Covestro receives world¡¯s first DNV GL certification for a polyurethane-infusion resin
Covestro, a globally leading supplier of high-tech polymer materials, has developed an innovative technology for manufacturing wind turbine rotor blades. The rotor blades are fabricated in a special process from a polyurethane resin and a glass fiber fabric
Covestro has developed an innovative technology for manufacturing turbine blades that uses a special process from a polyurethane resin and a glass-fiber fabric.
Covestro, a global supplier of high-tech polymer materials, has developed an innovative technology for manufacturing wind-turbine rotor blades. The rotor blades are fabricated in a special process from a polyurethane resin and a glass-fiber fabric. The company has now received the important DNV GL certification for the resin.
DNV GL ¨C an abbreviation of the companies Det Norske Veritas and Germanischer Lloyd, which merged in 2013 ¨C is a leading international industry standard for the safety, reliability and performance of wind turbines. The Covestro system is the world¡¯s first polyurethane resin to receive this certification. For the company, it also is an important milestone in the advancement of renewable energies, particularly wind power.
It¡¯s the resin that counts
¡°This brings us a big step closer to our goal of increasing the efficiency of wind-power generation,¡± says Kim Klausen, global head of Covestro¡¯s wind-energy program. The resin was developed in a close cooperation between the Covestro Wind Competence Center in Denmark and the Polyurethane Research Center in Leverkusen. It has a major influence on stability and durability, the two critical properties of rotor blades.
¡°After epoxy resins mainly were used in the industry in the past, the time has come to establish the high performance and cost advantages of polyurethane in wind power generation,¡± says Kim Klausen.
Covestro successfully tested the polyurethane resin on an industrial scale together with SAERTEX, a manufacturer of glass fiber and carbon-fiber fabrics, and H¨¹BERS, a specialist in process engineering. A prototype of a 45-meter-long spar cap recently was fabricated at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Stade.
See the video report at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aICshNiCs80. The spar cap is a key component of the rotor structure that has to bear the full force of the wind.
