Method and device for treating glass fibers for wind turbine blades in an oxygen-enriched furnace

Abstract

The application discloses a method and device for treating glass fiber of wind power blade in an oxygen-rich furnace, and belongs to the technical field of solid waste recycling. The method is to send the broken wind power blade into a high-temperature oxygen-rich furnace; the material in the furnace body is heated, oxygen is introduced into the furnace body, and the wind power blade is ignited; under the oxygen-rich high-temperature environment, the carbon-containing matrix material in the blade is rapidly oxidized and releases heat, and the glass fiber in the blade is heated and melted to form molten glass; high-pressure oxygen is input into the molten glass in the glass pool, so that the residual organic components in the molten glass are fully burned, and the molten glass is purified; the molten glass is output, and glass fiber is prepared by drawing. The device comprises an oxygen-rich furnace, a first oxygen gun, a second oxygen gun, a glass pool, a purification tank, a third oxygen gun and a glass fiber drawing machine. The application utilizes the flammable and high-calorific value characteristics of the wind power blade matrix material to prepare glass fiber, and has the advantages of continuous process, controllable energy consumption and high product added value.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of solid waste recycling technology, specifically relating to a method and apparatus for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber using an oxygen-enriched furnace. Background Technology

[0002] As wind turbine blades reach the end of their service life, their disposal has become a major source of solid waste requiring urgent treatment. Wind turbine blades are made of polymers such as epoxy resin and reinforced with glass fiber / carbon fiber. They are lightweight, high-strength, and corrosion-resistant. However, due to their thermosetting composite material properties, they cannot be melted and reshaped like thermoplastic plastics. Traditional landfilling occupies a large amount of land, which runs counter to the green original intention of wind power.

[0003] Currently, wind turbine blade recycling technologies are mainly divided into three categories: physical methods, pyrolysis methods, and chemical methods. Physical methods involve crushing and grinding the blades into particles or powder, which can then be used as alternative fuel in cement kilns or added to concrete as aggregate. This method is technically simple but has low economic value. Pyrolysis involves heating and decomposing resin under anaerobic conditions to recover fibers, but it faces the problem of high energy consumption. Chemical methods utilize solvents or supercritical fluids to degrade resin, which can better maintain the strength and length of the fibers, but it uses expensive chemical reagents. Currently, pyrolysis and chemical methods are mostly in the laboratory or pilot-scale stages.

[0004] Oxygen-enriched combustion significantly improves thermal efficiency through mechanisms such as increasing flame temperature and emissivity, lowering fuel ignition point, accelerating combustion speed, and reducing flue gas emissions. Oxygen-enriched combustion helps lower the fuel ignition point and burnout temperature, which is beneficial for stable combustion at low loads and increases heat release rate. In terms of environmental protection, oxygen-enriched combustion significantly reduces the nitrogen content in the combustion air, thus suppressing thermal NOx emissions at the source. x The combustion products are mainly CO2 and water vapor. After condensation and dehydration, the CO2 content in the flue gas is between 80% and 98%. This high concentration of CO2 is very beneficial for subsequent capture, purification and storage.

[0005] With the large-scale use of solar power for water electrolysis to produce hydrogen, which serves industries such as synthetic ammonia and metallurgy in the form of green hydrogen, the large amount of pure oxygen produced as a byproduct currently lacks sufficient application scenarios, and there is an urgent need to expand the utilization of this byproduct pure oxygen.

[0006] Therefore, it is essential to develop a method and apparatus for processing glass fiber from wind turbine blades using an oxygen-enriched furnace. Summary of the Invention

[0007] To address the technical problems of high energy consumption, low economic value, and difficulty in efficiently recycling glass fibers in existing wind turbine blade recycling technologies, the primary objective of this invention is to provide a method for processing wind turbine blades into glass fibers using an oxygen-enriched furnace. This method constructs a controllable oxygen-enriched oxidizing atmosphere, utilizing the high calorific value and flammability of organic polymers in the oxygen-enriched environment to achieve exothermic oxidation of carbon-containing polymers and melting of glass fibers. Furthermore, by utilizing the large porosity between the blocky wind turbine blades in the furnace, the molten glass seeps into the bottom, forming a glass pool, and producing high-quality glass fibers.

[0008] The second objective of this invention is to provide an apparatus for processing wind turbine blades into glass fibers using an oxygen-enriched furnace. This apparatus is simple in structure and easy to scale up for mass production.

[0009] The first objective of this invention is achieved by the following steps: S1. The scrapped wind turbine blades are crushed and sent into a high-temperature oxygen-enriched furnace. S2. Heat the material inside the furnace, introduce oxygen into the furnace, ignite the wind turbine blades; recover waste heat from the flue gas. S3. In an oxygen-rich and high-temperature environment, the carbon matrix material in the blade undergoes intense oxidation and releases heat. The glass fiber in the blade melts upon heating to form molten glass, which passes through the blade stack and enters the glass molten pool at the bottom of the furnace; thus recovering the waste heat of the flue gas. S4. High-pressure oxygen is introduced into the molten glass in the glass melting pool to fully combust the residual organic components in the molten glass, purify the molten glass, and recover the waste heat of the flue gas; S5. Output molten glass, then draw it into glass fibers.

[0010] Preferably, the particle size of the scrapped wind turbine blades in step S1 is between 1cm and 50cm.

[0011] Preferably, in step S2, the furnace temperature is controlled between 400°C and 1600°C.

[0012] Preferably, the oxygen purity in step S2 is controlled at 20% to 95%.

[0013] Preferably, the oxygen purity in step S4 is controlled at 80%~100%.

[0014] All oxygen purity values ​​in this invention are volume fractions.

[0015] Preferably, the temperature for preparing glass fibers in step S4 is controlled between 1100℃ and 1700℃.

[0016] The second objective of this invention is achieved as follows: The invention includes an oxygen-enriched furnace, a first oxygen lance, a second oxygen lance, a glass molten pool, a purification tank, a third oxygen lance, and a glass fiber drawing machine. The first and second oxygen lances are respectively located inside the oxygen-enriched furnace, with the outlet of the first oxygen lance located in the middle of the furnace and the outlet of the second oxygen lance located in the glass molten pool at the bottom of the furnace. The top of the oxygen-enriched furnace has a feed inlet and a flue gas outlet. The bottom outlet of the glass molten pool is connected to the purification tank. The purification tank is equipped with the third oxygen lance, and the outlet of the purification tank is connected to the inlet of the glass fiber drawing machine.

[0017] Preferably, the outlet of the second oxygen delivery gun is located 30cm above the surface of the molten glass in the glass bath to 300cm below the surface, covering both oxygen-enriched top blowing and oxygen-enriched bottom blowing methods.

[0018] Preferably, there are multiple third oxygen delivery guns, which are distributed sequentially along the length of the purification tank.

[0019] Technical principle of this invention: 1. Polymers such as epoxy resin have good oxidation and combustion characteristics in an oxygen-rich atmosphere. Vigorous oxidation in an oxygen-rich atmosphere can release a large amount of heat, creating a high-temperature environment inside the furnace. 2. Due to its large heat transfer contact area, glass fiber can melt rapidly at high temperatures and form a glass pool at the bottom of the furnace. 3. Under the intense action of high-pressure oxygen from the oxygen lance, the organic components and particulate impurities mixed in the molten pool are rapidly oxidized by the high-purity oxygen and escape in the form of carbon dioxide / carbon monoxide, thus purifying the glass in the molten pool. 4. After purification, the molten glass is subjected to temperature-controlled tempering and then drawn into high-quality silicate materials.

[0020] The beneficial effects of this invention are: 1. The method of the present invention utilizes the high oxidative exothermic characteristics of the carbon-containing matrix material in the waste wind turbine blades in an oxygen-rich environment, which releases a large amount of heat through violent oxidation to maintain a high-temperature environment inside the furnace. Compared with the traditional pyrolysis method which requires continuous external heating, the present invention significantly reduces external energy consumption and realizes low energy consumption and energy utilization in the blade processing process. 2. This invention increases the heat transfer contact area between the glass fiber and the high-temperature gas by crushing the blades, and rapidly melts the glass fiber under oxygen-rich high temperature to form molten glass, which is then drawn into glass fiber (step S5). Compared with the fiber powder recovered by physical methods, this invention directly produces renewable glass fiber, which significantly improves the economic value of the recycled product. 3. This invention employs oxygen-enriched combustion, which significantly reduces the nitrogen content in the combustion air, thus suppressing thermal NO at its source. XThe combustion products are mainly CO2 and water vapor. After waste heat recovery, the CO2 concentration in the flue gas is high, which facilitates subsequent low-cost capture, purification and storage, avoiding the problem of large amounts of nitrogen oxides and low-concentration CO2 that are difficult to recover from traditional incineration methods. 4. Utilizing the high efficiency and environmental friendliness of oxygen-enriched combustion, and achieving waste heat recovery and low emissions of pollutants in the flue gas through high-temperature flue gas; the oxygen required by this invention comes from the oxygen produced by electrolyzing water to produce hydrogen through solar power generation. By using the pure oxygen, a by-product that originally lacked application scenarios, to treat wind turbine blades in an oxygen-enriched furnace, the problem of oxygen consumption is solved. 5. In the apparatus of the present invention, a second oxygen delivery gun is set in the glass melting pool to introduce high-pressure oxygen into the molten glass, and the residual organic components are further oxidized in the purification tank by a third oxygen delivery gun. The present invention utilizes the strong oxidizing properties of high-pressure pure oxygen to quickly convert carbonized residues and organic impurities mixed in the glass melt into gases such as CO2 and escape, thereby obtaining high-purity molten glass and providing clean raw materials for subsequent high-quality wire drawing. Attached Figure Description

[0021] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the device of the present invention; In the diagram: 1-Oxygen-enriched furnace, 2-First oxygen lance, 3-Second oxygen lance, 4-Glass melting pool, 5-Purification tank, 6-Third oxygen lance, 7-Glass fiber drawing machine, 8-Feed inlet, 9-Exhaust outlet, 10-Discharge outlet. Detailed Implementation

[0022] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the embodiments and accompanying drawings, but this does not limit the present invention in any way. Any changes or substitutions made based on the teachings of the present invention shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Example 1

[0023] The method for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber using an oxygen-enriched furnace in this embodiment includes the following steps: S1. Crush the scrapped wind turbine blades to a particle size of 1cm to 10cm, and then send them into a high-temperature oxygen-enriched furnace. S2. Heat the material inside the furnace to a temperature of 400℃~1200℃, introduce oxygen into the furnace, and control the oxygen purity at 20%~40% to ignite the wind turbine blades; the oxygen comes from the oxygen produced by solar power generation and water electrolysis to produce hydrogen; the flue gas discharged from the oxygen-enriched furnace is sent to the carbon fixation process. S3. In an oxygen-rich, high-temperature environment, the carbon matrix material in the blade undergoes intense oxidation and exothermic reactions. The glass fibers in the blade melt and form molten glass, which passes through the blade stack and enters the glass molten pool at the bottom of the furnace. The flue gas discharged from the oxygen-rich furnace is sent to the carbon fixation process. S4. High-pressure oxygen is introduced into the molten glass in the glass melting pool. The oxygen purity is controlled at 80%~95% to fully combust the residual organic components in the molten glass and purify the molten glass. The oxygen comes from the oxygen produced by electrolyzing water from solar power generation. The flue gas discharged from the oxygen-enriched furnace is sent to the carbon fixation process. S5. Output molten glass, then draw it into glass fibers, with the temperature controlled at 1100℃~1500℃. Example 2

[0024] The method for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber in this embodiment using an oxygen-enriched furnace is based on Embodiment 1, but differs from Embodiment 1 in the following ways: the particle size in step S1 is 8cm to 30cm; the furnace temperature in step S2 is 600℃ to 1500℃, and the oxygen purity is controlled at 30% to 70%; and the oxygen purity in step S4 is controlled at 95% to 100%. Example 3

[0025] The method for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber in this embodiment using an oxygen-enriched furnace is based on Embodiment 1, but differs from Embodiment 1 in the following ways: the particle size in step S1 is 20cm to 50cm; the furnace temperature in step S2 is 600℃ to 1500℃, and the oxygen purity is controlled at 50% to 95%; and the oxygen purity in step S4 is controlled at 85% to 90%. Example 4

[0026] The method for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber in this embodiment using an oxygen-enriched furnace is based on Embodiment 1, but differs from Embodiment 1 in the following ways: the particle size in step S1 is 1cm to 3cm; the furnace temperature in step S2 is 400℃ to 500℃, and the oxygen purity is controlled at 20% to 25%; and the oxygen purity in step S4 is controlled at 80% to 85%. Example 5

[0027] The method for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber in this embodiment using an oxygen-enriched furnace is based on Embodiment 1, but differs from Embodiment 1 in that: in step S1, the particle size is 48cm~50cm; in step S2, the furnace temperature is 1500℃~1600℃, and the oxygen purity is controlled at 90%~95%; and in step S4, the oxygen purity is controlled at 95%~100%. Example 6

[0028] The method for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber in this embodiment using an oxygen-enriched furnace is based on Embodiment 1, but differs from Embodiment 1 in that: the particle size in step S1 is 24cm~26cm; the furnace temperature in step S2 is 950℃~1050℃, and the oxygen purity is controlled at 55%~60%; and the oxygen purity in step S4 is controlled at 87%~92%. Example 7

[0029] As attached Figure 1 As shown, this embodiment is an apparatus for implementing the method of processing wind turbine blades into glass fibers using an oxygen-enriched furnace as described in Embodiment 1. It includes an oxygen-enriched furnace 1, a first oxygen delivery lance 2, a second oxygen delivery lance 3, a glass molten pool 4, a purification tank 5, a third oxygen delivery lance 6, and a glass fiber drawing machine 7. The first oxygen delivery lance 2 and the second oxygen delivery lance 3 are respectively located inside the oxygen-enriched furnace 1, with the outlet of the first oxygen delivery lance 2 located in the middle of the oxygen-enriched furnace 1. The outlet of the second oxygen delivery lance 3 is located in the glass molten pool 4 at the bottom of the oxygen-enriched furnace 1, and its outlet is located from 30cm above the molten glass surface to 300cm below the surface. The top of the oxygen-enriched furnace 1 is provided with a feed inlet 8 and a flue gas outlet 9. The bottom outlet 10 of the glass molten pool 4 is connected to the purification tank 5. The purification tank 5 is provided with the third oxygen delivery lance 6, and the outlet of the purification tank 5 is connected to the inlet of the glass fiber drawing machine 7.

[0030] The working principle and process of the device of this invention are as follows: Scrap wind turbine blades are fed into the oxygen-enriched furnace 1 through the feed inlet 8 to heat the materials inside the furnace. Oxygen is then introduced through the first oxygen supply gun 2 to ignite the wind turbine blades. The carbon-containing matrix material in the blades undergoes intense oxidation and releases heat, causing the glass fibers in the blades to melt and form molten glass, which enters the glass melt pool 4. High-pressure oxygen is then introduced into the glass melt pool 4 through the second oxygen supply gun 3 to burn the organic components in the molten glass, thus purifying the molten glass. Subsequently, the molten glass in the glass melt pool 4 is fed into the purification tank 5 through the discharge outlet 10. Oxygen is then introduced into the purification tank 5 through the third oxygen supply gun 6 to burn the remaining organic components in the molten glass, further purifying the molten glass. The purified molten glass then enters the glass fiber drawing machine 7 through the outlet of the purification tank 5 to produce glass fibers.

Claims

1. A method for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber using an oxygen-enriched furnace, characterized in that... Includes the following steps: S1. The scrapped wind turbine blades are crushed and sent into a high-temperature oxygen-enriched furnace. S2. Heat the material inside the furnace, introduce oxygen into the furnace, and ignite the wind turbine blades. S3. In an oxygen-rich and high-temperature environment, the carbon matrix material in the blade undergoes intense oxidation and exothermic reaction. The glass fiber in the blade melts and forms molten glass, which passes through the blade stack and enters the glass molten pool at the bottom of the furnace. S4. High-pressure oxygen is introduced into the molten glass in the glass melting pool to fully combust the residual organic components in the molten glass and purify the molten glass; S5. Output molten glass, then draw it into glass fibers.

2. The method for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber using an oxygen-enriched furnace according to claim 1, characterized in that... In step S1, the crushed particle size of the scrapped wind turbine blades is between 1cm and 50cm.

3. The method for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber using an oxygen-enriched furnace according to claim 1, characterized in that... Step S2 controls the furnace temperature to be between 400℃ and 1600℃.

4. The method for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber using an oxygen-enriched furnace according to claim 1, characterized in that... In step S2, the oxygen purity is controlled between 20% and 95%.

5. The method for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber using an oxygen-enriched furnace according to claim 1, characterized in that... In step S4, the oxygen purity is controlled at 80%~100%.

6. The method for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber using an oxygen-enriched furnace according to claim 1, characterized in that... The temperature for preparing glass fibers in step S4 is controlled between 1100℃ and 1700℃.

7. An apparatus for implementing the method of processing wind turbine blades into glass fibers using an oxygen-enriched furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising an oxygen-enriched furnace (1), a first oxygen lance (2), a second oxygen lance (3), a glass melting pool (4), a purification tank (5), a third oxygen lance (6), and a glass fiber drawing machine (7), characterized in that... The first oxygen delivery gun (2) and the second oxygen delivery gun (3) are respectively located in the oxygen-enriched furnace (1), and the outlet of the first oxygen delivery gun (2) is located in the middle of the oxygen-enriched furnace (1), and the outlet of the second oxygen delivery gun (3) is located in the glass melting pool (4) at the bottom of the oxygen-enriched furnace (1). The top of the oxygen-enriched furnace (1) is provided with a feed inlet (8) and a flue gas outlet (9). The bottom outlet (10) of the glass melting pool (4) is connected to the purification tank (5). The purification tank (5) is provided with a third oxygen delivery gun (6), and the outlet of the purification tank (5) is connected to the inlet of the glass fiber drawing machine (7).

8. The method and apparatus for processing wind turbine blades into glass fiber using an oxygen-enriched furnace according to claim 7, characterized in that... The outlet of the second oxygen delivery gun (3) is located 30cm above the surface of the molten glass in the glass melting pool (4) to 300cm below the surface.

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