COMPOSITES | EVENT REVIEW


Prototype recyclable blade makes its debut


Arkema announced in March that a full-scale recyclable thermoplastic wind turbine blade, measuring 62 m in length, and made from its Elium liquid resin, has been designed and built at the LM Wind Power plant in Ponferrada, Spain. The prototype blade was devel- oped as part of the Zebra (Zero wastE Blade ReseArch) project, which is led by French research institute IRT-Jules Verne. The project brings together leading industrial players and technical centres to demonstrate the technical, economic and environmental rel- evance of thermoplastic wind turbine blades on a full scale, with an eco- design approach to facilitate recycling. The next step in the Zebra project will be full-scale structural lifetime testing to verify the performance of


the composite material used for manu- facturing the wind turbine blade, and its feasibility for future sustainable blade production. The partners will also validate the recycling process for the production waste and for this initial blade after dismantling.


the lab using an acetic acid solution. Once dis- solved, the components are filtered which sepa- rates the fibres. The polymer can then go through devolatising and compounding to produce a thermoplastic material, which can be used for moulding or as an additive. The next stage in the project is to scale up to a pilot plant with capacity to recycle 20kg per hour of waste. “We are confident this thermoplastic material has


commercial value,” said Palinsky. An example is injection moulded foot-strap inserts on a surfboard made by Cobra International. The mouldings are comprising 20% recycled thermoplastic and 80% PE. Palinsky said applications for recycled thermo- plastic and fibres continue to be researched. CTP is open for collaboration for improvements in the foaming properties and process, he said. Arkema has developed an acrylic thermoplastic


as a recyclable alternative to thermoset resins for use in wind turbine manufacturing. Pierre Gerard in Arkema’s R&D department said at the AMI confer- ence that for composites, Elium liquid polymer is diluted in a reactive monomer blend with process- ing additives. An initiator (organic peroxide and/or photoinitiator) is used as a second component. The polymerisation can be adjusted to fulfill manufac- turing process requirements. For wind blade manufacturing, Arkema offers Elium grades for infusion, pultrusion and hand lay-up/repairs.


www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com


Arkema says: “By the end of the


project in 2023, the consortium will have met the challenge of bringing the wind energy sector into the circular economy loop in a sustainable manner, in accordance with eco-de- sign principles.”


Arkema is a partner in the Effiwind collaborative


project investigating the use of Elium-based composites in wind turbine blades. After presenting details of the project’s work on the materials, design and manufacturing, Gerard described the possible recycling processes for the end-of-life blades. The blades are reduced in size by first cutting and then grinding. This ground material can be compounded with PMMA or ABS, to produce pellets with, for example, 60% ABS and 40% Elium composite for use in injection moulding. Direct manufacture is a possibility by using hot compression on the ground material to produce thermoformable sheets. Closed loop recycling of Elium-based wind blades can be achieved via chemical recycling. In this, the ground blades are put through a thermal depolymerisation process. Fibres are separated, leaving an 82% Elium monomer that can be purified to 99% r-Elium monomer for further use. n This year’s edition of the Wind Turbine Blade Manufacture event takes place in Dusseldorf, Germany, on 13-15 December 2022. Find out more at the event website.


CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: � www.vestas.com � www.siemensgamesa.com � www.abg-am.com � www.arkema.com


March/April 2022 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 17


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