New material for longer, lighter wind turbine blades
I've mentioned before how wind turbine designs have been getting larger in an effort to increase efficiency. As such, turbine blades have been getting longer, some stretching into the sky hundreds of feet. Still they must keep sleek, light and resilient to wear and tear as they spin through the wind.
Hoping to assist the elongation of the blade is Owens Corning. They say their Ultrablade fabric treated with epoxy resin can help improve blade aerodynamics and strength, without sacrificing length.
According to the company (of Pink Panther insulation* fame), the material can increase blade length by 6 percent and stiffness by 20 percent. It could also allow blade thickness to decrease by 6 percent, total blade weight by 5 percent, and lessen the weight of its carbon-fiber spars by 18 percent. Added up, Owens Corning says turbine designers could take almost a metric ton of reinforcement and resin from a 2-megawatt turbine, when compared with similarly sized blades of standard E-glass.
Earth & Industry quotes Chris Skinner of Owens Corning's OCV Technical Fabrics:
Designers can use a combination of several improved properties in different areas of a blade. They can choose to increase blade length for any given weight while keeping the thrust constant and assuring sufficient tower clearance...
At lower wind speeds, weight-saving Ultrablade fabric solutions can help increase a blade’s aerodynamic lift, torque and energy output. The end-result will be higher annual energy production from optimised blade designs using high-performance fabrics.
The company plans to begin selling Ultrablade in January. Owens Corning will reportedly package and market their product in their signature pink color, even though by now we all know that wind turbine materials are apparently better off purple.
Related on SmartPlanet:
- The next big wind: made in the U.S.A?
- 3M kicks off first in-field study of wind turbine blade erosion
Image: Flickr_Cornelius Bartke
Via: Earth & Industry
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com