BEIJING, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Owens Corning (NYSE:
OC), a leading global producer of reinforcement solutions for
composite systems and residential and commercial building
materials, today introduced Ultrablade™ fabric solutions to help
enable the market transition to longer, lighter and stiffer wind
turbine rotor blades. The new solutions, which will be commercially
available in January 2011, can help
designers remove nearly a metric ton of reinforcement and resin
from 2.0 megawatt (MW) wind turbines compared to same-size blade
sets made with traditional E-glass.
Compared to standard fabrics, Ultrablade™ fabrics in epoxy resin
can:
- Reduce spar weight by up to 18 percent while keeping
length constant
- Increase blade length by up to 6 percent
- Improve blade stiffness by up to 20 percent
- Decrease blade thickness by up to 6 percent to increase
aerodynamic efficiency and generate higher torque for driving
turbines
- Reduce total blade weight by up to 5 percent to ease the load
on the turbine and tower, and enabling turbines to operate
effectively at lower wind speeds
"Ultrablade™ fabric solutions give designers much more freedom
in developing longer blades for today's large turbines," said Dr.
Chris Skinner, director of global
technical marketing for OCV™ Technical Fabrics.
"As the market continues to move to larger-capacity wind
turbines needing longer blades, designers can use a combination of
several improved properties in different areas of a blade,"
continued Skinner. "They can choose to increase blade length for
any given weight while keeping the thrust constant and assuring
sufficient tower clearance. At lower wind speeds, weight-saving
Ultrablade™ fabric solutions can help increase a blade's
aerodynamic lift, torque and energy output. The end-result will be
higher annual energy production from optimized blade designs using
high-performance fabrics."
Owens Corning Ultrablade™ fabric is the latest result of the
company's ability to work systematically on the design and
optimization of the total reinforcement system for its customers.
As a major integrated company making proprietary glass-fiber
reinforcements, sizing chemistry and a full range of fabric
solutions, Owens Corning is able to combine those areas of
expertise to optimize the total performance of the reinforcement
system in an enduse application.
The company is using a distinctive PINK stitching to identify
Ultrablade™ fabric in the marketplace. Owens Corning has been using
PINK in its products since the 1950s and the color has become a
mark associated with innovation, performance and quality.
Ultrablade™ fabric solutions will be produced in a number of the
company's facilities globally. In China, the products will be
manufactured at plants in Changzhou and Doudian.
Wind Energy Market Dynamics
New generation wind turbine designs are continuing to push up
the power generating capacity of wind turbines. A common trend
among larger capacity designs is the use of longer blades. Covering
a larger area effectively increases the tip-speed of a turbine at a
given wind velocity, thus increasing the energy extraction
capability of the system. According to a report published by
China Daily in February,
there has been a dramatic shift in market demand in recent years
from 37.5-meter (123 foot) blades, to blades that are 40.3 meters
(132 ft.).
At the end of 2009, wind power in China accounted for
25.1 gigawatts (GW) of electrical generating capacity and the
country has identified wind power as a key growth component of its
economy. China is now the largest producer of wind turbines and the
second-largest producer of wind power, after the United States.
According to the Global Wind Energy Council, China is expected
to remain one of the main drivers of global growth in the coming
years with annual additions of more than 20 GW by 2014. This
development is supported by a very aggressive government policy and
the growth of the domestic industry. The Chinese government has an
unofficial target of 150 GW of wind capacity by 2020.
About Owens Corning
Owens Corning is a leading global producer of glass fiber
reinforcements and engineered materials for composite systems and
residential and commercial building materials. A Fortune 500
company for 56 consecutive years, Owens Corning is committed to
driving sustainability through delivering solutions, transforming
markets and enhancing lives. Founded in 1938, Owens Corning had
sales of $4.8 billion in 2009 and
about 16,000 employees in 28 countries on five continents. OCV™
Reinforcements, OCV™ Technical Fabrics and OCV™ Non-Woven
Technologies are the three main business units that make up the
Owens Corning Composite Solutions Business. The business delivers a
broad range of reinforcement products that provide lightweight
alternatives to steel, wood and aluminum, thereby reducing weight
and improving energy efficiency. Additional information is
available at www.owenscorning.com.
SOURCE Owens Corning
Copyright . 15 PR Newswire