The DecomBlades consortium has teamed up with glass fibre producer 3B in launching a commercial-scale experiment in 3B’s plant in Birkeland, Norway. The partners aim to prove that it is both possible and environmentally viable to use pyrolysis as part of the production process of high-quality glass fibre from old wind turbine blades.3B and DecomBlades’ current experiment focuses on pyrolysis as a means to prepare fibres for remelting. Pyrolysis is a process of exposing materials to high heat in an oxygen-free environment and is used to separate the materials. The materials are processed and then used in new applications. The innovation project is funded by Innovation Fund Denmark and is a collaboration between MAKEEN Energy, LM Wind Power, Siemens Gamesa, Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Ørsted, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Wind and Energy Systems), University of Southern Denmark (SDU), HJHansen Recycling, FLSmidth, and Energy Cluster Denmark. The DecomBlades project’s overall aim is to establish the basis for sustainable, cost-efficient, and viable value chains for recycling of wind turbine blades.
