4 ms·

The problem isn't necessarily the mass of the waste but the volume. https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/pieces-of-wind-turbine-blades-are-buried-in-the-casper

The problem isn't necessarily the mass of the waste but the volume. https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/pieces-of-wind-turbine-blades-are-buried-in-the-casper-regional-in-picture-id1222855083?s=612x612 https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/pieces-of-wind-turbine-... Wind turbine blades are not crushed or pulverized but buried whole.

raphaelj 4y ago
Why couldn't these be cut in transportable pieces and then industrially grinded?
alfor 4y ago
So, they need a grinder? Does not seem like a hard technical problem.
- c-linkage 4y ago
  https://blog.ucsusa.org/james-gignac/wind-turbine-blades-recycling/ https://blog.ucsusa.org/james-gignac/wind-turbine-blades-rec... "But the blades are different as they are made up of fiberglass (a composite material) to be lightweight for efficiency yet still durable enough to withstand storms. The mixed nature of the blade material makes separating the plastics from the glass fibers to recycle into a workable fiberglass material difficult—and the strength needed for the blades means they are also physically challenging to break apart."
  - stametseater 4y ago
    > "the strength needed for the blades means they are also physically challenging to break apart." Obvious BS, just try harder. Crush them with a big steam roller or with a crane that drops a heavy thing on them. There are a thousand ways to break strong things. Then bulldoze the fragments into an industrial shredder, and bury the result. No need to separate the "fiberglass material" for recycling, thermoset resins don't recycle for shit anyway. Crush it and bury it, this whole thing is an imaginary problem.
    - Arrath 4y ago
      They're hollow, right? Fill them with water and a moderate explosive charge, crack!
  - christkv 4y ago
    Why can’t you just incinerate them?
    - MrOwnPut 4y ago
      The same reason we bury other trash instead of incinerating it. It's better to be in the Earth than in the atmosphere.
- steve_adams_86 4y ago
  It would require a massive grinder with very hard steel discs. It would be hard to avoid congestion issues with such hard materials going through it. Maybe this is solved problem territory, but grinders seem tricky to make right at all scales. Plenty can go wrong because such massive forces can be involved.
  - orangepurple 4y ago
    Nothing that TNT or RDX can't fix in a hurry
- adrianmonk 4y ago
  SSI Shredders seems to agree it's not hard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuBeq3M2hvA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuBeq3M2hvA
  - adhesive_wombat 4y ago
    Might not be hard as in difficult but those teeth look pretty hard as in Rockwell scale.

raphaelj 4y ago

Why couldn't these be cut in transportable pieces and then industrially grinded?

alfor 4y ago

So, they need a grinder? Does not seem like a hard technical problem.

c-linkage 4y ago
https://blog.ucsusa.org/james-gignac/wind-turbine-blades-recycling/ https://blog.ucsusa.org/james-gignac/wind-turbine-blades-rec... "But the blades are different as they are made up of fiberglass (a composite material) to be lightweight for efficiency yet still durable enough to withstand storms. The mixed nature of the blade material makes separating the plastics from the glass fibers to recycle into a workable fiberglass material difficult—and the strength needed for the blades means they are also physically challenging to break apart."
- stametseater 4y ago
  > "the strength needed for the blades means they are also physically challenging to break apart." Obvious BS, just try harder. Crush them with a big steam roller or with a crane that drops a heavy thing on them. There are a thousand ways to break strong things. Then bulldoze the fragments into an industrial shredder, and bury the result. No need to separate the "fiberglass material" for recycling, thermoset resins don't recycle for shit anyway. Crush it and bury it, this whole thing is an imaginary problem.
  - Arrath 4y ago
    They're hollow, right? Fill them with water and a moderate explosive charge, crack!
- christkv 4y ago
  Why can’t you just incinerate them?
  - MrOwnPut 4y ago
    The same reason we bury other trash instead of incinerating it. It's better to be in the Earth than in the atmosphere.
steve_adams_86 4y ago
It would require a massive grinder with very hard steel discs. It would be hard to avoid congestion issues with such hard materials going through it. Maybe this is solved problem territory, but grinders seem tricky to make right at all scales. Plenty can go wrong because such massive forces can be involved.
- orangepurple 4y ago
  Nothing that TNT or RDX can't fix in a hurry
adrianmonk 4y ago
SSI Shredders seems to agree it's not hard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuBeq3M2hvA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuBeq3M2hvA
- adhesive_wombat 4y ago
  Might not be hard as in difficult but those teeth look pretty hard as in Rockwell scale.