." Elium thermoplastic resin is Arkema's patented product, developed in 2017. In addition to the manufacture of wind turbine blades, it can also be used as a substitute for concrete reinforcement in the construction industry, or as a window profile to replace aluminum, PVC or polyester profiles. And the core advantage of this material is that recycling is very simple-
Initial crushing
Heating depolymerization
Purification
In this way, the blade returns to its resin form and can be used for manufacturing again. LM will design and manufacture two blades for Zebra to test and verify the "performance of composite materials and their feasibility in industrial production", and project partners including polymer and glass fiber manufacturers Canoe and Owens Corning A highly automated product production line will be developed to reduce energy consumption and waste in the manufacturing process.
Zebra project chief, Céline Large from IRT Jules Verne said: "This research requires the participation of the entire industry chain to obtain sufficiently accurate data."
As a blade manufacturer under GE, LM Wind Power is a leader in the industry, manufacturing the world's longest wind turbine blade-LM107.0P for GE Haliade-X 13MW, which is 107 meters long.

Source from the European Offshore Wind Power Official Account

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