RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Mechanical and environmental advantages of the revaluation of raw-crushed wind-turbine blades as a concrete component
A1 Revilla Cuesta, Víctor
A1 Manso Morato, Javier
A1 Hurtado Alonso, Nerea
A1 Skaf Revenga, Marta
A1 Ortega López, Vanesa
K1 Concrete
K1 Raw-crushed wind-turbine blade (RCWTB)
K1 Glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP)
K1 Mechanical properties
K1 Carbon footprint
K1 Waste consumption
K1 Ingeniería civil
K1 Civil engineering
K1 Materiales de construcción
K1 Building materials
AB The large number of wind farms that will have to be dismantled in coming years is prompting asearch for reliable wind-turbine-blade recycling methods, but there is not yet a broad consensuson the most appropriate. Jointly crushing all the blade components produces a material that isreferred to as Raw-Crushed Wind-Turbine Blade (RCWTB), formed by fibers from the crushing ofGlass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) composite, and spherical balsa-wood and polyurethaneparticles. The incorporation of this inexpensive and easy-to-produce material in concrete couldhelp to solve the problem of blades recycling, but this approach has not been extensively evaluated in the literature. In the present study, the overall addition of RCWTB up to 6 % by volumein concrete was analyzed in terms of mechanical performance and carbon footprint. The resultsshowed that the incorporation of RCWTB might be beneficial for both the mechanical behavior ofconcrete and its sustainability rating. RCWTB at 1.5 % improved compressive strength in aconventional concrete design, yielding values above 50 MPa at 28 days. Furthermore, this contentreduced the carbon footprint per unit of compressive strength by 0.12 kgCO2eq/(MPa⋅m3).Similarly, 6.0 % RCWTB improved flexural strength, reaching values higher than 6 MPa, andreducing the carbon footprint per unit of flexural strength by 7.5 %. The waste had no significantnegative effect on the temporal development of the mechanical performance of concrete.Furthermore, if all the wind-turbine blades annually dismantled in Spain, the world’s fifth largestwind-energy producer, were crushed and converted into RCWTB, it could all be recycled at ratesof 0.6–2.2 % within the total annual volume of commercial concrete produced in Spain. Thesefigures show that RCWTB production is a feasible solution for recycling decommissioned windturbine blades, as it can be successfully used for manufacturing sustainable concretes with suitable mechanical and environmental performance levels.
PB Elsevier
SN 2352-7102
YR 2024
FD 2024-04
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10259/8346
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10259/8346
LA eng
NO This research work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Universities, MICINN, AEI, EU, ERDF and NextGenerationEU/PRTR [grant numbers PID2020-113837RB-I00; 10.13039/501100011033; TED2021-129715 B–I00; FPU21/04364]; the Junta de Castilla y León (Regional Government) and ERDF [grant number UIC-231; BU033P23; BU066-22]; and, finally, the University of Burgos [grant number SUCONS, Y135. GI].
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Burgos
RD 22-nov-2024