REFRESH partner CIRCE’s article Potentials and limitations of microwave-assisted chemical recycling of fiber-reinforced composites from wind blades has been published in the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) journal Sustainable Energy & Fuels.

This perspective article discusses:

  • the challenge of recycling wind turbine blades;
  • the main technologies for recycling composite materials from wind blades;
  • developments in chemical recycling of composites;
  • microwave-assisted heating as a means of enhancing chemical recycling processes for wind blade composites.

The article was written by A. Fresneda-Cruz, C. Chaine, M. B. Figueirêdo, G. Murillo-Ciordia, A. Sanz-Martinez, and I. Julian. It is available to download on the Sustainable Energy & Fuels website (DOI: 10.1039/D4SE00242C).

REFRESH wind blade recycling project

The REFRESH concept encompasses several technologies for managing end-of-use wind blades: repurposing, mechanical recycling, and thermo-chemical recycling.

As part of the project, CIRCE is assessing the integration of microwave-assisted heating to pyrolysis and solvolysis routes for recycling composite blade waste.

Experimental pyrolysis and solvolysis trials will be conducted at bench-scale units using pre-shredded blade waste. The recycled fibres, pyrolysis oils, chemical building blocks and energy-efficiency of the microwave-assisted processes will be characterised to assess the techno-economic viability of the solution. The recovered fibres will be sent to other partners in the consortium for integration in new products.

Read more in the article Meet the partners: CIRCE.