EU INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIETAL PROBLEMS:
Over the last two decades the number of installed wind turbines has increased significantly, increasing the global generating capacity from 18.0 GW to 655.5 GW. Wind turbines installed 20 years ago are now reaching their design end of life (EOL) and are facing decommissioning. The decommissioning of wind turbines is the responsibility of the energy company owning the individual wind turbine or wind ‘farm’. As part of the decommissioning process, energy companies must safely dispose of large quantities of fibre reinforced plastic composite (FRP) that make up approximately 90% of a typical wind turbine blade (WTB).
To date, disposal of FRP waste from WTBs has been by means of landfill. However, Wind Energy companies are facing increased legislative pressure to reduce this through the imposition of landfill and the banning of disposal of FRP waste in landfills. Alternative routes, such as refurbishing or incineration, are neither economically nor environmentally viable as the material(s) and residues they produce are of insufficient worth to recoup the processing costs. Therefore, energy companies are facing an increasing need for a sustainable solution for the disposal/recycling of EOF WTBs.
At the same time, we are confronted with the consequences of climate changes, including rising water levels in the sewage system in many European cities. This is turn is driving the increasing problem of rats entering the lower levels of buildings and inflicting damage to residential, farm and food industry buildings and their contents (food products being a major problem) and spreading diseases. It is estimated that the annual global cost of rodent damage and disease exceeds €23 billion.
OUR SOLUTION:
We have a developed a mechanical process for recycling end of life (EOL) Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) composite materials used in applications such as wind turbine blades (WTB) which otherwise would be disposed of in landfill. Approximately 90% of FRP consists of glass fibre reinforced plastic (GRP) with the remainder being carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP). Unlike alternative solutions our process is cost effective and recycles all the FRP material into a material, RRI-20, that can be used for thermal insulation and acoustic barrier applications.
Our process consists of the following steps:
1) EOL WTB blades are decommissioned and cut into large pieces at the wind farm for ease of road transport.
2) Metallic parts are separated for separate recycling.
3) The FRP waste is shredded to form granulates in a specially developed shredding and milling process. Any dust produced and other shapes and sizes of granulate are then removed in sieving/separation process.
4) In a specially developed process - with or without adding a binder - we pack/form the loose granulate to form a porous material as plates/slabs that optimizes its acoustic and/or thermal insulation properties.
5) Our FRP granulate (RRI-20) can be used on its own as an insulation and can be recycled again once th eapplication has reached its end of life.
