Lessons learned from the sustainable recycling process of a wind blade made with a new thermoplastic resin

[EN] The use of thermoplastic resins instead of thermoset ones in wind turbine blade manufacturing is being investigated and validated in a global scale due to some theoretical improvements such as costs saving during production, shorter cycle¿s time and a better circular recovery of the raw materia...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Carnicero, Rafael, Cano, Luis, Cruz, Ignacio
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repositorio:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/228810
Acceso en línea:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/228810
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Recyclable wind turbine blade
Thermoplastic composite
Circularity
12.- Garantizar las pautas de consumo y de producción sostenibles
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] The use of thermoplastic resins instead of thermoset ones in wind turbine blade manufacturing is being investigated and validated in a global scale due to some theoretical improvements such as costs saving during production, shorter cycle¿s time and a better circular recovery of the raw materials at the End of Life. The initial objective of this paper was to manufacture and test a small wind turbine blade (SWTB) glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (GFRT) resin composites, recycle it, and use the products obtained from the recycling process (fibers and resin) to remanufacture a new thermoplastic SWTB. But loss of fibers higher than estimated during the recycling process made to get away from the original aim of testing both blades (1 st and 2nd recyclable blades). At least, some lessons learned were obtained to improve future developments. Nevertheless, this study provides an example of how to recycle a small WT blade and to remanufacture it using the same raw materials.