Waste Management 76 (2018) 708–714

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Waste Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman

Recycled wind turbine blades as a feedstock for second generation

composites
Seyed Hossein Mamanpush ⇑, Hui Li, Karl Englund, Azadeh Tavousi Tabatabaei
Composite Materials and Engineering Center, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: With an increase in renewable wind energy via turbines, an underlying problem of the turbine blade dis-
Received 28 September 2017 posal is looming in many areas of the world. These wind turbine blades are predominately a mixture of
Revised 19 February 2018 glass fiber composites (GFCs) and wood and currently have not found an economically viable recycling
Accepted 24 February 2018
pathway. This work investigates a series of second generation composites fabricated using recycled wind
Available online 2 March 2018
turbine material and a polyurethane adhesive. The recycled material was first comminuted via a
hammer-mill through a range of varying screen sizes, resinated and compressed to a final thickness.
Keywords:
The refined particle size, moisture content and resin content were assessed for their influence on the
Recycling
Wind turbine blade
properties of recycled composites. Static bending, internal bond and water sorption properties were
Polymer-matrix composite obtained for all composites panels. Overall improvement of mechanical properties correlated with
Glass fiber increase in resin content, moisture content, and particle size. The current investigation demonstrates that
it is feasible and promising to recycle the wind turbine blade to fabricate value-added high-performance
composite.
Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The demand for wind and other forms of clean energy is
increasing in the US and throughout the world. Wind energy is also
expected to provide 14.9% of the global electricity demand by 2020
(Liu and Barlow, 2017). Under this scenario, a significant amount of
wind turbine blades will continue to burden our current landfills
until a viable recycling strategy is found. Repurposing or recycling
of end-of-use wind turbine blade material will provide both eco-
nomic and environmental attributes.
While some components of the wind turbine are recyclable
(such as the metal parts in the tower and gearbox) (Martínez
et al., 2009; Schleisner, 2000), recycling the blades has been diffi-
cult due primarily to the thermoset binder used in the synthetic
fiber (primary glass) composite (The Europen Commission for the
Environment, 2016). In most WTBs, approximately two-thirds of
the total weight of the blade is made of GFC (Papadakis et al.,
2010). Most GFC-based WTBs have a predicted life expectancy of
20 to 25 years (Beauson et al., 2016). Estimations predict that the
amount of end-of-life WTB materials will account for 100,000 tons
per year in Europe in 2030 (Larsen, 2009; Marsh, 2017).
Furthermore, reusing the blades is not recommended due to design
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: s.mamanpush@wsu.edu (S.H. Mamanpush).
limitations that are quite challenging (Beauson et al., 2013; Jongert
et al., 2016) and costly. Options to incinerate or disposal has neg-
ative environmental contributions (Wackernagel and Rees, 1996;
Sikdar, 2003; World Commission on Environment and
Development, 1987) and disregards the potential rWTBs have as
a feedstock for second generation products. There is a potential
to recycle the glass fiber from the thermoset matrix via chemical
or thermal treatments (Phoenix Fiberglass Inc, 1994), however
the resulting fiber is often lower in mechanical properties than vir-
gin fibers and are very difficult to disperse into many matrices due
to their crimped and entangled form. Mechanical techniques that
employ shredders, hammer-mills, knife-mills, etc. provide a low-
cost option to deliver a reliable feedstock (Phoenix Fiberglass Inc,
1994; Bledzki and Goracy, 1993; Petterson and Nilsson, 1994).
However, the methods and classification procedures within the
mechanical refining process are vital parameters to address to
achieve the maximum potential of the rWTB materials while main-
taining minimal energy and costs.
Much research with recycled synthetic fiber composites has
been targeted to liberate the glass fiber from the composite matrix
(Kennerley et al., 1998; Pickering et al., 2000) or reuse of shredded
composites (SC) in new thermoset polymer composites in order to
reduce the amount of virgin glass fiber in existing composite
(Palmer, 2009; Jutte et al., 1991; Palmer et al., 2009; Derosa
et al., 2004; Method of Determining and Expressing Fineness of

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2018.02.050
0956-053X/Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 S.H. Mamanpush et al. / Waste Management 76 (2018) 708–714 709

Nomenclature

GFC glass fiber composite BW balsa wood

WTB wind turbine blade TGA thermogravimetric analysis
rWTB recycled wind turbine blade IB internal bonding
SC shredded composite MOE module of elasticity
MSS mill screen size MOR module of rupture
MC moisture content EW eucalyptus wood
pMDI polymeric methyl-diisocyanate (Rubinate 1840)

Feed Materials by Sieving; Derosa et al., 2005; Silva et al., 2012).
However, just a few studies considered the SC as the predominate
component (above 90%) within the composite (Kouparitsas et al.,
2002; Zheng et al., 2009; Dangtungee et al., 2012; Yazdanbakhsh
et al., 2018).
The work within this paper investigated the development of a
composite panel derived from mechanically refined rWTB using a
thermoset adhesive as a binder. The second generation composite
was evaluated to determine the influence of mill screen size (MSS),
moisture content (MC), density, and resin level had on the mechan-
ical and physical properties.
2. Materials and method
2.1. Materials
Recycled wind turbine blade (rWTB) material supplied by Glo-
bal Fiberglass Solutions at an incoming MC of 1.25%. A polymeric
methyl-diisocyanate (Rubinate 1840) (pMDI) resin was kindly sup-
plied by Huntsman and was used as the binder for the second gen-
eration panel product. The rWTB material was then hammer-
milled through 12.7, 6.35, 3.18, and 1.59 mm screen size, respec-
tively. Particle size distribution of the hammer-milled was per-
formed, which is illustrate in Fig. 1.
posite and BW (genus Ochroma) were separated and run indepen-
dently along with a sample of the unseparated rWTB. The
specimens were heated from ambient to 800 °C under nitrogen at
the heating rate of 20 °C min 1.
2.3. Manufacturing of rWTB composites
The various size fractions of the rWTB materials were sprayed
with resin and water (to obtain the targeted MC) within a drum
blender according to Table 1. The blended rWTB was then hand-
formed and hot pressed to a size of 355:6  355:6 mm composites
panels (duplicate) with a thickness of 7.62 mm. The hot press tem-
perature and time were set as 138 °C and 5 min accordingly, typi-
cal for pMDI composite processing (Gurke, June 2002) (Fig. 2(c)).
Mechanical and physical tests (Flexural, IB, water sorption, and
thickness swell) were performed based on ASTM D1037-12 and
compared with ANSI 208.1-2009. One-way CoANOVA was per-
formed to determine the differences of mechanical properties of
fabricated panels. The actual density was used as a covariate to
eliminate and effects from the final specimen density. The confi-
dence level was selected as 95%. Duncan grouping was used to
identify statistically significance between the means.
3. Results and discussion

2.2. Thermal analysis 3.1. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)

TGA was carried out to determine the thermal stability of the The thermal degradation profiles of BW, GFC, and rWTB (mix-
rWTB material and to also provide an estimate of the composition ture of BW and glass fiber composite) material by TGA reveal that
of materials within the rWTB. For this analysis the glass fiber com- most of the degradation events occur between 300 °C and 450 °C

40

35

30

25
Weight (%)

12.7 mm MSS
20
6.35 mm MSS
15
3.18 mm MSS
10
1.59 mm MSS
5

0
4 8 10 20 30 40 50 70 100 pan
Size (Mesh)

Fig. 1. Particle size distribution from varying MSS (Method of determining and expressing fineness of feed materials by sieving).
710
Table 1
rWTB composites formulation (MDI, MC percent by weight, MSS and density).
Sample Resin content (%)
1 6
2 6
3 6
4 3
5 10
6 6
7 6
8 6
9 6
10 6 5
(a)
Fig. 2. (a) End-of-life wind turbine blade, (b) mechanical comminution process, (c) hot pressed rWTB composites.
100
90
Weigth Loss (%)
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0 -1
0 200 400
Temperature
rWTB Glass Fiber Composite
Fig. 3. TGA curve recorded in nitrogen at heating rate of 20 °C min
for all specimen types. At 800 °C the TGA results of GFC shows the
residue of 60.61% that remained, this can be assigned to the fiber-
glass content of the sample. Also TGA of BW shows 5.24% remain-
der, attributed to ash in the wood. TGA result of rWTB material
shows that 47.19% total loss which was contributed to thermoset
resin, non-ash wood material, and paints and other coatings on
the wind turbine blade. The resulting 52.81% residue was assigned
as the content of glass fiber in the rWTB mixture (Fig. 3).
3.2. Mechanical properties of rWTB composites
For evaluating the mechanical properties of rWTB composites,
flexure and IB tests were used. The results of these tests are shown
in Figs. 4–6. Fig. 4 shows the results of MOE, MOR and IB with
changing MDI (%), MC (%) and MSS (mm).
According to the obtained results, resin content has a statisti-
cally significant influence on MOE, MOR as well as IB. This is an
expected result as the more resin within the system creates a more
bonding capacity and improved properties. The results also indi-
cated that MC (%) had no significant influence on the mechanical
properties, however a slight increase of MOE, MOR and IB with
increasing the MC was observed.
By reviewing the obtained results, the rWTB composites with
10MDI, 5MC and 12.7 mm MSS has the maximum amount of
S.H. Mamanpush et al. / Waste Management 76 (2018) 708–714
Targeted MC (%) MSS (mm) Target density (g/cm3)
5 3.18 1.04
5 6.35 1.04
5 12.7 1.04
5 12.7 1.04
5 12.7 1.04
3 12.7 1.04
8 12.7 1.04
5 3.18 1.12
5 3.18 0.88
1.59 1.04
(b) (c)
6 MOE and is equal to 5254 MPa and the rWTB composites with
5
1.59 mm MSS, 6MDI and 5 MC has the minimum amount of MOE
equal to 2910 MPa. This is because with increasing the resin level,
DTG (%/ oC)
4
bonding capacity increased and it causes better mechanical prop-
3
erties, also because MOE is correlated to the fiber length
2 (Boquillon et al., 2004) by reducing the MSS, MOE reduced
1 significantly.
Similar to MOE, rWTB composites with 10MDI and 5MC has the
0
maximum amount for both of the MOR and IB that are 41.6 MPa
600 800 and 2.35 MPa respectively. The rWTB composites with 1.59 mm
MSS has the minimum amount of MOR equal to 23.8 MPa and com-
wood posite with 3MDI, 5MC and 12.7 mm MSS has the minimum
amount of IB equal to 0.82 MPa.
1
. According to the obtained results MSS also has statistically sig-
nificant influence on the MOE and IB but it had no statistically
influence on the MOR. The results for IB test shows that by increas-
ing the MSS, IB statistically reduced considerably. The best results
for IB is for 1.59 mm MSS.
Decreasing the MOE by using smaller MSS is likely due to the
reduction in fiber or particle length because MOE is more linked
to the particle shape (Boquillon et al., 2004). On the other hand,
by using smaller MSS the particle size is decreased which allows
for more or improved packing efficiency that creates more bonding
sites within the composite. This is shown within the IB results that
assess the composite bonding performance.
Comparing the results of rWTB composites with the grading
requirements of wood-base particleboard (Composite panel
association, ANSI A208.1-2009, 2009) indicate that rWTB compos-
ites have higher mechanical properties as shown in Fig. 5. The MOE
(MPa) of rWTB composites with MSS of 3.18, 6.35 and 12.7 mm are
almost twice the wood-base particleboard ANSI H-2 requirements.
The composite stiffness increased when the size of the particles
increased (Fig. 5), however the IB properties decreased with
increasing particle size (Fig. 6).
Considering the effect of density on the mechanical properties
of composites indicates that increasing density resulted in higher
mechanical properties. However, once a density of 1.04 g/cm3
was obtained little or no improvement in mechanical properties
was observed.
 S.H. Mamanpush et al. / Waste Management 76 (2018) 708–714 711

60 6

50 A 5

B A
40 4

MOE (GPa)
MOR (MPa)
30 C 3
B

20 C 2 MOR vs MDI
MOE vs MDI
10 1

0 0
3 6 10
MDI (%) (MC=5%)

(a)
60 6

50 5

40 4

MOE (GPa)
MOR (MPa)

30 3
MOR vs MC
20 2
MOE vs MC
10 1

0 0
3 5 8
MC (%) (MDI= 6%)

(b)
MC (%)
3 5 8
3

2.5
A
2
IB (MPa)

IB vs MDI
1.5 B MC= 5%,
MDI=6%,
MSS=12.7mm
IB vs MC
1
C
0.5

0
3 6 10
MDI (%)
(c)
Fig. 4. Mechanical properties of rWTB composites considering (a) MDI (%), (b) MC (%) and (c) internal bond results with varying MDI (%) and MC (%). Note: Letters indicates
Duncan grouping.

3.3. Physical properties
3.3.1. Thickness swell
Results of thickness swelling are given in Fig. 7. Comparing the
results of thickness swelling for rWTB composites with traditional
wood-base particleboard (reference: 4% PMDI EW (genus Eucalyptus
(Pan et al., 2007) shows considerably better characteristics of rWTB
composites, where the maximum amount of thickness swelling of
rWTB composites (MSS = 12.7 mm, MDI = 3%, MC = 5%) after 2 h of
immersion is only 1.96% and thickness swelling for the control sam-
ple (Pan et al., 2007) after 2 h is approximately12.5% This is an 85%
reduction in dimension change in a water immersion environment
over wood-base particleboard. Also, after 24 h of immersion, the
maximum thickness swelling of rWTB composites is for the same
composite and is equal to 3.69% and the thickness swelling of
wood-base particleboard after 24 h of immersion is 26.95% main-
taining a similar improvement over traditional particleboard.
The lowest amount of thickness swelling after 2 h of immersion
was found for the composite with 3.18 mm MSS and density of
1.12 g/cm3 (MDI = 6% and MC = 5%) and is equal to 0.11%, also after
24 h of immersion the rWTB composites with 1.59 mm MSS and
density of 1.04 g/cm3 has the minimum amount of swelling equal
to 0.71%. Comparing the results of these two rWTB composites
with the wood-base particleboard shows that thickness swelling
of these two composites are 0.88% and 2.63% of wood-base parti-
cleboard respectively.
With resin levels, we see that after 24 h of immersion, by
increasing the amount of MDI from 3% to 10% thickness swelling
712 S.H. Mamanpush et al. / Waste Management 76 (2018) 708–714

40 12

35
10
30
A
A A 8
25
MOR (MPa)

MOE (GPa)
A
20 6
MOR vs MSS
15
AB A 4 MOE vs MSS
C BC
10
2
5

0 0
1.59 3.18 6.35 12.7

MSS (mm)

Fig. 5. Comparing MOE (MPa) and MOR (MPa) of various MSS rWTB Composites with wood-base particleboards. Note: Letters indicate Duncan groupings and horizontal line
indicate the requirement of H2 grade (Composite panel association, ANSI A208.1-, 2009).

60 5
4.5
50
4
3.5
40
A A
MOR (Mpa)

MOE (GPa)
3
30 2.5
A MOR vs Density
B A 2
MOE vs Density
20
1.5
B
1
10
0.5
0 0
0.88 1.04 1.12

Density (g/cm3)

MSS (mm)
1.59 3.18 6.35 12.7
3.5

3 A
BA A
2.5 A
BC
IB (MPa)

2 C IB vs Density
1.5 IB vs MSS
B
1

0.5

0
0.88 1.04 1.12
Density (g/cm3)

Fig. 6. Mechanical properties of rWTB composites considering MSS and density. Note: Letters indicates Duncan grouping.

reduced from 3.7% to 1.9%, indicating the role MDI (%) plays on the swelled more compared to the rWTB composites with densities
thickness swelling behavior of rWTB composites. Evaluating the of 1.12 and 0.88 g/cm3. but after 24 h of immersion this compos-
influence of MC on the thickness swelling shows that after 24 h ite swell less.
of immersion there is no considerable difference between the The influences of MSS showed that after 24 h of immersion,
thickness swelling of rWTB composites with MC of 3% and 5%, thickness swelling reduced when the smallest MSS material was
but by increasing the MC to 8% the thickness swelling increased used. Thickness swelling is 1.9% for rWTB composites with 12.7
slightly in the 2 h immersion data. mm MSS, but for the rWTB composites with 1.59 mm MSS thick-
Investigating the influence of density on the thickness swel- ness swelling is reduced to 0.71%. These results correlate quite well
ling of rWTB composites showed no consistent trend. After 2 h with the IB data, where smaller particles generated a higher pro-
of immersion rWTB composites with a density of 1.04 g/cm3 duct integrity.
 S.H. Mamanpush et al. / Waste Management 76 (2018) 708–714 713

Thickness Swelling (%)

Thickness Swelling (%)

4 4

3 3

2 2

1
1
0
0 2H 24 H
2H 24 H
3 5 8
3 6 10 MC (%)
MDI (%)
(MDI=6%, MSS=12.7 mm, Density=1.04 g/cm3)
(MC=5%, MSS=12.7 mm, Density=1.04 g/cm3)
(a) (b)
Thickness Swelling (%)

2.5

Thickness swelling (%)

2.5
2 2
1.5 1.5
1 1
0.5 0.5

0 0
2H 24 H 2H 24 H

12.7 6.35 3.18 1.59 0.88 1.04 1.12

Density (g/cm3 )
MSS (mm) (MDI=6%, MC=5%, MSS=3.18 mm)
(MDI=6% , MC=5%, Density=1.04 g/cm3)
(C) (D)
Fig. 7. Thickness swelling of rWTB composites considering (a) MDI (%) (b) MC (%) (c) MSS and (d) density.

Obtained improvement in thickness swelling of rWTB compos- 3.3.2. Water sorption

ites is likely caused by increasing the surface contact between the The water sorption results are presented in Fig. 8. Comparing
resin and particles, leading to enhanced bonding quality. Also, the results of water sorption for rWTB composites with the refer-
thickness swelling affected directly by adhesive properties because ence particleboard (Pan et al., 2007) show significant influence of
water can penetrate easily into the weakly bonded composites. using rWTB material on the water sorption results. After 2 h of

9 9
Water Sorption (%)

Water Sorption (%)

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
0 0
2H 24 H 2H 24 H
3 6 10 3 5 8

MDI (%) MC (%)

(MC=5%, MSS=12.7mm, Density=1.04g/cm3) (MDI=6%, MSS=12.7 mm, Density=1.04 g/cm3)
(a) (b)
8 8
Water Sorption (%)
Water Sorption (%)

6 6

4 4

2 2

0 0
2H 24 H 2H 24 H
12.7 6,35 3.18 1.59 0.88 1.04 1.12
MSS (mm) Density (g/cm3)
(MDI=6%, MC=5%, Density=1.04 g/cm3) (MDI=6%, MC=5%, MSS= 3.18mm)

(c) (d)
Fig. 8. Water sorption of rWTB composites considering (a) MDI (%) (b) MC (%) (c) MSS and (d) density influences.
714 S.H. Mamanpush et al. / Waste Management 76 (2018) 708–714
immersion the wood-base particleboard sorbs 17.0% water, the
maximum amount of water sorption of rWTB composites is 2.7%,
resulting in a 84% water sorption reduction compared to wood-
base particleboard. After 24 h of immersion the maximum amount
of water sorption of rWTB composites is 8.24%, which was the low
MDI level (3%) composite.
The minimum amount of water sorption after 2 h of immersion
is 1.18% and is for the rWTB composites with MDI = 6%, MC = 5%
and 6.35 mm MSS, after 24 h of immersion the same composite
absorbed minimum amount of water equal to 4.51%. These results
indicate a substantial 90% or greater reduction in water sorption
properties in the 2 h timeframe.
Considering the influences of MDI on the water sorption of
rWTB composites show that after 24 h of immersion by increasing
the MDI the amount of sorbed water reduced, by increasing the
MDI level from 3% to 6% the amount of water sorption reduced
however, little improvement in water resistance was not observed
when the resin level was increased to 10%. The role of MC and den-
sity had little influence on the water sorption properties.
When looking at the influence of MSS, we did not see the same
change in behavior with the finer particle size material as with the
thickness swell results. In Fig. 8 we actually see a trend where the
composites made with the finer particles had more water sorbed,
but in Fig. 6 the finer particles showed more dimensional stability
with lower thickness swelling. The wood component is the primary
means for swelling to occur where the cellular structure will
expand with the sorption of water. When the wood is reduced to
a smaller size, more of the cellular structure is altered and/or dam-
aged. This change in morphology can potentially influence the
dimensional response of the composite.
4. Conclusion
rWTB is a viable material for making second generation com-
posites. Any added energy, labor and chemicals will significantly
add cost to a material that is already considered a waste product.
Mechanical recycling of WTBs provide a low-cost option to deliver
a reliable feedstock without increasing the cost of material.
The variation of composite properties due to adhesive level, MC
%, MSS and density were studied. Obtained results from both of the
mechanical and physical test show considerable characteristics of
rWTB material in manufacturing the second generation compos-
ites. Generally, the composite panel made with rWTB materials
had improved water resistance properties than the wood-based
particleboards.
The obtained results from composite panels made from rWTB
material demonstrate that it is feasible to recycle the wind turbine
blade to fabricate value-added high-performance composite. A fin-
ished product from the recycled blades could have a variety of
applications, from floor tiles to plastic road barriers.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully appreciate the financial support by Glo-
bal Fiberglass Solutions Inc. Seattle WA.
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