posted on 2022-01-04, 16:33authored byVenkata
K.K. Upadhyayula, Venkataramana Gadhamshetty, Dimitris Athanassiadis, Mats Tysklind, Fanran Meng, Qing Pan, Jonathan M. Cullen, Dalia M.M. Yacout
Polymers
reinforced with virgin carbon fibers (VCF) are being used
to make spar caps of wind turbine (WT) blades and polymers with glass
fibers (GF) to make skins of the blade components. Here, we assess
the life cycle environmental performance of the hybrid blades with
spar caps based on VCF and the shells and shear webs based on RCF
(recycled CF) composites (RCF-hybrid). The production of the WT blades
and associated reinforced polymers is assumed to occur in Sweden,
with their uses and end-of-life management in the European region.
The functional unit is equivalent to three blades in an offshore WT
with the market incumbent blades solely based on the GF composite
or the hybrid option. The RCF-hybrid blades offer 12–89% better
environmental performance in nine out of 10 impact categories and
6–26% better in six out of 10 impact categories. The RCF-hybrid
blades exhibit optimum environmental performance when the VCF manufacturing
facilities are equipped with pollution abatement systems including
regenerative thermal oxidizers to reduce ammonia and hydrogen cyanide
emissions; spar caps are made using VCF epoxy composites through pultrusion
and resin infusion molding, and the blade scrap is mechanically recycled
at the end of life. The energy and carbon payback times for the RCF-hybrid
blades were found to be 5–13% lower than those of the market
incumbents.