Introduction:

The BFG's are focused on creating creative and innovative solutions to stagnant environmental issues. The purpose of this presentation is to provide the design process we underwent in approaching the issue of wind turbine recyclability. Wind turbine blades do not decompose in order to be more durable to strong weather, and so many end up in landfills after roughly 10 years of usage. Our proposal is to make wooden or wooden composite blades that do not sacrifice durability, but do decompose. This essentially would remedy one of the biggest flaws with the current widespread wind turbine systems, making a very green process even more environmentally friendly. This presentation will discuss the economics, logistics, and environmental factors involved in the production of our wind turbine.

What is a Sustainable Design?:

A sustainable design helps reduce any negative impacts on the environment. A design can tackle issues such as avoiding the consumption of non-renewable resources/fuels, preventing the emission of pollution, or using recyclable/biodegradable materials to minimize landfills.

Environmental Analysis:

As mentioned before, the biggest issue with current wind turbines is that the blades of these turbines are not recyclable or reusable. This is because the blades are made from plastic along with fiberglass reinforced polyester or epoxy which is an extremely tough and flexible material. The strength of this material makes it a hassle to cut down the material. So, most material ends up sitting in landfills. This is where using wood as a material comes into play. Unlike plastic and fiberglass, wood can be easily recycled and reproduced. So instead of having the blades sit in landfills, we can take the old wind turbine blades that would be made out of wood and re-purpose that wood for another use. Another beneficial aspect of using wood is that it acts as a carbon sink for the environment. Meaning that the wooden blades could sequester CO2 from the atmosphere. This would result in the blades having a much lower carbon footprint compared to the original blades.

Economic Analysis

The cost to make the prototype of our wind turbine model is $49. The majority of the cost is attributed to the electrical motor, which cost us $43. It is important to keep in mind that we bought the motor individually at a retail price, much more expensive than if we had bought our materials in bulk directly from wholesale carriers. Knowing there is much room for improvement in the cost of our product makes it an extremely affordable option for practicing sustainability and utilizing wind power in consumers’ homes. Thinking on a larger scale as well, buying wood would be much cheaper and easier to transport as well. The reason being, is that wood is lighter so it comes in a stackable section. Because of the lightweight nature of wood, it becomes easier to transport.

Technical Analysis:

Wooden blades were first created in the 1800's, and designs have obviously improved throughout the years. Current wooden wind turbine blades struggle with density, as the denser something is, the heavier it is, and the more energy it takes to start moving the blades, which takes away from the accessible energy when the process is complete. Issues also arise with the harvesting of materials, as tearing down trees is bad for the environment, albeit less harmful than the creation of the current leading wind turbine blades.

Bottleneck and constraints:

When making an improvement on an already existing design or making an entirely new design, one has to keep in mind the constraints that might apply to them. For our improvement on the blades of a wind turbine, we have to look at the durability constraints before moving on with our product.

Durability Constraint:

When making a new product and designing it, we have to take into consideration the durability of that new product. Currently, even with wood as a replacement, turbine blades are subjected to: Structural loading effects, lightning strikes, physical impacts, surface corrosion, and wind loading. Wind loading is when the wind exerts an extreme amount of force on the blades that they bed into the tower. That could cause damage to not only the towers but the base of the turbine as well. Another issue that we have to take into consideration is that since the tips of the blades. The tips have the highest velocities, and they will experience the most amount of erosion.

When it comes to durability we also have to consider where these wind turbines are going to be located. For us, these turbines are going to be located in Chicago. They are going to need to withstand the icing that could take place along with the intensities of the wind.

GE Renewable Energy (Pros and Cons):

GE Renewable Energy is one of the world’s leading suppliers of wind turbines. They create turbines that are extremely large and durable, so they are able to harness a lot of energy from wind. However, because of GE turbine’s massive size and durable design, the cost of merely one is approximately $3,000,000 (including the cost of occasional repair). Additionally the incredibly large blades of their turbines are not reusable and they virtually never decompose, so they waste a lot of space in landfills. With that being said, GE renewable energy has stated they plan to produce zero waste wind turbines by 2030

Advantages of our Design:

• Wood avoids having large turbine blades contribute to landfill waste (traditional materials aren’t easily crushed, recycled, or repurposed, and they virtually never decompose)
• Laminated wood is stronger than steel at the same weight, allowing for a cheap and durable alternative to the current wind turbine design. Wood is also a cheap material that many large companies would have easy access to.
• Wood is a very accessible and recyclable material which allows for excessive prototyping, which translates to cheaper and less environmentally harmful production of the finished product.
• When the blades of the turbine fail, the materials can be more easily recycled into other materials, or decomposed effectively, especially when compared to the current fiberglass counterpart.

Disadvantages of our Design:

• The use of wood could compromise the durability of the turbine; typical degradation of wooden wind turbine blades stems from micro-scale cracking which leads to a small weight redistribution, which eventually leads to larger cracks and weight redistribution, ultimately resulting in destruction of the blades
• Limits exist for how tall structures built on home properties (wooden blades are less durable and structurally weaker in large scale designs, as wood composites are more likely to break and cause damage to structures)
• Safety precautions must be made before installing wind turbines on personal property (remember that the wooden blades are more likely to have catastrophic failure of the blades, resulting in heavy projectiles being launched at high velocities, especially in inclement weather)

Improvements that can be made:

• Prepreg manufacturing currently is the most sustainable/environmentally friendly and enables flexibility with fibre contents
• Currently there is research being done on using 3D woven composites they represent a promising alternative to producing fiber reinforced laminates
• To create a H-Rotor Turbine mass distribution must be accounted for
• While the weigh is acceptable lighter materials can be used for the blades themselves
• Bamboo offers an cheap and materials thats is able to grow back at alarming rates making for a cheaper and less environmentally harmful alternative to the balsa wood used in our design
• Bamboo is also flexible which will benefit its lifespan in areas with particularly high wind speeds

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the Big Fans of Green (BFG) company's main goal is to take an excellent option in sustainable energy(wind) and make it so that it becomes more sustainable for our environment. Currently, the plastic and fiberglass that make up the wind turbine blades are not recyclable and will damage our environment. Our design of replacing the plastic-made blades with wooden blades gives us the best option to keep the productivity of a current wind turbine, but have it be better suited for our environment. As when the wooden blades get worn out, they are extremely easy to recycle. Along with being better for the environment, once we get over the initial cost of experimenting with different woods and designs, the price to make, ship, install, and replace the blades will be much cheaper. Indeed, there are still many improvements that need to be made for this design, but with this, we are one step closer to achieving our goal of a sustainable lifestyle.