An article about REFRESH partner CIRCE’s research on microwave-assisted recycling technologies for wind turbine blades has been published by Windtech International, a magazine covering the latest technologies in the wind energy sector.

Recycling processes should allow the recovery of fibres without affecting their mechanical properties.

The article Microwave Technology for Blade Recycling was written by Alejandro Fresneda and Ignacio Julián of CIRCE. It highlights the anticipated growth in end-of-life wind turbines blades and the current challenges in recycling these blades, and discusses how CIRCE’s microwave-assisted heating technology offers the potential to develop viable thermochemical recycling processes.

This microwave technology is being developed and optimised in the framework of the REFRESH project, which is aiming to maximise the volume and quality of the recovered materials from wind blades. So far, the article states, compared with traditional thermochemical conversion routes, microwave irradiation has been shown to drastically decrease processing times and the selective and fast heating is deemed responsible for the superior quality of the recovered fibres.

CIRCE’s article Microwave Technology for Blade Recycling is available on the Windtech International website.

CIRCE’s role in REFRESH

In the REFRESH project CIRCE is developing alternative energy-efficient thermal and thermo-chemical processes based on microwave-assisted heating (MWH) technology for the recycling of glass fibres and valorisation of resins from wind blade composite waste.

Experimental MWH pyrolysis and solvolysis trials are being conducted at bench-scale MWH units using pre-shredded blade waste. Recycled fibres, pyrolysis oils, chemical building blocks and energy-efficiency of the MWH processes are being characterised to assess the techno-economic viability of the developed solutions. The recovered fibres will be sent to other partners in the consortium to study their integration in construction materials.