Experimental study on the effects of cutting size and reaction temperature on the pyrolysis process and product characteristics of decommissioned wind turbine blades

The rapid growth of the production of used wind turbine blades and its efficient recycling and comprehensive resource utilization have become key issues affecting the green and sustainable development of the wind power industry. The effects of pyrolysis temperature and size on the pyrolysis characteristics of blades were investigated by fixed-bed pyrolysis experiments in this work. The results indicated the pyrolysis temperature has an important effect on the proportions of the three-phase products and product compositions. With the increase of pyrolysis temperature from 300 °C to 600 °C, the gas production from the pyrolysis of wind turbine blades gradually increases, the liquid phase oil production shows a trend of increasing and then decreasing, while the solid phase production shows a trend of decreasing and then stabilizing. The sizes of blades have little effect on the gas compositions, but affect the liquid compositions. The optimal temperature for wind turbine blade pyrolysis is 500 °C, when the blade pyrolysis process is basically completed. The oil phase products are relatively abundant. The pyrolysis reaction of block glass fiber composites can be completed within 15 min. By analyzing the characteristics of pyrolysis product yield and product composition of wind turbine blades, pyrolysis can play an important product recovery role in the effective treatment of wind turbine blades. A wide range of valuable gases and pyrolysis products can be recovered, which can effectively promote the resource recycling of wind turbine blades. The results obtained in this work have important reference value and guiding significance for the effective treatment and resource utilization of decommissioned wind turbine blades.