Resin Degassing With Pressure-Drop Bubble Formation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current degassing systems for resins used in fibre-reinforced composite materials, such as those for wind turbine blades, are inefficient in removing dissolved gases and water, leading to reduced mechanical properties and increased manufacturing time due to the need for additional post-infusion processes.
Innovation Solution
A degassing system and process involving a pressure drop of at least 1.5 bar across a flow control valve, combined with a resin pump and a gas evacuation system maintaining a pressure below 100 mbar, creates large bubbles and enhances diffusion of smaller gas pockets and molecules, achieving high-efficiency degassing without additional gas addition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If vacuum degassing is used to remove dissolved gases, then gas content is reduced, but manufacturing time increases due to the need for post-infusion processes
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs degassing during the resin infusion process itself rather than as a separate post-infusion step. By maintaining vacuum conditions and applying pressure drop across the flow control valve during infusion, gases are removed preliminarily, eliminating the need for additional post-infusion degassing operations and reducing total manufacturing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention combines the resin infusion process with the degassing process into a single integrated operation. The flow control valve is positioned in the infusion path, and vacuum is applied simultaneously, merging what were previously separate sequential operations into one concurrent process that achieves both resin impregnation and gas removal.
2Productivity
If pressure drop is applied across flow control valve to create bubbles, then gas removal efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flow control valve serves multiple functions simultaneously: it regulates resin flow rate, creates the necessary pressure drop to generate bubbles for gas removal, and can be positioned to optimize both infusion efficiency and degassing effectiveness. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the resin flow itself to generate the bubbles that facilitate gas removal. The pressure drop across the flow control valve utilizes the incoming resin flow to create cavitation and bubbles, which then serve as vehicles for gas removal without requiring external gas injection or additional mechanical intervention.
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 system effectively removes gases and water from resins, improving mechanical properties and reducing manufacturing time by enabling inline degassing, thus enhancing the production of large composite parts like wind turbine blades.
Implementation Method 1
pumping liquid resin into the first duct via the resin inlet using the resin pump to achieve a first absolute pressure of at least 1.6 bar in the first duct
Implementation Method 2
configured or configurable to provide a pressure drop of at least 1.5 bar across the flow control valve
Implementation Method 3
The high absolute pressure on the input side of the flow control valve assists in creating relatively large bubbles in the liquid resin following the flow control valve
Implementation Method 4
a gas evacuation system operable to reduce an absolute pressure in the resin storage tank to below 100 mbar
Implementation Method 5
the pressure drop acts as a catalyst for diffusion of smaller gas pockets, and even individual gas molecules, out of the resin and into the larger bubbles
Implementation Method 6
the pressure drop acts as a catalyst for diffusion of smaller gas pockets, and even individual gas molecules, out of the resin and into the larger bubbles
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are processes and systems for degassing liquid resin. Resin is provided at a resin inlet and pumped into a first duct using a resin pump to achieve a first absolute pressure of at least 1.6 bar in the first duct; the resin pump and/or a flow control valve are configured to achieve a first pressure drop across the flow control valve of at least 1.5 bar; a second duct communicates the resin from the flow control valve to a storage tank; a gas evacuation system maintains a pressure in the storage tank below 100 mbar at least partly concurrently with pumping resin into the first duct.