Wind generated electricity is the lowest cost renewable energy technology available today and as a result, rapid growth is occurring, Wind blades have become one of the world’s largest markets for plastic composites Glass fiber and thermoset resins (primarily epoxy and vinyl ester) are used to fabricate the vast majority of the total blade tonnage. At the end of service life, fiber-filled thermosets are difficult to economically recycle. Somewhere near 450,000 metric tons of composite blade structure will be produced this year and as the industry pushes to larger blade sizes, carbon fiber will be increasingly used. <i>The tonnage of composites used, the embedded energy of the materials, and the increasing use of more expensive carbon fibers are all strong incentives to recycle turbine blades in order to create a more sustainable wind-energy industry. Recycling also provides additional manufacturing jobs in the conversion of reclaimed materials. </i>Recent work performed under the Institute for Composite Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) on making turbine materials from recyclable and renewable thermoplastics instead of petroleum based thermosets will be described and discussed. Biobased but infusible systems for both thermoplastic and thermosetting systems have been developed and demonstrated. These new systems will be discussed in terms of reaction chemistry, processing, recyclability, and life cycle costs.

Making wind power better – new polymer composites with improved sustainability metrics

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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