Construction Assessment Framework of Electrical Transmission Structures from Decommissioned Wind Turbine Blades
Publication: Construction Research Congress 2022
ABSTRACT
Wind energy is widely deployed and plays a key role in reducing the world’s dependency on fossil fuels. The first generation of wind turbines is now coming to the end of their service lives, and there are limited options for the reuse or recycling of the composite materials in the wind turbine blades. Wind turbine blades are composed of glass or glass and carbon fibers in a thermosetting polymer matrix, along with core materials including polymer foams and balsa. The nature of the composite materials and the monocoque construction of wind blades make it highly energy intensive to separate the materials and the parts for reuse. Most decommissioned wind blades are either landfilled or incinerated, due to the low cost of these processes. This paper reports on a novel case study to remanufacture decommissioned wind turbine blades and redeploy the blades as the primary load-carrying elements for high-voltage electrical transmission line structures. This research focuses on the development of an information framework for the material, environmental, and cost analyses for the successful repurposing of decommissioned construction elements. The framework utilizes material flow analysis to assess the amount of material used at each stage of the process and its environmental and cost implications.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.
REFERENCES
Al-Haddad, T., Gentry, R., Bank, L., Alshannaq, A., Pye, J., and Bermek, M. (2021). Systems and Methods for Repurposing Retired Wind Turbines as Electric Utility Line Poles (Patent No. WO/2021/026198). https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2021026198&_cid=P20-KPML4H-00697-2.
Ali, A. K. (2017). Architecture within a circular economy: Process mapping a resource-based design-bid-build project delivery system. Enquiry The ARCC Journal for Architectural Research, 14(1), 48–61.
Alshannaq, A. A., Bank, L. C., Scott, D. W., and Gentry, T. R. (2021). Structural Analysis of a Wind Turbine Blade Repurposed as an Electrical Transmission Pole. Journal of Composites for Construction, 25(4), 04021023.
Bank, L. C., Arias, F. R., Yazdanbakhsh, A., Gentry, T. R., Al-Haddad, T., Chen, J.-F., and Morrow, R. (2018). Concepts for Reusing Composite Materials from Decommissioned Wind Turbine Blades in Affordable Housing. Recycling, 3(1), 3.
Bank, L. C., Delaney, E. L., McKinley, J., Gentry, R., and Leahy, P. G. (2021). Defining the landscape for wind blades at the end of service life. Composites World. https://www.compositesworld.com/articles/defining-the-landscape-for-wind-blades-at-the-end-of-service-life.
BCSE. (2021). 2021 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook. BCSE. https://bcse.org/factbook/.
van den Berg, M., Voordijk, H., and Adriaanse, A. (2021). BIM uses for deconstruction: An activity-theoretical perspective on reorganising end-of-life practices. Construction Management and Economics, 39(4), 323–339.
Brunner, P. H., and Rechberger, H. (2017). Handbook of material flow analysis: For environmental, resource, and waste engineers (Second Edition). CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group.
Cooperman, A., Eberle, A., and Lantz, E. (2021). Wind turbine blade material in the United States: Quantities, costs, and end-of-life options. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 168, 105439.
Cotrell, J., Stehly, T., Johnson, J., Roberts, J. O., Parker, Z., Scott, G., and Heimiller, D. (2014). Analysis of Transportation and Logistics Challenges Affecting the Deployment of Larger Wind Turbines: Summary of Results.
Delaney, E. L., McKinley, J. M., Megarry, W., Graham, C., Leahy, P. G., Bank, L. C., and Gentry, R. (2021). An integrated geospatial approach for repurposing wind turbine blades. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 170, 105601.
EPRI. (2020). Wind Turbine Blade Recycling: Preliminary Assessment. https://www.epri.com/research/products/000000003002017711.
Gentry, T. R., Al-Haddad, T., Bank, L. C., Arias, F. R., Nagle, A., and Leahy, P. (2020). Structural Analysis of a Roof Extracted from a Wind Turbine Blade. Journal of Architectural Engineering, 26(4), 04020040.
Hossain, M. U., Ng, S. T., Antwi-Afari, P., and Amor, B. (2020). Circular economy and the construction industry: Existing trends, challenges and prospective framework for sustainable construction. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 130, 109948.
Hradil, P., Talja, A., Wahlström, M., Huuhka, S., Lahdensivu, J., and Pikkuvirta, J. (2014). Re-use of structural elements: Environmental efficient recovery of building components (p. 74).
James, T., and Goodrich, A. (2014). “Supply Chain and Blade Manufacturing Considerations in the Global Wind Industry.”. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy14osti/60063.pdf.
Jayasinghe, R. S., Rameezdeen, R., and Chileshe, N. (2019). Exploring sustainable post-end-of-life of building operations: A systematic literature review. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 26(4), 689–722.
Joensuu, T., Edelman, H., and Saari, A. (2020). Circular economy practices in the built environment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 276, 124215.
Nagle, A. J., Delaney, E. L., Bank, L. C., and Leahy, P. G. (2020). A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment between landfilling and Co-Processing of waste from decommissioned Irish wind turbine blades. Journal of Cleaner Production, 277, 123321.
Ramirez-Tejeda, K., Turcotte, D. A., and Pike, S. (2017). Unsustainable Wind Turbine Blade Disposal Practices in the United States: A Case for Policy Intervention and Technological Innovation. NEW SOLUTIONS: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, 26(4), 581–598.
Tasistro-Hart, B., Al-Haddad, T., Bank, L. C., and Gentry, R. (2019). Reconstruction of Wind Turbine Blade Geometry and Internal Structure from Point Cloud Data. 130–137.
van den Berg, M., Voordijk, H., and Adriaanse, A. (2020). Information processing for end-of-life coordination: A multiple-case study. Construction Innovation, 20(4), 647–671.
Volk, R., Stengel, J., and Schultmann, F. (2014). Building Information Modeling (BIM) for existing buildings—Literature review and future needs. Automation in Construction, 38, 109–127.
Yazdanbakhsh, A., Bank, L., and Tian, Y. (2018). Mechanical Processing of GFRP Waste into Large-Sized Pieces for Use in Concrete. Recycling, 3, 8.
Yuan, F., Shen, L., and Li, Q. (2011). Emergy analysis of the recycling options for construction and demolition waste. Waste Management, 31(12), 2503–2511.
Zhao, W., Leeftink, R. B., and Rotter, V. S. (2010). Evaluation of the economic feasibility for the recycling of construction and demolition waste in China—The case of Chongqing. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 54(6), 377–389.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Construction Research Congress 2022
Pages: 588 - 598
History
Published online: Mar 7, 2022
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.