What are wind turbine blades made from?

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

What energy applications are composites used for?

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.

What happens to wind blades at the end of their lifespan?

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

WIND/ENERGY

Mass Transit

Viritech and Haydale pursue new functionalized materials for Type V composite vessels for hydrogen storage

Goal is considerable weight savings via lightweight, impermeable pressure vessels without a liner, further advance in Graph-Pro structural storage tanks with integrated fixation.

Ginger Gardiner
Senior Technical Editor, CompositesWorld

Carbon Fibers

Future Materials Group report addresses advanced materials and climate change

Report analyzes sustainability strategy development, the role of carbon fiber in the global energy transition, and profitability challenges faced by wind OEMs.
#sustainability #windblades

Urban Air Mobility

How composites have become a necessity

Composites used to be one of many material options across industries and applications, but that's not the case anymore.
#editorial #windblades #wingoftomorrow

Energy Storage

NCC reaches milestone in composite cryogenic hydrogen program

The National Composites Centre is testing composite cryogenic storage tank demonstrators with increasing complexity, to support U.K. transition to the hydrogen economy.
#hydrogen #trends #windblades

Energy Storage

Nabrawind receives financial support from Fortescue Future Industries

The company aims to grow product portfolio and market for wind energy technologies such as a modular blade joint and foundation solution.
#windblades

CW Plant Tour: Aeris Energy, Caucaia, Brazil

This young, up-and-coming wind blade manufacturer was founded to serve the Brazilian wind energy market, but it’s poised to do much more.
#ndi #windblades #outofautoclave

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Energy Storage |

ConocoPhillips Sees Oil and Gas Supply Chain Opportunity With Additive Manufacturing

Production of parts when needed and where needed can respond to the oil and gas sector’s multibillion-dollar challenge of holding parts in inventory. The supply chain benefit will justify additive even before the design freedoms are explored.
#windblades

Peter Zelinski Editor-in-Chief, Additive Manufacturing

Videos / Podcasts

Wind/Energy

Airborne, Accudyne partner to provide automated composites solutions worldwide

April 18, 2023 - 12:00 PM EST

The two companies have signed an MOA to collaborate on further development of digital automation systems for composites manufacturing in aerospace, renewable energy, future mobility and more.
#automation #wingoftomorrow #space

Automotive

8 Transformations 3D Printing Is Making Possible

March 14, 2023 - 12:00 AM EST

Additive manufacturing changes every space it touches; progress can be tracked by looking for moments of transformation. Here are 8 places where 3D printing is enabling transformative change.
#wingoftomorrow #space #windblades

Wind/Energy

Composites end markets: Batteries and fuel cells (2023)

February 06, 2023 - 12:00 AM EST

As battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles continue to supplant internal combustion engine vehicles, composite materials are quickly finding adoption to offset a variety of challenges, particularly for battery enclosure and fuel cell development.
#composites-market-outlook #feature #composites-basics

Automotive

Hexagon Purus opens new U.S. facility to manufacture composite hydrogen tanks

February 02, 2023 - 6:00 AM EST

CW attends the opening of Westminster, Maryland, site and shares the company’s history, vision and leading role in H2 storage systems.
#wingoftomorrow #space #windblades

Energy Storage

3D Printed Heat Exchanger Illustrates Siemens' CATCH and Release Approach

January 05, 2023 - 12:00 AM EST

Solutions for energy efficiency, sustainability, part repair and more are developing at Siemens’ Charlotte Advanced Technology Collaboration Hub (CATCH) in North Carolina.
#windblades #sustainability

Mass Transit

SolidCAM Wants to Help Machine Shops Get into Additive Manufacturing

October 27, 2022 - 12:00 AM EST

SolidCAM's partnership with Desktop Metal is aimed at making additive manufacturing more accessible to job shops and other manufacturers.
#windblades #medical #wingoftomorrow

Urban Air Mobility

Plant tour: ÉireComposites, Galway, Ireland

August 19, 2022 - 12:00 AM EST

An in-house testing business and R&D focus has led to innovative materials use and projects in a range of markets, from civil aerospace to renewable energy to marine.
#wingoftomorrow #space #planttour

Urban Air Mobility |

Carbon Fiber 2022 presentation bundles now available

Presentation recordings are now available for the 2022 Carbon Fiber conference that was held in Greenville, SC. Presentation bundle categories include Aerospace, Recycling/Sustainability, Energy, Process and Carbon Fiber for Hydrogen Storage.
#sustainability #windblades #wingoftomorrow

Cara Decknadel Digital Content Editor, Gardner Business Media, Inc.

Aerospace

Airborne, Accudyne partner to provide automated composites solutions worldwide

Wind/Energy

EconCore, Solarge launch lightweight, sustainable solar panel

Netherlands-based EconCore and Solarge have collaborated to develop a composite solar panel that offers weight savings of up to 65%.
#windblades

Wind/Energy

Hexagon Agility Mobile Pipeline supplied to CNG project in Jordan

Headed by fuel station chain Masanseer Oil & Gas, the lightweight composite X-Store modules will enable large-volume CNG transportation and distribution, improving project economics, scalability.
#windblades

Energy Storage

U.S. DOE strategy to accelerate, expand domestic offshore wind

Newly released, department-wide strategy will tap the United States’ vast potential of offshore wind energy deployment to meet 30 GW goal by 2030.
#windblades

Wind/Energy

Cevotec grows commercial activities in China

Collaboration with two new international sales partners will bring Cevotec’s fiber patch placement (FPP) technology to the forefront of the Chinese composites industry.
#windblades

Wind/Energy

Siemens Gamesa, Airborne develop automatic preforming robot system for offshore wind blades

Danish-funded ALMA project furthers collaboration, adds new functionality, advanced sensor systems and digital twinning for reduced man-hours, waste and cost per blade.
#automation #windblades #composites4-0