Material flow assessment of rotor blade production for windturbines

Abstract

Consulta en la Biblioteca ETSI Industriales (8799)

[EN] Renewable energies are growing up faster every day and in the top of them we can find Wind energy. This renewable energy is being supported by governments because of two main reasons, environmental decisions and their good results energetically. Even there is another important reason for EU countries, because these countries should get at least 20% of final energy consumption by 2020 generated be renewable energies. Nowadays we take more care about our fuel and with wind energy our fuel is unlimited. The problem is that we can not control quantity or force of the wind when we desire and it is not easy to storage electricity, but we can produce electricity with wind. It is true that before we need to construct wind turbines that transform wind into energy, and then we need different resources to build them up. The aim of this Master thesis is to focus on the Material flow Assessment (MFA) of the production of rotor blades. Mainly in the materials involved in the production and particularly in the solid waste produced in the process, as direct waste and indirect waste, but not in energy. All the production and waste data were provided by a production plant. After analyzing this data I got a Ratio between waste and Kg finished rotor blade in a whole year production. The value of this Ratio is 0,564, which means that per each kg of finished rotor blade you generate 0,564 kg of waste. In the study there are 3 scenarios of MFA that show which materials are used directly in the production of rotor blades and which are used in supporting areas. Then it is easier to realize which waste comes directly from production process and which come from supporting processes areas. With the knowledge of the materials used, I am looking for the possibilities of rotor blades at the end of their life time as well as the high amount of waste produced.