JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #47 - March/April 2009 - 78

SPECIAL jec composites show 2009 ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY Winner: 3B Fibreglass (Belgium) Partnership network: Fred Olsen Ltd (Norway), Gent University (Belgium), Spiromatic (Belgium) Name of product or process: Sea-wave energy converter designed to produce electricity. Description: The device consists of a floating platform with oscillating buoys on the water surface. Fred Olsen Ltd decided to work as much as possible with composite materials for the structural parts and for the energy-extracting and power take-off system’s moving parts. Advantages or salient features: The main challenges for the lifetime and cost/performance properties of this applications are: - corrosion resistance (marine environment), - cyclic load fatigue/ageing (blades, moving parts, turbines, etc.), - robustness, impact resistance, - resistance to survival load conditions (storms and possible climate changes), - maintenance, - cost effectiveness of final components, modules and systems. The natural properties of Advantex™ and HiPer-tex™ fibreglass enable and enhance the level of required performance. State of development: 3B is reinforcement supplier and advisor within the development team. The next step is to finish defining the materials for the structural parts. The device is a component of the Wave Hub project, which aims to create the UK's first offshore facility to demonstrate and validate the operation of arrays of wave-energy generation devices. Launch is planned for 2010. More information: www.3b-fibreglass.com Competing company: Chomarat (France) Partnership network: Nidaplast (France) and Coruñesa de Composites (Spain) Name of product or process: A ready-to-use sandwich panel for windmill nacelle components (roof and floor). Description: ROVIpan™ combines a nidaplast polypropylene honeycomb (nidaplast® 8RI) and a Chomarat glass reinforcement with an integrated flow medium (Roviflow™). Advantages or salient features: ROVIpan™ allowed Coruñesa de Composites to significantly increase productivity. It simplified the sandwich structure (due to the lightness of the nidaplast® 8RI core). It eliminated waste by supplying pre-cut kit tailored exactly to the part and setting up several ROVIpan panels with a neat overlapping joint. Finally, it simplified the infusion process, thanks to the good flow properties of Roviflow™ (one resin feed line instead of 3). This resulted in better part quality and uniformity. State of development: May 2008: First infusion demonstration of ROVIpan™ to Coruñesa de Composites June 2008: Kit design and production according to customer drawings July 2008: Infusion of the first roof nacelle with the ROVIpan kit September-October 2008: Improvement of the ROVIpan™ kit (reinforcement and cutting) December: 2nd infusion of a nacelle roof After nacelle roofs, ROVIpan™ could be tested on other windmill nacelle parts (floor, etc.). Many other applications are possible in the building, transport, marine and energy industries, for example vehicle floors, boat decks, wall panels, or swimming pools. Competing company: Recycled Carbon Fibre Ltd - A member of Milled Carbon Group (UK) Partnership network: Boeing (USA) Name of product or process: Continuous pyrolysis process for the recovery of carbon fibre from carbon-fibre-reinforced composites. Description: The parts recovered are processed at high temperature to destroy the resin. All the resin matrix and binders are removed to leave a material that has at least 90% of the original properties of virgin carbon fibre. The material recovered is prepared for re-use in a number of ways. In its basic form, the material is milled to a length of 250 microns for use in injection moulding and as filler for other materials such as concrete and rubber. The material can also be chopped into lengths of 3 mm up to 158 mm. This material is used similarly in injection moulding, concrete and rubber, but is also the principle feedstock for non-wovens. Material has also been used in bulk moulding compounds for making automotive panels. Advantages or salient features: It is now possible to process parts that are 2 m by 250 mm, and 25-mm thick. The highvalue-added materials can be recovered instead of being incinerated or landfilled. State of development: Ready for marketing. Their price makes the products attractive for reducing weight in non-structural aeronautical applications, e.g. passenger cabin fittings. 78 jec composites magazine / No47 March-April 2009

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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #47 - March/April 2009

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