New Carbon Fibre for Wind Turbine Blades Could Bring Cost and Performance Benefits
A new carbon fibre material could bring cost and performance benefits to the wind industry if developed commercially, according to a study led by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories.
Wind blades containing carbon fibre weigh 25% less than ones made from traditional fibreglass materials. That means carbon fibre blades could be longer than fibreglass ones and, therefore, capture more energy in locations with low wind. A switch to carbon fibre could also extend blade lifetime because carbon fibre materials have a high fatigue resistance, said Brandon Ennis, a wind energy researcher at Sandia Labs and the principal investigator for the project.
The project is funded by DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Partners on the project include Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Montana State University.
Of all the companies producing wind turbines, only one uses carbon fibre materials extensively in their blade designs. Wind turbine blades are the largest single-piece composite structures in the world, and the wind industry could represent the largest market for carbon fibre materials by weight if a material that competed on a cost-value basis to fibreglass reinforced composites was commercially available, said Ennis.
Cost is the main consideration during component design in the wind industry, yet turbine manufacturers also have to build blades that withstand the compressive and fatigue loads that blade experience as they rotate for up to 30 years.
Ennis and his colleagues wondered if a novel low-cost carbon fibre developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could meet performance needs while also bringing cost benefits for the wind industry. This material starts with a widely available precursor from the textile industry that contains thick bundles of acrylic fibres. The manufacturing process, which heats the fibres to convert them to carbon, is followed by an intermediate step that pulls the carbon fibre into planks. The plank-making pultrusion process creates carbon fibre with high performance and reliability needed for blade manufacturing and also allows for high production capacity.
When the research team studied this low-cost carbon fibre, they discovered it performed better than current commercial materials in terms of cost-specific properties of most interest to the wind industry.
ORNL provided developmental samples of carbon fibre from its Carbon Fiber Technology Facility and composites made from this material as well as similar composites made from commercially available carbon fibre for comparison.
Colleagues at Montana State University measured the mechanical properties of the novel carbon fibre versus commercially available carbon fibre and standard fibreglass composites. Then Ennis combined these measurements with cost modelling results from ORNL. He used those data in a blade design analysis to assess the system impact of using the novel carbon fibre, instead of standard carbon fibre or fibreglass, as the main structural support in a wind blade. The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Wind Energy Technologies Office.
Ennis and his colleagues found that the new carbon fibre material had 56% more compressive strength per dollar than commercially available carbon fibre, which is the industry baseline. Typically, manufacturers accommodate a lower compressive strength by using more material to make a component, which then increases costs. Considering the higher compressive strength per cost of the novel carbon fibre, Ennis’ calculations predicted about a 40% savings in material costs for a spar cap, which is the main structural component of a wind turbine blade, made from the new carbon fibre compared to commercial carbon fibre.
Analysis of the current development status, competitive landscape and future development trends of the carbon fiber industry: Global demand has exceeded 300,000 tons, with China’s production capacity accounting for over 40%
Carbon fiber, as one of the most strategically significant new materials in the 21st century, is now embracing unprecedented development opportunities. This article will comprehensively analyze the current development status, competitive landscape and future trends of the carbon fiber industry, from the changes in global market supply and demand to the rise path of Chinese enterprises, from the direction of technological breakthroughs to the explosive growth of downstream application fields, presenting readers with a complete industrial panorama. This article will focus on interpreting the latest progress of carbon fiber in core application fields such as aerospace, new energy vehicles, and wind turbine blades, analyze the competitive strategies and technical route choices of domestic and foreign enterprises, and based on the latest policy environment and market demand, look forward to the key trends and potential opportunities of the industry’s development in the next five years.
The United Arab Emirates has introduced a wind turbine generator composed of 1,203 carbon fiber resin rods
To ensure clean energy power generation projects, Masdar City in ABU Dhabi has introduced the concept of “Windstalk”.
For more information about the Windstalk project
Windstalk is a concept of a generator fully driven by wind power and also a public space. This project took into account the hint of wind direction. To be precise, Masdar’s Windstalk project consists of 1,203 wind poles, which are anchored at a height of 55 meters above the ground. The diameter of its concrete base is between 10 and 20 meters.
The visible stems are made of carbon fiber reinforced resin rods, with a bottom diameter of 30 centimeters and a top diameter of 5 centimeters. The top of the pole is equipped with an LED light, which can adjust the brightness according to the wind force. When there is no wind, the pole remains stationary and the lights will dim.
Shanghai has pioneered 60K large-filament carbon fiber, filling the domestic industrial gap
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