Wind blades containing carbon fibre weigh 25% less than ones made from traditional fibreglass materials. That means carbon fibre blades could be longer than fibreglass ones and, therefore, capture more energy in locations with low wind. A switch to carbon fibre could also extend blade lifetime because carbon fibre materials have a high fatigue resistance, said Brandon Ennis, a wind energy researcher at Sandia Labs and the principal investigator for the project.

The project is funded by DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Partners on the project include Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Montana State University.

Of all the companies producing wind turbines, only one uses carbon fibre materials extensively in their blade designs. Wind turbine blades are the largest single-piece composite structures in the world, and the wind industry could represent the largest market for carbon fibre materials by weight if a material that competed on a cost-value basis to fibreglass reinforced composites was commercially available, said Ennis.

Cost is the main consideration during component design in the wind industry, yet turbine manufacturers also have to build blades that withstand the compressive and fatigue loads that blade experience as they rotate for up to 30 years.

Ennis and his colleagues wondered if a novel low-cost carbon fibre developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could meet performance needs while also bringing cost benefits for the wind industry. This material starts with a widely available precursor from the textile industry that contains thick bundles of acrylic fibres. The manufacturing process, which heats the fibres to convert them to carbon, is followed by an intermediate step that pulls the carbon fibre into planks. The plank-making pultrusion process creates carbon fibre with high performance and reliability needed for blade manufacturing and also allows for high production capacity.

When the research team studied this low-cost carbon fibre, they discovered it performed better than current commercial materials in terms of cost-specific properties of most interest to the wind industry.

ORNL provided developmental samples of carbon fibre from its Carbon Fiber Technology Facility and composites made from this material as well as similar composites made from commercially available carbon fibre for comparison.

Colleagues at Montana State University measured the mechanical properties of the novel carbon fibre versus commercially available carbon fibre and standard fibreglass composites. Then Ennis combined these measurements with cost modelling results from ORNL. He used those data in a blade design analysis to assess the system impact of using the novel carbon fibre, instead of standard carbon fibre or fibreglass, as the main structural support in a wind blade. The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Wind Energy Technologies Office.

Ennis and his colleagues found that the new carbon fibre material had 56% more compressive strength per dollar than commercially available carbon fibre, which is the industry baseline. Typically, manufacturers accommodate a lower compressive strength by using more material to make a component, which then increases costs. Considering the higher compressive strength per cost of the novel carbon fibre, Ennis’ calculations predicted about a 40% savings in material costs for a spar cap, which is the main structural component of a wind turbine blade, made from the new carbon fibre compared to commercial carbon fibre.

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This technology recovers the glass fibre from reinforced polymer composites while limiting the mechanical degradation of the fibre during the reclamation process. In turn, this allows the recycled fibre to be reused in new composite applications such as vehicle light-weighting, other renewable energy systems components, and performance sports equipment.

Wind power is clean, economical, and readily available in the USA, but to make those giant blades, wind turbine manufacturers rely on advanced polymer composites. These materials can survive some of mother nature’s most brutal forces, but eventually, do wear out and end up in the landfill. As the wind industry grows and waste blade levels climb into the tens, hundreds of thousands of tons and beyond, a better end of life solution is needed.

While the US wind industry has made substantial contributions to America’s renewable energy portfolio, work continues to convert the industry to a more circular economy paradigm. Rather than simply downcycling the blades into aggregates, Researchers at the university are able to not only convert the blades’ organic components into useful petrochemicals for energy production but also able to extract the glass fibre reinforcement and use it to make higher-value recycled composites.

UT has partnered with Carbon Rivers LLC, a start-up company located in Knoxville and owned by alumnus Bowie Benson (’17), to further develop and commercialise the novel glass fibre recovery technology for the purpose of handling retired wind turbine blades.

“Having the opportunity to collaborate with the bright minds at UT, like Dr Ginder, and catalyse new solutions for our country’s plastics waste problem, is a Volunteer’s dream come true,” said Benson. “The year 2020 has been a challenging year all around for our community, but I remain hopeful for the future as long as we keep working together to take on the tough challenges, like making American energy more sustainable. I am especially optimistic for our project’s next phase, and its potential to improve the wind industry’s environmental footprint while creating new, much-needed jobs in East Tennessee.”

Over the next two years, the UT-Carbon Rivers team will collaborate with GE Renewable Energy, Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s MidAmerican Energy Company, and PacifiCorp utilities to develop a pilot scale glass fiber composite recycling system that will serve as the basis for eventual deployment of a full-scale commercial wind blade waste processing plant.

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Aerospace engineers Dr Filip Stojcevski and Andreas Hendlmeier, along with organic chemist James Randall, combined their knowledge of carbon fibre manufacturing, electrochemistry and material interfaces to overcome the technical hurdles of using recycled carbon fibre to create a robust, affordable, high-performance surfboard.

The trio were inspired by their interactions with famous Torquay-based surfboard shaper Eiji Shiomoto.

While carbon fibre is an amazing material, more than 45,000 tonnes of it is thrown into landfill each year

The group is confident that the new recycled carbon fibre boards are stronger, lighter and more durable than conventional e-glass fibre-reinforced boards while costing around the same price.

Until now, carbon fibre surfboards have been too rigid and prone to delamination, due to micro-cracks in the carbon fibre interface. The new recycled boards use electrochemistry to improve the properties of surface-modified hydrophobic carbon fibres and recycled fibres to solve the problem.

Dr Stojcevski completed his Deakin PhD with Boeing R and T Aerospace, where he worked on improving surface treatments that make carbon fibre adhere to resin, while international student Andreas Hendlmeier is from Germany and has worked on optimising carbon fibre surface treatments.

The Australian surfboard industry account for almost a third of the global market, with 8.5 million surfboards in Australia alone. The new company is hoping to carve out a space for ourselves in this large potential market – and this venture isn’t just limited to surfboards; the technology could also be adapted for other sporting and marine applications.

The boards are available to pre-order from the JUC Surf website with prices ranging from $650 to $900 (AUD)

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A team of Babcock engineers will begin construction of FASTBLADE’s 75 tonne structural reaction frame early next month, and will begin fit out of the new facility, based at Babcock’s Rosyth site near Edinburgh.

It will initially be used for lifetime fatigue testing of renewable energy tidal turbine blades, using pioneering technology which will be the first of its kind in the world. 

The facility is funded to a value of £4.1 million by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the University of Edinburgh, with Babcock appointed as the principal engineering designer. With its novel technology, it will be an international centre of innovation in the research and testing of composite materials and structures for a variety of industries such as tidal energy, marine, transport, nuclear and aerospace.

Cutting-edge digital and hydraulic technology systems developed by the university are more energy-efficient than existing processes and will simulate real testing environments. Advanced analytics will assess structural performance in real-time.

Engineers, working within COVID-19 guidelines, will build and assemble the reaction frame which will span 16.2m long, 2.5m wide and 7.1m high and is expected to be complete by December.

The frame will withstand huge forces cycled millions of times over its lifespan as it tests composite structures and has been designed for future needs as structures such as tidal turbine blades become bigger and materials continue to develop.

The process will also create immediate benefits for product developers with savings on time and costs, reducing risk and improving safety. The development of the facility supports the digital skills agenda for both parties and follows the University’s signing of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal in 2018, which aims to increase research-based collaboration and innovation between universities and industry across the region.

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Taller turbines can increase renewable energy production while lowering the cost of energy and optimising construction costs. The partners will produce a wind turbine prototype with a printed pedestal, and a production-ready printer and materials range to scale up production. The first prototype, a 10-meter high tower pedestal, was successfully printed in October 2019 in Copenhagen.

GE Renewable Energy will provide design, manufacture and commercialisation for the wind turbines, COBOD will focus on the robotics automation and 3D printing and LafargeHolcim will design the tailor-made concrete material, its processing and application.

Concrete 3D printing is a very promising technology for us, as its incredible design flexibility expands the realm of construction possibilities. Being both a user and promoter of clean energy, we are delighted to be putting our material and design expertise to work in this project.

Traditionally built in steel or precast concrete, wind turbine towers have typically been limited to a height of under 100 metres, as the width of the base cannot exceed the 4.5-meter diameter that can be transported by road, without excessive additional costs. Printing a variable height base directly on-site with 3D-printed concrete technology will enable the construction of towers up to 150 to 200 meters tall. Typically, a 5 MW turbine at 80 metres generates, yearly, 15.1 GWh. In comparison, the same turbine at 160 meters would generate 20.2 GWh, or more than 33% extra power.

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Wind turbines from the first generation back in the 1990s are reaching the end of their life expectancy and around two gigawatts worth of turbines are expected to be refitted between 2019 and 2020.

Up to 85 to 90% of wind turbines’ total mass can be recycled, but turbine blades represent a significant challenge. Made from composite materials to allow for lighter and more durable blades, they require specific processes for recycling.

Currently, the most popular process is through something called cement co-processing, where the mineral components are reused in the cement, and the organic fraction replaces coal as a fuel. Through that process, the CO2 output of the cement manufacturing process can be significantly reduced (up to 16 % reduction is possible if composites represent 75 % of cement raw materials). Cement coprocessing is commercially available for processing large volumes of waste albeit not in all locations.

Besides cement co-processing, alternative technologies like mechanical recycling, solvolysis and pyrolysis are being developed, ultimately providing the industry with additional solutions for end-of-life.

Investing in renewable energy production and circular solutions should be one of the key drivers of the post-COVID-19 economic recovery. I am very proud of the partnership we have built with the wind energy supply chain to come up with an effective solution to recycling wind blades. This shows that cross-industry and value chain alliances are a very powerful tool for speeding up innovation and scaling up cutting edge technologies.

Marco Mensink, Cefic director general.

The report, which can be downloaded here strongly supports increasing and improving composite waste recycling through the development of alternative technologies and are calling on the EU to prioritise R&I funding to diversify and scale up recycling technologies and to develop new, high-performance materials for blades with enhanced circularity as part of the next R&I framework programme called Horizon Europe.

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An estimated 11.2 billion tonnes of solid waste is collected every year, posing a serious risk to resource depletion, air pollution and water and soil contamination. With the global wind energy market set to grow by an average of 3 per cent per year in the coming decade, Vestas is mitigating its environmental impact by committing to eliminate waste across its value chain. Today, Vestas wind turbines are on average 85 per cent recyclable, however, wind turbine blades are currently comprised of non-recyclable composite materials.

Wind energy will continue to grow rapidly, therefore the time for a conservative approach is behind us. I am proud to be part of an organisation that is making sustainability an integral component in all business operations Vestas interim Chief Operations Officer, Tommy Rahbek Nielsen

The company will consider all aspects of the turbine lifecycle, aimed at improving the recyclability rate of blades and nacelles. As a first step, Vestas will be focusing on improving the recyclability of all wind turbine blades. Incremental targets will be introduced to increase the recyclability rate of blades from 44 per cent today, to 50 per cent by 2025, and to 55 per cent by 2030.

Several initiatives designed to address the handling of existing blades after decommissioning will be set in motion. These will cover new recycling technologies that are optimal for composite waste, such as glass fibre recycling and plastic parts recovery. Vestas will also be implementing a new process around blade decommissioning, providing support to customers on how to decrease the amount of waste material being sent to landfill.

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The contract will see A C Marine & Composites build the 10m composite blades for both of the O2’s twin rotors (four blades in total) giving the machine a swept area of over 600 square meters, the largest ever on a tidal turbine.

The Orbital O2 is a 72m long floating superstructure, supporting two 1 MW turbines at either side capable of generating over 2MW from tidal stream resources. It will become the world’s most powerful tidal turbine when it enters operation in 2020 as part of a long term project at the European Marine Energy Centre, Orkney. Improvements in Orbital’s platform design have allowed for a rotor diameter increase of 4m on the company’s previous, record-breaking, 2MW SR2000 turbine, with the O2 capable of producing electricity for over 1,700 UK homes.

Orbital Marine Power based in Orkney and Edinburgh is focused on the development of a tidal energy turbine technology capable of producing a step-change reduction in the cost of energy from tidal currents. The company’s floating technology offers a low-cost solution for simplified and safe manufacture, installation, access and maintenance along with the ability to use low cost, small workboats for all offshore operations.

We are extremely proud to have been awarded this contract by Orbital Marine; becoming part of the wider UK supply chain for the O2 project. Our structured production philosophy and in-house resin infusion technology will no doubt add value to this commercial tidal stream project. This is also a great opportunity for A C Marine & Composites to work on a project that will have a positive impact on the environment, whilst reaffirming the UK’s commitment to renewables. Alex Newton, Director, A C Marine & Composites

Orbital’s contract with ACMC follows recent contract awards as part of the overall build programme for the O2; these include the O2 platform manufacturing contract to TEXO Group in Dundee and an anchors contract to FAUN Trackway in Anglesey.

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The project was to create a biodegradable product that can be used as a matrix for composite materials. The uniqueness of this material is in the nettle filler which reduces the cost of the polymer while maintaining its strength characteristics and increasing its elasticity and heat resistance.

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By using nettle fibre together with recycled polymers, it can reduce the polymer content by 50% leaving the possibility to further process this composite and use it as secondary raw material. It’s hoped that products like bio-packaging for household chemicals and food products, environmentally friendly children’s toys, jewellery, dishes, office supplies, and even bodies for electronic devices can be created with the materials.

Plans and funding of 60,0000 euro are in place to further develop and scale up the project with Chemelot Chemicals.

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The deal, which is expected to be worth $1.65 billion will improve GE’s ability to increase its energy output and create value for onshore and offshore customers. Since 2001, LM Wind Power has been owned by Doughty Hanson, a London-based private equity firm.

The acquisition is valued at 8.3 times pro forma earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) (2016 estimate). The transaction is subject to customary regulatory and governmental approvals and GE expects to close the transaction in the first half of 2017. GE expects the acquisition to be accretive to earnings in 2018.

As the cost of electricity from renewable sources continues to decline and nations pursue low-carbon forms of energy, renewable sources are gaining share in power generation capacity. In 2015, approximately 50% of all new electricity capacity additions were renewable energy sources, with wind representing 35% of that growth.

Following the closing of the deal, GE intends to operate LM Wind Power as a standalone unit within GE Renewable Energy and will continue to fully support all industry customers with the aim of expanding these relationships. GE will also retain the ability to source blades from other suppliers. LM Wind Power will continue to be led by its existing management team and be headquartered in Denmark, where it also maintains a global technology centre.

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