Co-processing of end-of-life wind turbine blades in portland cement production.

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility of co-processing wind turbine blade (WTB) material in cement manufacturing to provide an end-of-life means to divert the solid waste of decommissioned WTBs from landfills. Many WTBs consist primarily of glass fiber reinforced thermoset polymers that are difficult to recover or recycle. Portland cement is produced world-wide in large quantities, requiring immense quantities of raw materials (mostly calcium oxide and silicon oxide) and kiln temperatures approaching 1,450 °C.