Strongwell Looking at Green Composite Materials

The demand for environmentally friendly materials is growing and will continue to grow. Strongwell, perhaps the world's largest pultruder, recently announced their Green Initiative. This is a fantastic move in the correct direction. Products made with composite materials are in fact environmentally friendly. Composites are inherently lightweight and non-corrosive, which is why they are used in wind blades, automotive, and aerospace.

The life cycle of composites needs to be closely analysed. For example, although a steel structure can be recycled at the end of life, the life span may be shorter, and thus, the overall environmental impact could be greater over time. This all needs to be measured on a analytical and straight forward level.

This being said, FRP composites must figure out a recycling solution. Yes composites are "recyclable", but no company is doing it on a large practical scale... Yet...

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Wind Turbine Blade Failure

I once heard a leading wind turbine expert say, "The most important advancement in wind energy was advanced breaking, and in particular, the air-brake." Breaking allows a turbine to operate in higher wind speeds; it also makes a wind turbine safer.

Here is recent news of a wind blade breaking at Europe's largest onshore wind farm. I would be interested to see what the culprit was...

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Wind Turbine Interference on Radar

Wind farm development has seen resistance from a variety of people/groups. Some environmentalists fear the safety of bats and birds caught in the path of the blades. Local residents of potential developments fear blocked views, noise, and even flickering of shadows.

Another concern, is the disruption wind turbines can have on radar. Here is a recent ABC News article discussing the Pentagon's concern that wind farms may disrupt radar systems, and could be a homeland security threat.

If wind turbines stood still, there would be no problem. Modern radar is programed to ignore stationary objects. However, with tip speeds over 200 mph, large wind turbines create a signature that can be reported on radar. Above is an image from the NOAA, the star represents a Doppler radar tower, and the circled area is the disruption from a local wind farm. Looks like a thunder storm is moving in right? According to the NOAA:

"The rotating turbines also impact the velocity base data as you can see from the below image.  This velocity data is used by radar operators and by a variety of algorithms in the radar's data processors to detect certain storm characteristics such as mesocyclones, tornado vortex signatures, and relative storm motion."

With the National Weather Service, there is a concern as a severe weather event such as a flash flood could roll through undetected as it is passed off as wind turbine interference. Here are a couple more interesting images.

Photo Credits: NOAA National Weather Forecast Office Buffalo, NY

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End of Life Solution for Plastics and Polymers

Above is a short documentary about a trip to the great pacific garbage patch, a three part series following a voyage to a collection of plastic larger then the state of Texas. The film should create serious questions for anyone involved in the composites, plastics, or polymer industries.

If one thinks about it, we come into contact with plastics constantly on a daily basis, from our toothbrush in the morning, to the synthetic bed we sleep on at night. This dependence is only going to continue. Even our electricity will be created from FRP wind blades and our cars will be manufactured from lightweight polymer composites.

Yet, the composites industry has no end solution for our products. Currently, traditional FRP products goto landfills or incinerators at the end of life. This is unacceptable, and more importantly, unsustainable. The composite industry as a whole needs to continue the search for better materials and further develop a realistic and functional solution for end of life solutions.

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Wind Turbine from Bee Wings - Biomimicry in Composites

A favorite topic on the composite material blog is the process of learning from nature to make better products and material, this is known as biomimicry. We've talked before about analyzing shellfish, spider silk, geckos and fish.

Above is a video from a start-up called Green Wavelength. They have designed a wind turbine based upon the wings of bees. Quite an interesting concept, and it would be interesting to see details on the performance and mechanics. I am guessing the "wings" are being constructed with composite materials.

Stealth Wind Turbines - Using Composite Materials

As wind energy becomes more popular, the negatives of the massive installations needs to be addressed. Noise, bird/bat deaths, and unsightliness are common issues with large turbines. Another concern not commonly addressed is the interference with radar systems.

The fast moving composite blades can reflect radar and can appear and cause confusion with military and civilian radar. This could potentially cause serious problems in the future.

A recent article from Technology Review discusses how the wind industry is addressing these concerns. A new coating is being used on the towers to absorb radio frequencies, and playing with new combination of composite materials and plastics in the skin is allowing for radar absorption as well.

Biomimicry of Composite Materials

Biomimicry is known as "the process of understanding and applying biological principles to human designs". It is a method of understanding why something works so well in nature, and then applying the reasoning to something man made.

Here is an example, researchers are trying to develop a robot to climb walls, instead of reinventing the wheel, researchers will study a gecko, to learn how it is able to climb walls so well, and then try to copy those features. (Geckos have a hard time filing patents)

Above is a video describing this exact example.

In composite structures and composite materials, there is much researchers and scientists could learn by first looking at nature. US News reports here:

To help wind turbines advance further, scientists are looking into morphing blades, which can rapidly change their aerodynamic profile to best suit the prevailing wind conditions.

"The idea was born from a simple observation of a fish in an aquarium," said researcher Asfaw Beyene, a mechanical engineer at San Diego State University. "Many flying and swimming animals have superior efficiencies than manmade devices. The primary difference between natural motion and motion of manmade devices is lack of geometric adaptability to varying flow conditions."

In another current study, which can be read here, researchers are trying to determine how a naturally occurring composite, teeth, can be so well adjusted to high impact and abrasion. They hope that what they discover will lead to better composite materials for aircraft and automotive components.

What other composite products or composite materials could benefit from biomimicry?

Offshore Wind Farms Should Probably Use Composites

The list of benefits for offshore wind farms is growing. The more consistent wind, and open space is a lure for energy developers. However, the cost to install turbines out at sea needs to be lower in order to speed up the adaption and development.

Current offshore wind turbines are located in areas where the ocean depth is relatively shallow, such that the towers can be affixed to the sea floor. With such turbines, the tower foundation size, weight, and complexity, will be directly proportional to the weight of the tower, turbine, and blades. The heavier the tower, turbine, and blades are, the larger and more expensive a foundation is needed. This is where composites could be used.

Besides the obvious benefit of corrosion resistance, composites could play a major role in offshore towers and structures to help minimize weight. Doing so could dramatically lower the install cost and change the overall economics of the turbines...

On another note, recently a floating offshore turbine has been deployed, more information here.

Photo Credit: phault via Flicker

Big Money Behind Composite Material Research

GE recently announced that they are creating a 5 million Euro carbon composite material research center at Technical University of Munich. With this type of global dedication to composite material research, GE will no doubt stay on the leading edge of new processes and materials that can be applied to wind, aerospace, and the oil & gas industry. Above is a video discussing composite fan blades manufactured by GE.

Read the press release here

AWEA Show Comming Up

One of the fastest growing aspects of the composites industry is wind energy. The majority of wind blades, especally MW scale blades, are manufactured using the resin infusion process. This process is not new, in fact it is very similar to what is used in boat building. However, a wind blade is not a boat, it is a aerospace wing that receives a tremendous deal of stress.

Some composite blade manufacturers have already run into problems, but I believe there will be more issues in years to come. Aerospace manufacturing techniques will be mandatory for the necessary life spans of the blades.

At the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) conference coming up next week in Chicago, IL, I am sure there will be announcements of new manufacturing techniques.

Below is a video of the steps involved in the resin infusion process. Instead of the mold being a boat, picture a wind blade.