Acidic Degradation of Wind Turbine Blade Composites
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Solution Overview
Problem
The recycling of wind turbine blades made of fiberglass is challenging due to the material's inability to be easily crushed and reprocessed, leading to accumulation in landfills and a need for innovative processing methods.
Innovation Solution
A recycling processing method involving the use of an acidic degradation solution to immerse waste fiberglass or carbon fiber composite materials, causing them to swell and separate into degradable glass fiber cloth, with a resin degreasing rate of 99.6% and no surface residual glue.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If fiberglass composite material is used for wind turbine blades to withstand hurricane threats, then blade strength and durability are improved, but the material cannot be easily crushed and reprocessed, leading to recycling difficulties and landfill accumulation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the resin component from the fiberglass composite material through chemical degradation using acidic solutions. This separates the binding agent (resin) from the reinforcing material (fiberglass), allowing the fibers to be recovered and reused while the resin can be processed separately, thus solving the recycling difficulty of the composite material.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical parameters of the degradation solution (acid concentration, temperature, additives) to optimize the degradation process. By adjusting these parameters, the resin is effectively broken down while preserving the fiberglass structure, enabling efficient separation and recycling of the composite material components.
2Ease of operation
If wind turbine blades are cut into pieces for dismantling, then transportation feasibility is improved, but the blades still cannot be effectively recycled and must be piled in landfills
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the discarding and recovering principle by chemically degrading the resin matrix that binds the fiberglass. This allows the fiberglass fibers to be recovered in high purity form after the resin is broken down and removed, transforming what would be waste material into reusable resources and preventing landfill accumulation.
3Device complexity
If traditional recycling methods are used for composite materials, then processing simplicity is maintained, but recycling efficiency is low and transportation costs are high due to inability to process on-site
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses an acidic degradation solution as an intermediary substance to facilitate the separation of resin from fiberglass. This chemical intermediary enables effective decomposition of the resin matrix, allowing on-site processing and high-efficiency recovery of fiberglass without requiring complex mechanical processing equipment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method effectively recycles resin and fiberglass or carbon fibers from composite materials, achieving high efficiency and on-site processing while reducing transportation costs and landfill accumulation.
Implementation Method 1
immersing the waste material comprising composite material of fiberglass or carbon fiber in the acidic degradation solution, effectively causing the composite waste material to swell and separate
Implementation Method 2
uses a fractionation by distillation method to reclaim the degradation solution, which can then be reused
Data Source
AI summary
A recycling processing method for wind turbine blades, which uses an acidic degradation solution for recycling waste material from wind turbine blades, mainly using a hardware design that involves immersing waste material comprising composite material of fiberglass or carbon fiber in the acidic degradation solution, effectively causing the composite waste material to swell and separate to form degradable glass fiber cloth, which is finally cleaned and dried to achieve a glass fiber cloth with no surface residual glue and a resin degreasing rate of 99.6%. Accordingly, effectively achieving recyclables by carrying out a degradation process at normal temperature to save hardware costs, and enabling reclaiming the degradation solution using fractionation by distillation, which can then be reused. Hence, the recycling processing method has the advantages of involving a simple manufacturing process, high efficiency, and the ability to process waste materials on-site, without bearing the high cost of transportation.