Arkema is proud to announce that the technology used in wind turbine blades received an award at JEC Asia last week in Seoul, Korea. This reward recognizes Elium® as one of the main disruptive technologies in the composites field that can change the business landscape by creating new markets or transforming existing ones.
The award was presented by Professor Sung Kyu Ha, Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University in Seoul and a world-renowned expert in composite structures and materials, to Guillaume Cledat, Elium Business & Development Manager in charge of worldwide promotion of Elium®, and Jay Jeon, General Manager of the Arkema Seoul Technical Center.
This new JEC award highlights Arkema's efforts in the development of innovative materials for use in clean energies equipment such as wind turbine blades. Currently all wind turbines installed in the world are made from thermoset composites, which are difficult to recycle, so Arkema's R&D teams have developed Elium®, a new thermoplastic resin used to produce recyclable composites for wind turbine blades.
The feasibility of the industrial production of blades from Elium® thermoplastic composites has already been validated with two key partners in the USA (IACMI) and France (Effiwind).
These tests were also an opportunity to demonstrate the main assets of the Elium® resin: energy and cost savings, as well as durability.
- Energy and cost savings, because like liquid epoxy resins, the Elium® resin uses the same processes and molds as thermoset composites. However, energy consumption is much lower as the molds do not need heating. Furthermore, the components of the blade can be assembled by welding and bonding at ambient temperature, unlike thermoset bonds which require heat input.
- Durability, as the initial production tests conducted by Arkema have shown that a composite part made from Elium® is more durable than parts made from a thermoset composite. Additionally, the thermoplastic nature of the Elium® resin makes it easier to recycle. A major first and a genuine innovation for a high performance material.
Congratulations to the whole R&D team involved in this project!