Source | Siemens Gamesa
DecomBlades was a project that ran from 2021-2023 aiming to provide a basis for commercialized recycling of wind turbine blades. More specifically, its vision was to (1) establish functional value chains to handle end-of-life (EOL) blades from decommissioning to their reprocessing/recycling into second-life applications, as well as (2) upscale results achieved from the project with an international specification — the so-called Blade Material Passport — to make it easier for recycling partners to recycle the blade material.
Under DecomBlades, industry partners, research institutes, composites manufacturers and subcontractors joined forces:
- Siemens Gamesa applied its knowledge about blade structure and design
- Vestas contributed a broad spectrum of knowledge on the expected lifetime of a blade, its production volume and on assessing the potential of recyclability
- LM Wind Power led the work to establish product dispoal specifications, supporting new business models for blade recycling solutions
- Ørsted contributed its knowledge as an owner and developer of offshore wind farms
- HJHansen Recycling led work regarding the common prerequisite for preprocessing (cutting of blades), transportation to recycling facilities, and solutions on shredding and sorting of the blade materials
- Makeen Energy’s role consisted of designing and building the pilot pyrolysis facility to recover and reuse blade materials
- FLSmidth investigated the possibilities of using shredded blade material and ashes from the pyrolysis process in the cement production process
- The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) conducted environmental and economic performance assessments of the different supply chains to apply a hybrid assessment frame based on value chain analysis, life cycle assessment (LCA), material flow analysis and multi-criteria decision support
- The Technical University of Denmark (DTU) contributed within the fields of material characterization, engineering, assessment of material properties of reused glass fibers, surface properties and investigated the possibilities of increasing the quality and value of fibers obtained from pyrolysis.
Also involved were Energy Cluster Denmark, Energy Systems and fiberglass manufacturer 3B-Fibreglass.
“DecomBlades consortium releases specifications for disposal of composite wind blades”
As part of DecomBlade’s efforts, partners focused on three recycling process tracks that were considered the most technologically mature, to form the basis for commercializing recycling technologies: mechanical shredding, cement co-processing and pyrolysis. Blade manufacturers within the project provided materials to the recycling partners to be processed and used in these tests, and university teams working closely with all partners to capture data as inputs to the analyses of the materials, processes, and value chains.
The project timeline ran as follows:
- 2021: Blade material was shredded and delivered to partners for cement co-processing and pyrolysis tests.
- 2022: Shredded blade samples and pyrolysis output products in cement production were tested; a pilot pyrolysis facility was commissioned.
- 2023: Blade pre-processing requirements and transportation costs were analyzed for multiple scenarios; systems were established to provide access to product disposal specifications; LCA, technoeconomic assessment and material flow analysis were conducted for blade recycling methods (including CO2 footprint, working environment and environment assessments).
- 2023 and beyond: Shredder and commercial pyrolysis facility designs were developed; a business plan was developed for cement co-processing; products and market potential for blade granulates, cement co-processing and pyrolysis were assessed.
Source | DecomBlades project
In October 2023, using the large-scale pyrolysis test plant developed by Makeen Energy, the DecomBlades consortium was able to extract and process the principal component — glass fiber — from a retired 37-meter wind blade to such a high quality that the material can be melted and used in the production of new wind turbine blades.
“At first attempt, we have succeeded in recovering and processing glass fiber that is suitable for inclusion in the raw material mix on a par with virgin material in the extremely sensitive glass fiber production process. We have achieved this important milestone not at laboratory scale, but at an industrial level. The process has real commercial prospects,” says Irene Bach Velling Villadsen, project manager at Makeen Energy.
As one of the project’s partners, Siemens Gamesa says it received 40 tons of this high-performing fiber and is now reusing it to produce new 115-meter-long turbine blades for Ørsted’s Greater Changhua 2b and 4 project.
“Blade recyclability has in many ways been a Gordian Knot in the past, but we have really made good strides in untying this knot,” says Jonas Pagh Jensen, head of sustainability value chain engagement, Siemens Gamesa. “With our RecyclableBlade we have brought a technology to market that ensures easy separation of the materials. Now, we are proving that the glass fibers can be turned into new and even better glass fibers. And remember, glass is typically more than 50% of a blade mass.”
“We want to be a technology enabler for a sustainable energy transition, so we simply needed to drive this project full-circle,” adds David Vindel Romero, senior sustainability specialist, Siemens Gamesa. “We ran an extensive quality control process of the rovings, had them made into specified fabrics needed for our 115-meter-long offshore blades and used them to produce new blades.”
Ida Krabek, head of global sustainability at Ørsted, notes that next steps are to explore if and how it can scale this innovation from a pilot project to a more proven and cost-efficient value chain solution.
Lu public network security: 37140202000173
