Publications by authors named "Karl Englund"

Wind turbine blades (WTB) mechanically recycled and used as a feedstock for thermoplastic composites. Physical properties (water sorption (WA), Thickness swelling (TS)) dataset of composites made from recycled wind turbine blades presented. Dataset also presented the influence of resin level, mill screen size and coupling agents on the physical properties of composites (Mamanpush et al.

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The wind turbine blades (WTB) that face end-of-life was first mechanically milled and classified through a range of varying screen sizes. We then blended this with high density polyethylene (HDPE) thermoplastic resin and extruded it to a profiled composite. We determined the influence of refined particle size, resin content and coupling agents (maleic anhydride polyethylene (MAPE) and methacryloxypropyltriethoxysilane (Silane)) on the mechanical and CLTE properties of recycled composites (Mamanpush et al.

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Wind turbine blades that face end-of-life recycled mechanically. The recycled material was first comminuted via a hammer-mill through a range of varying screen sizes, resinated and compressed to a final thickness to manufacture second generation composites fabricated using recycled wind turbine material and a polyurethane adhesive. Physical properties (water sorption (WA), Thickness swelling (TS)) dataset of composites made from recycled wind turbine blades presented.

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Wind turbine blades that face end-of-life recycled mechanically. The recycled material was first comminuted via a hammer-mill through a range of varying screen sizes, resonated (polymeric Methylene diphenyl isocyanate (pMDI)) and then hand-formed and hot pressed. The hot press temperature and time were set as 138 °C and 5 min accordingly, typical for pMDI composite processing.

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With an increase in renewable wind energy via turbines, an underlying problem of the turbine blade disposal is looming in many areas of the world. These wind turbine blades are predominately a mixture of glass fiber composites (GFCs) and wood and currently have not found an economically viable recycling pathway. This work investigates a series of second generation composites fabricated using recycled wind turbine material and a polyurethane adhesive.

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A fruit bin is an essential part of apple harvesting, storage, and transport. The lateral pressure distribution on the bin walls by apples in the bin are not well understood, thus making it harder to predict the behavior of the vertical walls of the bin. In this study, a bin was loaded with apples and deflections of the base and a vertical wall were experimentally measured and then modeled using finite element methods to understand typical static load distribution.

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In this work we report on the preparation, characterization, and properties of a thermally treated lignin-derived, phenolic-rich fraction (PRF) of wood pyrolysis bio-oil obtained by ethyl acetate extraction. The PRF was characterized for viscoelastic and rheological behavior using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and cone and plate rheology. A unique thermoplastic behavior was evidenced.

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Biologically derived polyesters known as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) represent a potentially "sustainable" replacement to fossil-fuel-based thermoplastics. However, current commercial practices that produce PHA with pure microbial cultures grown on renewable, but refined, feedstocks (i.e.

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Previous research has demonstrated that production of natural fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites (NFRTCs) utilizing bacterially-derived pure polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) does not yield a product that is cost competitive with synthetic plastic-based NFRTCs. Moreover, the commercial production of pure PHB is not without environmental impacts. To address these issues, we integrated unpurified PHB in NFRTC construction, thereby eliminating a significant energy and cost sink (ca.

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Combining biologic pretreatment with storage is an innovative approach for improving feedstock characteristics and cost, but the magnitude of responses of such systems to upsets is unknown. Unsterile wheat straw stems were upgraded for 12 wk with Pleurotus ostreatus at constant temperature to estimate the variation in final compositions with variations in initial moisture and inoculum. Degradation rates and conversions increased with both moisture and inoculum.

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