Dead wind turbine blades find new life in China’s crack-free roads – Interesting Engineering

Wind turbine blades are particularly tricky to recycle given their constituent mix. Chinese innovation overcomes this hurdle quite well. 2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago3 days ago3 days ago3 days ago5 hours ago8 hours ago9 hours ago9 hours ago11 hours ago14 hours ago14 hours ago15 hours ago15 hours ago15 hours agoAmeya PalejaAerial view of wind turbine blades at a junkyard.iStockA novel approach developed by researchers at the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics in China could radically change how retired wind turbines are viewed, switching them from waste that must be disposed of to a crucial component in another product. This could help push the clean energy agenda aimed at a greener future, a Chinese media report said. Wind turbines have been extensively deployed to meet clean energy demand all over the globe. Interesting Engineering has previously reported how China-based equipment manufacturers are building bigger and better wind turbines that can harvest large amounts of energy in a single sweep. The industry has strong roots in the extensive deployment of wind turbines in China over the years. Designed to last 20-25 years, many of these turbines are now set to retire, raising questions about their disposal. Under the aegis of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a research team led by Tang Zhicheng at the Lanzhou Institute found a way to turn the retired wind turbines into a valuable resource for the construction industry. Wind turbine components such as gearboxes, hubs, and towers are made from metal and can be recycled as scrap at the end of the product life cycle. However, recycling the large blades is not that straightforward. Designed to be lightweight to ensure high energy conversion, these blades are made from glass fiber, carbon fiber, and epoxy resin. While these deliver the necessary strength and lightweightness during operation, they also present a challenge when it comes to recycling them. Currently, no scalable or cost-effective approaches to recycling them exist. China will get large numbers of these turbines shortly before the rest of the world. To overcome this challenge, Teng’s team decided to transfer the high strength and corrosion resistance properties in the turbine blades onto urban constructions. Using a mix of physical crushing and chemical treatments, the team successfully incorporated the turbine blade components into cement and asphalt mixtures.The modified mixtures were then trialed at a small section of the Qingfu Highway in Lanzhou in Gansu province in Northwest China in September 2024. This was achieved in collaboration with a local construction company, which has confirmed that the built pavement showed promising results even after over five months of construction. According to the report, the section has not shown any cracks or material detachment even after five months of usage, proving that the material can be used in such applications. The researchers are now working to demonstrate their technology on larger-scale projects and have teamed up with private industry and research organizations to take this further. In the long run, they intend to develop a scalable and reliable method to deal with wind turbines that reach the end of their life cycle. Teng is confident that in the future, the technology could be used to repurpose aging wind turbines into more valuable resources for other industries, too. In addition to boosting the clean energy industry, the approach will help China accelerate towards its net-zero goals. Ameya Paleja Ameya is a science writer based in Hyderabad, India. A Molecular Biologist at heart, he traded the micropipette to write about science during the pandemic and does not want to go back. He likes to write about genetics, microbes, technology, and public policy.Stay up-to-date on engineering, tech, space, and science news with The Blueprint.By clicking sign up, you confirm that you accept this site’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy19 hours agoa day agoa day agoa day agoPremiumIE PROFollow

Source: https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/china-retired-wind-turbines-to-roads