Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Impact of Wood Fibers in Composite Panels Made from Recycled Fiberglass Wind Turbine Blades

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Waste and Biomass Valorization Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The utilization of wind power has increased almost exponentially during the last decade, leading to the growth in both the number and size of wind turbines. Modern turbine blades are typically made of fiberglass sandwiched around a balsa wood (BW) core. With an increase in the use of wind energy a collateral issue of what to do with the large and voluminous wind turbine blades (WTB) that reached end-of-life has arisen. Through previous research, we developed a recycling process that will keep these turbine blades out of the landfill by considering recycled wind turbine blades as a feedstock for second generation composite panels. The objective of this research is to further the research by understanding the effect that different compositions of wood and fiberglass have on the properties of these panels. Through testing, it was found that the addition of balsa wood increases the modulus of rupture (MOR) and the modulus of elasticity (MOE). The internal bonding (IB) strength values are well above that of typical particle board. All panels tested were visibly more resistant to water sorption than typical particle board. The thermal conductivity for all samples was within the typical range for particleboard. Fire test result indicates that the addition of balsa wood increases the heat and visible smoke release rate of composites.

Graphical Abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

Data will be available upon request.

References

  1. Beauson, J., Madsen, B.: Recycling of shredded composites from wind turbine blades in new thermoset polymer composites. Compos. A. 90, 390–399 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Albers, H., Greiner, S., Seifert, H., et al.: Recycling of wind turbine rotor blades - fact or fiction? Dewi Magazine. 34, 32–41 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Larsen, K.: Recycling wind turbine blades. Renew. Energy Focus. 9(7), 70–73 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Mamanpush, S.H., et al.: Recycled wind turbine blades as a feedstock for second generation composites. Waste Manage. 76, 708–714 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Dylan, S., et al.: Recycling glass fiber thermoplastic composites from wind turbine blades. J. Clean. Prod. 209, 1252–1263 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Krzysztof, L., et al.: Recycled glass fibers from wind turbines as a filler for poly (Vinyl Chloride). Advances in Polymer Technology (2019). https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/8960503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Mamanpush, S.H., et al.: Dataset demonstrating physical properties of recycled wind turbine blade composites. Data Brief 20, 658–661 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Mamanpush, S.H., et al.: Data on the mechanical properties of recycled wind turbine blade composites. Data Brief 19, 230–235 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Mamanpush, S.H., et al.: Extruded fiber-reinforced composites manufactured from recycled wind turbine blade material. Waste Biomass Valor. (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-019-00659-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Mamanpush, S.H., et al.: Experimental data on the mechanical and thermal properties of extruded composites from recycled wind turbine blade material. Data Brief 25, 104253 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Mamanpush, S.H., et al.: Physical properties data of extruded composites from recycled wind turbine blade material. Data Brief (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2019.104030

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. ASTM E1225-04:, Standard test method for thermal conductivity of solids by means of the guarded comparative longitudinal heat flow technique. (2010). https://doi.org/10.1520/E1225-04

  13. ASTM E1354–17:. Standard test method for heat and visible smoke release rates for materials andproducts using an oxygen consumption calorimeter. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1520/E1354-22B

  14. Wood as an engineering material:. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-190. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. 508 p

  15. Pan, Z., et al.: Physical properties of thin particleboard made from saline eucalyptus. Ind. Crops Prod. 26, 185–194 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. R. H. White., K. S. Pala.: Cone calorimeter tests of wood composites. In: Forest service forest products laboratory. American Wood Council, USA (2013)

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully appreciate the financial support by Global Fiberglass Solutions Inc. Seattle WA.

Funding

The authors have not disclosed any funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Composite Materials and Engineering Center, Washington State University, 99163, Pullman, WA, USA

    Seyed Hossein Mamanpush, Hui Li & Karl Englund

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH, USA

    Bahareh Tavousi Tabatabaei

Authors
  1. Seyed Hossein Mamanpush
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hui Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bahareh Tavousi Tabatabaei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Karl Englund
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seyed Hossein Mamanpush.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mamanpush, S.H., Li, H., Tabatabaei, B.T. et al. The Impact of Wood Fibers in Composite Panels Made from Recycled Fiberglass Wind Turbine Blades. Waste Biomass Valor 14, 2957–2964 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-023-02038-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-023-02038-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation