At JEC WORLD 2019, held from 12 to 14 March 2019 at Paris Villepinte, Arkema will be showcasing its unique range of high performance materials and cutting-edge solutions to meet growing demand for advanced composites in the construction, transportation and sports sectors. By offering resins and thermoplastic materials for the manufacture of recyclable composites, Arkema is committed to addressing the major environmental challenges of end-of-life composites.
Elium®, the value of recyclability for wind turbine blades
Conserving resources, minimizing waste and promoting recycling are challenges of the circular economy which the Elium® liquid thermoplastic resins can aptly meet.
The ever growing global expanse of wind arms, however, raises a major environmental and societal problem: the processing or landfilling of end-of-life blades, which are currently made from thermoset, epoxy or polyester composites. Arkema is addressing this challenge by marketing Elium®, the first liquid thermoplastic resin suitable for manufacturing new generation blades from recyclable composites.
These wind turbine blades made from the Elium® resin will be suitable for mechanical and chemical recycling:
- Mechanical recycling: end-of-life blades are cut up and ground, and the thermoplastic composite can be melted again and mixed with another virgin material (ABS, PC, PVC, etc.) to be processed into a new material.
- Chemical recycling: this entails depolymerizing the resin back to the basic monomer. The ground-up material is then heated to obtain the monomer in gaseous form by separating it from the other components like fiber and any other organic or inorganic material (adhesive, foam, filler, coating, etc.). Once condensed and distilled, the resulting monomer in the form of a brown liquid is then purified. The clear and transparent liquid thus recovered can then be used to manufacture new Elium® resins.
Elium®, the value of recyclability in boat building
Won over by the performances of the Mini 6.50 Arkema boat prototype made of Elium®, Brittany-based Pro Marine has just manufactured the underside of a semi-rigid boat in Elium® by infusion molding, in partnership with Arkema.
This recyclable semi-rigid boat will be exhibited for the first time at JEC WORLD 2019.
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