In the transition to more sustainable energy production wind power plays an important role. Wind turbines have a typical lifetime of 20 to 30 years and about 85% to 90% of the turbines are today reused or recycles. However, wind turbine blades made of composites are difficult to recycle and today most often end up as landfill. By year 2050, composite materials from wind turbines is estimated to constitute 43 million tons worldwide, where Europe is expected to generate 25% and China 40% of the waste. The DecomBlades project aims to enable fully sustainable wind power and to support the development of Danish industries to become leaders in recycling polymer composites and wind turbine blades.
Within this study the focus is on the following five key objectives:
• Specifications of blades to ensure the availability of relevant WTB information.
• Logistics: To define cost-effective transport solutions for WTB waste.
• Cement kiln: To establish and demonstrate a procedure to integrate WTBs in cement plant operation.
• Pyrolysis: To upgrade the pyrolysis process to effectively treat composite waste.
• Mechanical shredding: To process WTBs and deliver materials for cement kiln and pyrolysis according to requirements.
The DecomBlades project is founded by Innovation Fond Denmark and is made in collaboration between 10 different industrial partners and University partners. University of Southern Denmark will assess and document the processes.