OPTIONS FOR BLADE RECYCLING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AND TECHNOLOGIES - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

OPTIONS FOR BLADE RECYCLING – BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AND TECHNOLOGIES

John Ferguson EcoIdeaM Binn Eco Park Glenfarg Perthshire, Scotland UK john.ferguson@ecoideam.co.uk Gary Leeke Professor of Chemical Engineering School of Water, Energy and Environment Cranfield University, UK Gary.A.Leeke@cranfield.ac.uk

Onshore Renewables – Repowering – the Natural Heritage Considerations Dec 7th 2016

Data acquired from Ernst and Young report in 2010

• Wind energy is the fastest growing mode of electricity production across the planet.

UK forecast to generate at least 38% of its energy by wind by 2030 (Committee on Climate

Change, 2015)

• Higher power output needs longer wind turbine blade with higher CFRP for higher stiffness

Reference: Shuaib et al. (2015a)

Past and projected growth by sector: CFRP in the UK

Data acquired from Ernst and Young report in 2010

• GFRP is the main component in wind turbine blades. A single wind turbine blade from a 3

MW installation contains 4 tonnes fibre, 2.68 tonnes resin + composite material in the nacelle

• ‘Others’ sector consist of construction and marine industries

Reference: Shuaib et al. (2015a)

Past and projected growth by sector: GFRP in the UK



Globally 250,000 wind turbines spinning around the world - rapid annual growth

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Scotland has over 2,800 wind turbines (2015) and a further 2,202 with planning consent

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Trend towards off-shore larger turbines 3-5 MW and upwards (8-10 MW!!) > use of CFRP (strength)

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Concerns of global supply and cost of CFRP 10 to 20x cost of E-Glass (expect increased CF manufacture)

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One CF manufacturer (Zoltek) alone has over 20,000 tonnes of CF in turbines around the world

·

CFRP in Blade Manufacture

Reference: Shuaib et al. (2015a)

Assumptions:

·98% of composite waste are sent to landfill (Halliwell, 2006)

.

Embodied energy (TJ) loss due to low recycling uptake based on UK FRP waste in 2015

• Retain the value / energy
• Corporate image / life cycle

awareness

• Landfill costs (tax now £82.60/t,

total cost £120-£130/t)

• Legislation
• Open new markets to benefits of

composites

Embodied energies of common composite constituent materials and 2 common metals (Song et al., 2009) Material Embodied energy (MJ/kg) Carbon fibre 183 to 286 Glass fibre 13 to 32 Polyester resin 63 to 78 Epoxy resin 76 to 80 Aluminium alloys 196 to 257 Stainless steel 110 to 210

Recycling and Remanufacturing

Remanufacturing: Avoids cost of deconstructing a very tough material Use of turbines (re-engineered) as structural components (roof beams), pillars etc (Construction Innovation Centre) Modulus remanufacturing

Past and projected UK GFRP and CFRP production and waste volume

Reference: Shuaib et al. (2015b)

End of life waste: Worldwide, figure is projected to reach 225,000 tonnes for end of life blades by 2034 (Beauson and Brøndsted, 2016) Production waste: 10% and 40% are taken as waste rate for GFRP and CFRP production, respectively (Wood 2010, Bains and Stokes 2013)

Recycling / Recovery Processes

• Mechanical
• Thermal
• Chemical
• Combustion (energy recovery and cement kiln)

Photo courtesy of Filon Products Ltd

Mechanical process (grinding/HV fragmentation): Pyrolysis: Solvolysis

ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd, West Midlands, UK

• G. Oliveux, L.O. Dandy, G.A.Leeke, Current status of Recycling of Fibre Reinforced Polymers: review of technologies, reuse and resulting properties. Progress

in Materials Science 2015, 72, pp. 61-99.

ECO-grinderTM , Eco Wolf Inc, Florida, USA

• Univ. of Birmingham, West Midlands, UK

450 to 700 °C Typically 500-550°C < 400 °C 1 to 300 bar

The Recycling Technologies

Fibres recovered from separation processes:

Single fibre tensile strength: GF CF Pyrolysis

• 52 % at 450°C
• 64 % at 550°C
• 4 % at 500 °C
• 82 % when post treated at

600°C Solvolysis

• 33 % at 275°C

in water

• c. -7% and <15 % max. whatever

the tested conditions

Random discontinuous Aligned discontinuous Continuous (new yarn)

Palmer et al. Composites Part A 2009 Leeke et al. Progress in Materials Science 2015

Recovered Fibre Properties

Re-use of GFRP fractions

Recyclate from grinding:

• Ground GFRP = partial reinforcement or fillers in new composites (SMC or BMC)
• Anti-static coatings
• Conductive plastics/wood plastic composites
• The fibre-rich fractions still contain resin residue  affect the adhesion to a new

resin.

• Mainly concerns production waste or scrap materials; real end-of-life waste is

currently not treated.

Coarse GF Fine GF Powder Fractions recovered from ground GFRP

Palmer et al. Composites Part A 2009

Re-Incorporation (dyed)

Cement Kiln Route

• Size reduced and mixed with RDF for combustion in cement kilns
• Polymer burnt for energy recovery
• Glass and CaCO3 filler are mineral feedstock for cement (clinker)
• Valid recycling route? – accepted in EU

Glass Fibre Combustion

The Challenges

Challenges in bringing processes and products to market: Standards – creation or change Waste volumes – consistent supply Provenance Heterogeneity of feedstock Who will pay for recycling process? New H&S Finding investors Establish new markets for recycled fibres/materials For GFRP, recycling supply chain urgently needs to develop Closer working between FRP suppliers and designers

EXHUME Project Team Efficient X-sector use of HeterogeneoUs MatErials in Manufacturing EP/K026348/1 CORE Creative Outreach in Resource Efficiency EP/K026429/1

Acknowledgements Thank You

Gary.A.Leeke@cranfield.ac.uk John.Ferguson@ecoideam.co.uk

References

Bains, M., E. Stokes (2013). Developing a Resource Efficiency Action Plan for the Composites Sector, URS & Netcomposites. Beauson, J., and Brøndsted, P., (2016) Wind Turbine Blades: An End of Life Perspective, MARE-WINT, Book Chapter, pp 421- 432, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-39095-6_23

·Committee on Climate Change. Sectorial scenarios for the 5th carbon budget, Nov 2015, ·Halliwell, S. (2006) End of Life Options for Composite Waste Recycle, Reuse or Dispose.

Oliveux, O., Dandy, L.O., Leeke, G.A., (2015), Current status of Recycling of Fibre Reinforced Polymers: review of technologies, reuse and resulting properties. Progress in Materials Science 72, 61-99 Shuaib, N.A., Mativenga, P.T., Kazie, J., Job, S., (2015a). Resource Efficiency and Composite Waste in UK Supply Chain. Procedia CIRP 29, 662-667.

·Shuaib, N.A., Mativenga, P.T., (2015b). Energy Intensity and Quality of Recyclate in Composite Recycling. ASME Proceeding

(presented during ASME International Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (MSEC) 2015)

·Wood, K. (2010) Carbon fiber reclamation: Going commercial. High Performance Composite March 2010.