Composites Use in Wind/Energy Markets

• The outer skins of wind and tidal turbine blades generally comprise infused, GFRP laminates sandwiching foam core. Inside the blade, rib-like shear webs bonded to spar caps reinforce the structure. Spar caps are often made from GFRP or, as blade lengths lengthen, pultruded carbon fiber for additional strength.
• Source: Composites end markets: Renewable energy

In renewable energy, fiberglass composites are used, most prominently, to build wind turbine blades and nacelles. Carbon fiber composites are also used to build wind blade spar caps. Hydroelectric turbines, tidal energy turbines and other forms of renewable energy have also made use of composites.

In oil and gas, composites have long been used as a corrosion-resistant metal alternative for a number of applications, including components for protecting wellheads, manifolds and other equipment related to subsea processing, and offshore pipelines themselves.

As wind energy ramps up, recycling of composite wind blades at their end of life (EOL) – as well as composites and plastics recycling in general – continues to be a topic of concern.

More than 80% of a wind turbine itself is typically metallic and recyclable, but the increasingly long, high-performance composite blades pose more of a challenge.

Efforts include:

• • • Near-term: Ramping up existing recycling methods like mechanical chopping up blades or repurposing entire blades for other uses
    • Medium-term: Developing more efficient methods such as chemical recycling (solvolysis) for reclaiming the original fibers from EOL blades for reuse
    • Long-term: Designing and manufacturing wind blades with sustainable/recyclable materials

Source: Moving toward next-generation wind blade recycling