"GE produces world's largest recyclable wind turbine blade" (2022) https://newatlas.com/energy/ge-worlds-largest-recyclable-win...
> The 62-meter (203-ft) prototype blade is made with Elium resin from materials company Arkema, which is a glass-fiber reinforced thermoplastic. Not only is the material 100 percent recyclable, it is said to deliver a similar level of performance to thermoset resins that are favored for their lightweight and durability.
> Through a chemical recycling method, the material can be depolymerized and turned into a new resin for re-use, acting as a proof-of-concept for a circular economy loop for the wind energy sector. Before that happens, in the coming weeks LM Wind Power will start full-scale structural testing to verify the blade's performance
And for blades that aren’t recycled, they can be shredded into insulation pellets or feedstock for cement.
Why doesn't that work with existing thermosets?
Could these be feedstock for something like these formed LEGO-style hempcrete blocks with structure that are stronger and more insulating than structural concrete? https://youtu.be/eqLXXjvQXgI
Traditional composites are difficult to recycle because of several reasons: - the thermoset polymer matrix cannot be melted or separated from the fiber in any reasonable way - the thermoset resin cannot be reformed or reshaped into a useful shape or material - graphite fiber composites in particular are very, very hard on cutting tools and are difficult to chop up (not sure about glass fiber composites, but on bulk they have similar strength characteristics to some aluminums)
These properties are difficult to separate from composites because we want composite parts to survive the elements, often high temperatures, and be robust and reliable with little fatigue
What about waterjet?
Or e.g. SYLOS laser for transmutation?
Or replicating nanomachines?
Or a vat of something like the stuff that eats plastic and everything else in the ocean if it gets out?
Probably just orders of magnitude cheaper to just bury it somewhere
https://www.quora.com/How-many-wind-turbines-could-fit-in-1-... :
> The density of wind turbines per unit of land area depends on many factors. Wind farms containing very large (1.5–2 megaWatt) turbines may have only one for every 25–50 acres. Smaller turbines can be more closely spaced.
> At either rate, the overall harvestable wind energy per unit of land at fully rated conditions (approx. 12 meters/sec wind speed), is generally in the range of 50 to 100 kW per acre.
harvestable_wind_energy = 50-100 kW/acre
average_rotor_diameter: 120m (393ft)
blade_length = 1/2 * average_rotor_diameter = 60m (197m)
Acre = 43560 ft**2
blade_depth__on_end =
spacing_vertical =
spacing_horizontal =
Sphere packing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphere_packing
Wind_turbine_design#Blade_recycling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_turbine_design#Blade_recy...
The https://numpy.org/ pyolite (WASM) IPython demo has SymPy installed in the env but not Pint?