Newly constructed windmills on the Belgian part of the North Sea. Photo courtesy of Hans Hillewaert.

Wind energy giant Gamesa Technology Corp., Inc., announced it is joining forces with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to study and test a variety of wind energy components and systems and guide the development of future wind turbines designed specifically for the U.S. marketplace.

Set to begin this month, the core provisions of the public-private partnership will run through 2013, with options for two additional years of collaboration. “This research project will examine every aspect of the turbine, from its base to the blade tip at its apex, along with all the parts that make it turn,” says Dr. Miguel Angel Gonzalez-Posada, VP of Technology for Gamesa North America.

In a press release posted by Gamesa, the chief goal of the research-and-development project is a sharp focus on interior and exterior components as well as the rotors themselves. The company states that researchers will examine how bigger rotors, as well as blade aerodynamics and some other features, can be altered to maximize annual energy production. They will also design and test new lightning protection and other turbine conditioning systems, examining turbine performances in a range of temperatures at high altitude to ensure functionality in any U.S. environment. Turbine tests will measure and validate the outcome of the research, looking at power performance, power quality and acoustics to minimize noise levels.

The group also stated that new converter technologies will be used to test ways to increase energy output while enhancing component reliability. Extensive tests also will be conducted on other turbine key components, examining motion, temperatures, stresses and vibration levels, where the findings could lead to improvements that enhance the reliability of future U.S. installations.

Key numbers and economic indicators for 2012

This post is an addendum to Composites Manufacturing‘s January/February 2012 State of the Industry feature. For a comprehensive Industry Report, pick up a free copy of the January/February 2012 issue.

Marine: Anchored or Ready to Set Sail?

For the first time in several years, the marine segment has better news to report in terms of customer demand and improving business results among boat fabricators. Boat making was one of the early success stories for composites proving itself a better performing and more cost-effective material, and strong market demand made it one of the core segments of the composites industry for several decades. The U.S. marine market matured and leveled off in the 1980’s with 1988 being the peak year in composites usage when 538,000 powerboats and sailboats were sold. Sadly, the trend has been downward almost every year since with the exception of a few years in the mid-1990’s when personal watercraft were taking off and industry unit sales technically surpassed the 1988 record. In 2012, the industry is likely to achieve new boat retail sales of 190,000-210,000 which pales in comparison to the 1980’s and 1990’s, but is good news because it signifies the end of a downward trend of the last many years. U.S. boat sales fell 26 percent in 2009 to 207,000 units and went down another 9 percent to 188,000 units in 2010.

Over the last several years, the marine industry has been forced to consolidate and downsize and the survivors have sought ways to cut costs and raise productivity. Industry leader, Brunswick, now offers 24 separate boat brands, 17 of which it acquired since 2000. Through nine months of 2011 it reported stronger unit sales until divesting its Sealine boat brand in the third quarter. Revenues for the Boat Group were up 9 percent to $820 million and its operating losses were only $12 million compared to $77 million during the same period of 2010. Brunswick commented in its SEC filing for the third quarter that stronger unit sales were offset by the unfavorable effect of a change in sales mix towards smaller boats from larger, higher margin boats.

In May of 2010, the market research firm Freedonia Group published a five year outlook on the U.S. recreational boating industry and estimated the segment would rebound and grow at the rate of 9.3 percent annually through 2014. Not only did that forecast miss the 9 percent decline in 2010, it appears far too optimistic given the lackluster economic recovery underway in the country at large. It might be reasonable to expect the industry could generate that kind of growth for a year or two (possibly 2011 and 2012), and while composites fabricators would love to see boating maintain that pace indefinitely, there does not seem to be enough middle class enthusiasm for large discretionary purchases like a new boat so long as much of the public is still preoccupied with declining home prices and job market uncertainties.

Sports & Rec Outlook

From skis and snowboards to fishing rods, golf clubs and racing bikes, composites are being used more and more to improve performance in a number of sports. Hockey sticks, archery bows, tennis rackets and surfboards are other well-known sports applications. As such, the market is fragmented and growth comes in spurts and starts as individual products are introduced and, hopefully, accepted. While there’s no denying the success of composites in delivering light weight and strength in these products, the consumer thus far has been fickle in terms of their willingness to make the purchase decision for a discretionary item. 2011 retail sales growth in the U.S. is expected to grow about 6-8 percent and will continue in 2012, albeit at a slower pace. Even if the payroll tax is extended, customers will rein in spending early in 2012 as they pay off credit cards and return to rebuilding their savings.

Aerospace, Military and Ballistics

Today the aerospace, military and ballistics segment represents approximately 3 percent of the total volume demand for composite materials but it easily reaches 10-15 percent of the sales value, largely because of their expensive reinforcements and/or high performance resins and sometimes because of the more costly engineering and fabricating processes required to mold these sophisticated materials. Carbon fiber, aramid, S-2 glass and other exotic fibers are the typical reinforcing materials and some E-glass yarns and rovings are used sparingly. The segment has supplied carbon fiber-reinforced components for use in military and civilian aircraft during the last few decades and significantly advanced its penetration of the commercial aircraft market with Boeing’s mostly-composite design of the new 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350 XWB.

The aviation portion of this segment looks forward to a very healthy demand outlook for commercial aircraft. Boeing Corporation’s “Current Market Outlook: 2011-2030” predicts that global air travel will grow 6 percent in 2011 and should continue to growing at or above the historical trend of 5 percent through the middle of this decade. While the number of passengers is estimated to grow 4.2 percent over the long term and the number of revenue passenger miles will grow 5.1 percent, the actual increase in the size of the global commercial fleet will be only 3.6 percent. In hard numbers, the worldwide fleet will grow from 19,410 planes at the end of 2010 to 39,530 planes in 2030, a net gain of 20,120, but factoring in the number of aircraft that will be retired over the next 20 years raises the required build to 33,500 aircraft.

While that is a very respectable order backlog to address, the number of composite-intensive new airliners will be in the minority. Boeing currently has the capacity to produce only two Dreamliners per month and hopes to raise this figure to 10 by the end of 2013. Fully 70 percent of the total aircraft to be built in this forecast period will be single-aisle passenger jets with nominal amounts of composites. Another moderating factor in assessing the demand for U.S. composites fabricators and suppliers is that a growing percent of the composite components will be sourced overseas. As an example of how global the sourcing of composite aircraft parts has become, Boeing announced at the recent Dubai Airshow that it had signed an agreement establishing Mubadala Aerospace of the United Arab Emirates as a major Tier 1supplier of composite aerostructures. It also was no coincidence that Boeing announced at the same event that it would sell $26 billion in planes to Emirates Airlines.

Meanwhile, military demand for lightweight conventional defenses and weaponry has created many ingenious applications of composite materials since the original military uses of fiber glass during World War II. Blast panels for use in constructing barracks and mess halls in the theater of operations and improved armor for light weight vehicles like the Humvee are but a few common applications widely adopted by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of the more high-volume applications have already begun to phase down and are likely to continue shrinking. A strong signal of the trend in future purchases was President Obama’s 2011 federal budget which proposed that total Department of Defense (DOD) expenditures should rise by 3.4 percent or only 1.8 percent after adjusting for inflation. This ties nicely with other administration stated goals like “rebalancing the force” and “reforming how DOD does business” elaborated by Defense Secretary Gates in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) the year before. Many suppliers of military-oriented products have already noticed a reduction in spending and we can expect leaner defense budgets for the foreseeable future.

Heavy Truck Sector

The heavy trucks industry segment represents less than 5percent of total new vehicle builds but accounts for a disproportionately large amount of composites consumption. Large truck composite features include exterior components, aerodynamic applications above the cab, jumbo-sized panels used in trailers and side skirts that can run most of the length of the trailer. As of the fourth quarter of 2011, we saw good strength in truck sales as replacement buying follows the absence of equipment buys from 2007-2009 (graph 6). Recovery in the medium-duty truck market (class 4-7) has been more subdued than heavy duty (class due to weakness in construction, small business and public-sector markets. On the other hand, operators of large rigs seem to be pressing ahead with long-delayed buying programs.

Trucking serves as a rough barometer of overall economic activity because it accounts for 67 percent of the tonnage carried by all modes of domestic transportation. According to the American Trucking Association, truck tonnage rose 5.7 percent in October from a year ago, the 23^rd consecutive month of year-over-year growth. On a monthly basis, October’s tonnage rose 0.5 percent from September. These modest growth rates in operating volumes will be exceeded in new truck unit sales in 2011 and 2012 because truckers have cut back on fleet size during the recession. The number of big rigs on the road is approximately 12 percent less than the 2006 peak year, yet tonnage levels are about the same as in late 2006. Class 8 sales are expected to rise 46 percent to 156,100 units in 2011 and 191,000 units in 2012. There is upside potential here, too, because replacement demand is currently driving the heavy truck recovery but fleet expansion is on the horizon for the more successful carriers. And looking further out, recovery in construction-sector activity should finally hit its stride in another year or two, which should allow the next stage of truck recovery to materialize.

Brock Elliot is the general manager and founder of Campion Marine.

Brock Elliott is general manager and founder of Campion Marine, Inc., a family-run firm in British Columbia, Canada that has carved out a niche using bio-resins in manufacturing its boats. He says his company is the first boat maker that manufactures all its boats using bio-resins. The company sells more than 37 models and 48 variations of boats, ranging from 16 to 30 feet in length, in more than 30 countries.

How has the recession affected your business?

I come from a banking background and make sure we stay extremely conservative. I believe we survived because we are family owned and debt free. We began our business in 1974 and have weathered 38 years of economic storms. Sales are down not just in the U.S. but all over the world. I believe that housing has to settle out first, and then the boats will follow the housing. As a company, we are down significantly and the situation in the U.S. hurt us. We used to ship 250 boats to the U.S. per year, this year we probably shipped 25 boats to the U.S., which takes us back to the 1960s numbers in volume of sales.

How has your business responded to this economic downturn?

We are diversifying, and we sell boats in 30 countries worldwide. We just issued a press announcement on our first shipment to China, and we are building boats for customers in countries like New Zealand and Switzerland.

Are there any segments in boating that are doing better than others?

Pontoon boats are what is really selling, and that is why the market is shifting. Baby boomers, demographically, are 50 to 65 years old. They want a big deck and a big space. They want to go slow, have a BBQ, and put 12- 13 friends onboard.

Do you have a “green” strategy?

Right now, “green” seems to be more important to Canadians than to Americans. We moved to green nearly four years ago and my goal is to be the environmentally friendly leader in the boat industry and in boat manufacturing. Ashland Chemical, a supplier for our resins for fiberglass, came to us and said, “We would like you to test this product and see if it’s everything in the lab that it is in the real world.” We built two boats and the lab results showed the elongation is better with the bio-fibers.

What was involved in the testing of the bio resins?

We built two boats and then tested them on Lake Okanagan. We found the product to be useful and since then, we have built all our boats with bio-resins. That started us down the path of using alternative materials. For example, before we switched our floatation foam to green foam, the processing was highly toxic, and the operators had to use a space suit. However, the eco materials are non-toxic. Under lean manufacturing, it is an exercise in every step of the product to eliminate waste. We’ve taken that same practice and apply it to going green. Our next step is to put bio-resin down for the skin coat.

How has that experiment panned out?

It’s a challenge, because every one of these products is premium. When we started using Ashland’s Envirez, oil was $150 a barrel. Then it dropped to $40 per barrel. Now it’s back up to $100 barrel. It is a premium product, but we’re negotiating hard with our suppliers. They want the business and we want service to be better, because we strive to be the leader in eco-friendly boat manufacturing.

To subscribe to CM’s weekly Q&A, click here.

The use of wind turbines continues to change the landscape of energy development around the world.

The use of wind turbines continues to change the landscape of energy development around the world. They are dotted along the plains of Texas, along the shores of Europe and hoisted on city and suburbia businesses alike. But as turbines become increasingly technologically advanced, what trends are emerging in their manufacturing, and how do composites fit in to this upward drive for lighter, larger and more efficient turbines?

Focused primarily on utility grade, horizontal axis wind turbines, Totaro & Associates of Santa Barbara, California, a consulting firm that works with renewable energy companies to develop new products and technologies, collected wind turbine patent filing data and broke these filings down into current or future relevancy. Analysis of the data gives a glimpse into current trends and in what direction those developments are leading turbine evolution. The group’s results concluded that there are six areas of emerging technology. Among them are turbine reliability, weight reduction, transportation, fleet management, performance optimization and creating a “grid friendly” system.

Turbine Reliability

 According to Philip Totaro, Principal at Totaro & Associates, the blades, generators and electrical systems of a wind turbine have historically been the largest areas of focus because ultimately the efficient conversion of mechanical energy into electrical is the overall intent. “It must be noted that these three areas have been most problematic for manufacturers when it comes to component reliability, so they have garnered a great deal of attention in terms of innovation to improve quality and performance,” he says.

Similar to the automobile industry, the goal of wind turbine manufacturers is to lessen the component loads and decrease part count. “Right now there is a perceived reliability issue with three-stage gearboxes. They require regular maintenance and have been prone to reliability problems. Some in the industry suggest that we replace of these gearboxes, which function is to up the RPMs (revolutions per minute) of the wind turbine rotor, with a generator that is directly connected to the blades. While that sounds great because you’re removing a component with a reliability problem and reducing the number of components that could potentially fail, there are other issues created such as stray current mitigation torque regulation and the risk associated with a new overall design paradigm of a direct drive generator,” says Totaro. “Permanent magnet generators are a popular option for direct drive, but acquiring the rare earth metals required to make them is becoming more costly. No one has figured out the end result yet. There are a lot of people that believe gearbox elimination is best, others say that with the 30 years of data the industry has collected on three stage gearboxes, the industry can fix the problems.

How can composites help?

Most wind turbine blades are made with a hand lay-up process, which can lead to manufacturing defects and lack of consistency. As the wind energy industry moves towards more composite material use in wind blades, manufacturing processes that have been pervasive in the aerospace and defense industries for the manufacturing of wings, fuselages and helicopter rotor blades, need to be more heavily utilized. Specifically, automation in manufacturing around fiber placement and the manufacturing and use of pre-pregs or pultruded rods for structural members in the blades are the largest areas of innovation being talked about right now in the wind sector, says Totaro.

Component Weight Reduction & Transportation

 “With turbines getting bigger in physical size, we can see that load mitigation and construction are emerging focuses,” says Totaro. Component weight reduction encompasses optimization of the total mass to maintain a tower head mass ratio (mass per energy output of the turbine) as well as cost out programs to minimize capital cost of the turbine. Transportation cost reduction associated with getting components to a wind farm site from a factory and installation also require attention. To address these problems, manufacturers are investigating advanced materials such as composites over metals. “A large reason for the shift to eliminate the gear box is because with the heavy mass on top of the tower, it has the potential to introduce cost inefficiency. In other words, an OEM is overpaying on a cost that affects product competitiveness. Thus, a large portion of R&D is going into reduction of the mass and cost of components that are at the top of the tower,” explains Totaro. “In regards to transportation, shipping turbines in modular sections and assembling on-site at a wind farm will be an important area of investigating for land-based turbine manufacturers. Component size has increased to such an extent that transportation of whole blades, towers, and nacelles under bridges and through tunnels is reaching its limit.”

How can composites help?

Materials science R&D will be the most dominant force in influencing the renewables industries over the next 20 years, according to Totaro’s firm. “In any industry, material science ends up being the largest influence in creating change in technology. Some manufacturers would choose to make the blades, the nacelle and even the tower (currently made of tubular steel) of a wind turbine out of composites if it would be cost effective,” he says. Blades are still made from fiberglass and balsa wood due to the input cost comparison with composites, but as components get larger and heavier, improved stiffness or reliability is needed and currently that can only be enabled by composites or hybrids.”

Fleet Management

Monitoring systems within a turbine are essential. From vibration sensors, embedded fiber optics and blade surface mounted sensors, people have tried any way to glean useful information out of component performance and damage accumulation. If OEMs can use this data to control performance in order to prolong a turbine’s life and limit unscheduled maintenance, costs will go down and profit will increase.

 How can composites help?

The more composite manufacturers can understand how their product works in a given wind turbine operating element, the more informed decisions can be made by turbine operators. “By better understanding damage accumulation of turbine components, we can control the turbines life,” says Totaro. For example, instead of letting it run at 100 percent of available capacity, if we run it at 95 percent, will it prolong the life? If so, by how much? Not only that, but how often is maintenance required? Can we cut it down to every three, six or twelve months?

Performance Optimization

The struggle of a design engineer is how to optimize energy production regardless of prevailing conditions or locale. How can the optimum amount of energy be achieved 100 percent of the time? “Optimum does not necessarily mean maximum,” says Totaro. “But understanding optimization is important. If a manufacturer sells a product as a 2.5 megawatt (MW) turbine with a design life of 20 years but its components only last 10, then changes of some sort need to be made. Should the product be derated, meaning a 2.5 MW turbine should be run at 2.3? Or are there ways to uprate a turbine, meaning with an increased ability to control a turbine it can output 2.6 MW instead 2.5 MW and therefore be more profitable. GE, for example, has already permanently uprated its 1.5MW turbine to 1.6 with the data it has collected.”

How can composites help?

Despite a lagging economy affecting the wind energy industry, it continues to innovate. The single largest driver is the desire to displace conventional forms of energy production and at least a 2 cents / kwhr reduction in the production cost of energy is required in order to make that a reality. Major OEMs are focusing on cost-out on their existing platforms as well future technology development with early stage R&D. “We’re at a point where significant R&D investment in furthering technology is resulting in minuscule improvement, says Totaro. “We need something more radical and no one has that figured out yet. We need to talk about implementing carbon nanotube based technologies and composite materials in areas that will have a huge impact.”

Grid Friendly, Government Approved

A looming challenge of the wind energy industry is how to increase operational utilization. Requirements by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and other agencies state that turbines must operate in a manner that will not disturb the grid. Owners and operators of wind farms would like them to operate much like a conventional energy plant where output can be throttled and grid fluctuations can be absorbed—in other words, grid stability. This means variable speed control with the use of synchronous generators, a low voltage ride through (LVRT) capability, and effective energy storage.

 How can composites help?

Despite current systems, OEMs want to see a 3-4 percent increase in efficiency. On the other end, utility operators that own both gas and turbine plants want them to behave the same. Composite technologies that can increase energy efficiency will be necessary in the coming years.

For more stories like this, click here.

Melinda Skea is the senior manager of communications at ACMA. Email comments to mskea@acmanet.org.

Ben Glass—founder of Altaeros Energies, Inc.

Ben Glass received his S.M. and B.S. from the MIT Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering Department. He is the inventor of the Altaeros Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT) and has engaged in a number of MIT wind research projects. As a Research Assistant in the Gas Turbine Lab, Ben worked to improve the efficiency of rotating machinery for industrial process applications. Prior experience also includes the design and construction of a solar/electric race car and structural analysis of a commercial rocket propulsion system at Space X. At Altaeros, Glass is responsible for the AWT overall design and fabrication.

Why begin developing a flying wind turbine?

My background is in aerospace engineering. I was working on aerospace repulsion at MIT when I became more and more interested in the clean energy world and its interesting challenges and opportunities. The airborne wind turbine concept joins both. We are essentially developing a flight vehicle that also harnesses wind energy. From the clean energy perspective, high-altitude wind is one of the few resources that can actually scale up to make an impact on a global or societal scale.

What’s the potential for airborne wind turbines?

Obviously, there is still a lot of technical development to be done. But I absolutely think it can be a predominant renewable energy resource. It has the necessary power density and availability, in terms of consistency and geographically, to be one of the top renewable energy resources. I believe we can bring the cost of airborne wind energy down to truly be competitive with the grid. And that’s the only way to make renewable energy have the impact it needs to have to solve any environmental problems.

What role do composite materials play?

We are using typical aerospace composites. Interestingly, what makes this concept possible now and not 20 or 25 years ago  are the advances in the fabric materials, which are essentially composite fabrics coming out of competitive sail racing. To make this wind turbine work and be economically viable, the fabric structure has to be very lightweight, very strong and prevent any leaks or diffusion of the helium through the material. To accomplish all those potentially conflicting requirements requires pretty advance materials. The lightweight materials we are using moving forward are composite fabrics with a layer of Mylar or polyester film that is adhered to a carbon scrim or an aeroknit and any other number of typically synthetic high-strength fibers with very specific strength and elongation behavior.

The other requirement for windborne turbines – and that’s where we are pushing the envelope on traditional wind turbines – is driving weights of the actual turbine system down. We are essentially using a traditional horizontal axis turbine that sits in the middle of the shroud; so we can leverage the advances with traditional wind turbines. But, of course, we have a much higher premium on low-weight design and will therefore look to advanced aerospace composites. We’ll likely be using a carbon fiber composite fabrication method for the blades themselves. Even for parts of the mistel or the frame structure we’ll most likely be using some combination of traditional metal materials but also advanced aerospace composites.

What are major challenges in developing a new product?

One of the major challenges, as with any energy system and especially one this new and a break from what has been done in the past, is keeping the cost where we actually predict it will be. And that’s a matter of good design and thinking a full system through from the beginning. We are doing just that by trying to be as realistic as possible and taking conclusions into account early on. Even if there are parts of our system that won’t be in our POC prototype, we still need to have a good answer for what we’re doing – like, how will we actually take the power from our turbine and condition it and give it to the end user?

From the design perspective, there are challenges around the liability of the system. Our approach to that is to invent as little as possible and take as many mature technologies as possible, at least on the component level. The innovation lies more in how we are combining existing technologies. That’s why we think leveraging the work that’s been done in the lighter-than-air world, both the technical advances and the regulatory framework, will give us a very good chance of successfully introducing our product on the liability front.

What’s ahead for you in regards to marketplace development?

The big push right now is a fully functional proof-of-concept prototype. With any startup, there is a strong focus on meeting critical milestones that align with fundraising rounds. For example, we will be testing our proof-of-concept prototype this fall, which will demonstrate the stability and reliability of our airborne platform, our ability to produce more power than a traditional, tower-mounted turbine and the ability to operate autonomously in real-world wind conditions. After this milestone, we will focus on raising a new round of fundraising to continue the development efforts for the full-scale system design. The other critical step for any new wind energy technology is to prove its market readiness. A pilot project of 18 to 24 months at a commercial scale is essential to validating the technical capabilities of our product.

Who do you envision as your first big customer?

The military has a very keen interest in new renewable technologies that can be deployed in the field or at forward operating bases. Not only is fuel incredibly expensive in a military setting (over ten times the cost of electricity form the grid), but fuel convoys have been frequently attacked and cost many lives. Rapid deployment is very important in a military setting, and the military already has the infrastructure and knowledge needed to operate our airborne wind turbines as a result of their extensive use of aerostat surveillance platforms. This makes them an excellent first customer for us. And, most importantly, the military has the clout, money and culture necessary to actually implement the technologies that they talk about.

To subscribe to CM’s weekly Q&A, click here.

Through the Advanced Vehicle Power Technology Alliance (AVPTA), the DOE and DOA will leverage resources to foster development of technologies to improve ground vehicle power and meet U.S. energy efficiency goals.

A new alliance between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of the Army (DOA) to promote the development of clean energy technologies has the potential to drastically benefit composites manufacturers.

Through the Advanced Vehicle Power Technology Alliance (AVPTA), announced in mid-July, the two departments will leverage resources to foster development of technologies to improve ground vehicle power and meet U.S. energy efficiency goals, as well as speed military and commercial adoption of those technologies.

“The whole purpose of the alliance is to identify technology in which the DOE and DOA have common interest and a common background,” says Bruce Huffman, public affairs officer for the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), based in Warren, Mich. The DOA, Huffman says, will gain access to the DOE’s portfolio of cutting-edge clean energy technologies, while the DOE will gain an outlet to transition the technologies to a broader user base.

Among the technologies singled out for promotion by the alliance are “lightweight structures and materials,” including composite components such as space frames, carbon fiber and hybrid designs. Though lightweight composites have been used in a variety of military and commercial applications, factors including cost, joining technology and repair have kept them from being used on vehicles, says Pat Davis, vehicle technologies program manager for the DOE. Through the AVPTA, the two departments will work to overcome those challenges.

Richard Gerth, with TARDEC’s National Automotive Center, in Warren, Mich., says the alliance will help composites manufacturers develop their technologies by working with the military, as well as find ways to make them more cost efficient.

“We can provide an early opportunity for manufacturers to get their best materials or manufacturing processes—multi-material joining, advanced resin, low-cost carbon fiber—and try to work with us to develop it,” Gerth says. “Manufacturers can work with DOE to transition to us through our supply chains and improve their ability to mass produce for others in the future.”

Though details are still being hammered out, Eric Kallio, also with the National Automotive Center, says the formation of the alliance will not result in any operational changes for composites manufacturers already working with TARDEC or DOE. Information submitted to either department, for instance, through TARDEC’s ground vehicle gateway (online at https://tardec.groundvehiclegateway.com/)—will be visible to both.

“Companies can submit technology offerings to us that they think would be of interest to TARDEC, and those could be identified as possible dual-use, joint TARDEC-DOE opportunities,” Kallio says.

But Gerth cautions that working with the alliance does not guarantee that a manufacturer’s technology will ultimately make its way into a finished vehicle. “I think it’s important to point out that this is primarily a research and technology transfer alliance, not a procurement action,” Gerth says. “Manufacturers can work with us to develop the research and demonstrate the technology through use on an actual vehicle, but if we buy something, it will ultimately be the manufacturer’s responsibility to get that technology in the supply chain of an OEM.” 

The AVPTA’s first official event, the Advanced Vehicle Power Technology Workshop, took place July 18 and 19 in Detroit, where the alliance will be based. The workshop brought together experts from various fields to lay the groundwork for the alliance’s strategy, and participants included Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, and Under Secretary of the Army Joseph Westphal.

“The fact that we had this caliber of speakers in attendance gives you the sense that the Department of Energy and the Department of Army are very interested in this technology and the fruits of what this technology can bring to our war fighters,” Huffman says.

To read more stories like this, click here.

Jamie Hartford is a freelance writer based in Hood River, Ore. Email comments to jlhartford@gmail.com.

Nearly 1,000 guests convened for the Opening Ceremony of Jushi's 17th Annual International Conference on Fiberglass in Tongxiang City, China.

Composite Global Growth by Regional Expansion China, in its vastness, continues to grow in vast proportions. As the largest exporter in the world it has also begun to focus more acutely on its own infrastructure to support its growing population and production demands. For example, it has become the leading investor in renewable energy surpassing the U.S. and Europe. This prosperity and drive for growth is capsulated in fiberglass manufacturer Jushi, who this week celebrated its 17th Annual International Conference on Fiberglass in Tongxiang City, China.

Nearly 1,000 guests (representing 98 countries) convened on Jushi’s main lot for the Opening Ceremony where they were addressed by delegates from surrounding provinces as well as corporate leaders from around the world.

Jushi CEO Yuquing Zhang reflected on the meager beginning of the company when, nineteen years ago Jushi began as a small company. Now in 2011, it supplies 90,000 metric tons of fiberglass to customers around the world, making it the largest fiberglass manufacturer in China and second in the world, and supplies to industries ranging from automotive, wind energy, construction, marine, electric and aerospace. According to Zhang, he expects to double production over the next five years by focusing on technical innovation both internally and by teaming with local universities.

At a press conference held later that day, Zhang addressed a growing crowd on the company’s accomplishments in 2011 and his forecast for 2012. “After the recent economic crisis, our finances are getting better and better. However, in the second half of the year, changes in the market due to slowed growth in the U.S. and the debt crisis in the EU brought uncertainty,” he says. “I think the Chinese economy is not optimistic. We are facing problems of inflation and a restriction on materials and resources.” Zhang explained that new government regulations are stricter, making it harder for quality growth.

However, an optimist by nature, Zhang is determined to do what is needed to maintain steady growth within China and globally. Jushi has raised the level of employment wages on average 15 percent to maintain quality workers and is focused on cutting its energy consumption by nearly 4 percent. Meanwhile, abroad Jushi is increasing the global sales network with the likes of its fourteen overseas subsidiaries like Jushi USA, Jushi Brazil and Jushi Singapore.

In order to get closer to its global clients (one of its 2012 goals) and better serve its industry, Zhang announced that Jushi will be constructing a new plant in the Suez Economic Development Zone in Egypt. At an estimated cost $220 million and a completion date of 2013, the new plant will product upwards of 80,000 tons of fiberglass annually for customers within its region. More pointedly, Zhang says that regionally, Jushi will focus on aiding India and Brazil in their infrastructure development goals and once there is economic stability Jushi will focus on increasing manufacturing development within Europe and North America. In essence, Jushi’s regional goals that will aid its continued global growth into, what Zhang deems, a bright future.

Altaeros' applied a lighter-than-air concept adapted from traditional blimps to build their shroud-shaped prototype of an airborne wind turbine.

Innovators around the globe are working on prototype airborne wind turbines to bring high-altitude energy down to earth. R&D concepts range from little airplanes flying in circles to tethered aerostats or kites. “The technology has attractive features that are sufficiently compelling, it makes sense to continue to investigate it,” says Fort Felker, director at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). “The challenges are huge, but the potential is immense.” And with a much higher premium on lightweight design, components like the blades and frame will use advanced composites.

Airborne turbines over land-based windmills

High-altitude winds have the necessary power density, consistency and geographic availability to potentially become a predominant renewable energy resource of the future. Scientists estimate that energy in the jet streams are 100 times the amount of power used worldwide annually. What’s more attractive is that the winds are stronger and steadier the higher you go. Consequently, airborne systems can be built smaller, more lightweight and cheaper than fixed-bottom turbines on the ground. It’s much more economical to deploy flying turbines on a lightweight tether that transmits the electricity back to the ground than installing an enormous cantilever steel tower that needs to be drilled into land or the sea floor. Those savings can bring the cost of high-altitude wind energy down to be competitive with the grid.

Airborne turbines can also be deployed over challenging, complex terrain without roads, over rocky ridges or offshore, opening up new territories for harvesting clean energy. For now, high-altitude wind companies are focusing on the playing field below 2,000 feet, where winds are still up to 2.5 times stronger than where traditional land-based windmills can reach. Complex federal airspace restrictions kick in above 2,000 feet.

Unprecedented yet challenging characteristics

Before larger-scale deployment of airborne wind turbines comes within reach, the industry has to overcome major challenges. “Systems would need to be manufactured in quantity at a low enough capital cost to make them attractive to investors,” Felker says. He predicts a large use of advanced composites in future airborne systems for the “fantastically good fatigue characteristics.”

The bigger challenge is operational. How do you keep an airborne system flying autonomously 24/7 for months upon months, even decades? “No one has demonstrated a flight vehicle operating continuously even for a day, much less 20 years, which is about the lifespan of a land-based wind turbine,” says Felker. It will take time to accumulate sufficient operational experience to understand how wind energy companies will insure sufficient reliability. The wind energy expert speculates we are probably 10 years away from significant deployments.

Takes a lighter-than-air approach

Massachusetts-based Altaeros Energies repurposed the buoyant lift technology of traditional blimps to build prototypes of its airborne wind turbine. The supportive fabric structure is filled with helium, lifting the turbine up to 2000 feet, where it will hopefully produce more power than a traditional, tower-mounted turbine. “Changing the design to the shape of a shroud or a diffuser actually provides additional benefits by augmenting the power flow through the turbine and increasing the advantages of the lighter than air structure,” says Altaeros founder Ben Glass, who has both a bachelors and masters degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from MIT.

“To make a new energy system economically viable, it ultimately will come down to the cost of the actual system and the operating and maintenance cost,” says Glass, who aims to achieve competitive energy costs through good design as well as by utilizing mature technologies, leveraging proven technical processes and fitting into existing policy and regulatory frameworks.

“We are pushing the envelope on traditional wind turbines by driving the weight of our actual turbine system down,” Glass says. Altaeros uses advanced composite fabrics with a layer of mylar film or polyester film adhered to a scrim, like a carbon scrim or aero knit with specific strength and elongation behavior. “To leverage advances already made in another field, we use fabrics used in competitive sail racing to build our shroud with very lightweight, high-strength materials that are relatively low cost and will allow us to build a system that’s economically viable,” he says.

Aware that the long-term reliability of airborne wind turbines is a target for skepticism, Altaeros is building passive safety and stability into the system. “The static stability or directional stability is really coming from the aerodynamic design of the shroud itself,” Glass explains, asserting the system will remain stable and point into the wind regardless of the wind direction or turbulent conditions. Extreme weather conditions are by far the biggest threat to airborne wind turbines. “Typically, lighter-than-air devices rely entirely on the buoyant lift to keep them aloft. When the wind is buffeting them around and they get a big downdraft the system can get damaged,” he says. “Docking every time the weather gets rough is obviously not an option for a system designed to eventually operate autonomously by the thousands. “The goal is to produce aerodynamic lift as well as buoyant lift, making it less prone to getting buffeted around by the wind. In fact, in high wind conditions our system actually behaves from a dynamic perspective more like a kite than a balloon, which gives us more control authority without inflicting damage on the shroud or the tail load or tethers.”

To read more stories like this, click here.

Sandra Henderson is a freelance writer based in Denver, Colo. Email comments to sandrahenderson@mac.com.

A group of students from Rutgers, the State University of New York and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) comprise what is known as Team New Jersey. Together they are one of twenty college teams competing in the 2011 Solar Decathlon.

A group of students from Rutgers, the State University of New York and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) comprise what is known as Team New Jersey. Together they are one of twenty college teams competing in the 2011 Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The aim of the competition is to build the most cost-effective, energy-efficient and attractive house using optimal energy production. This year, Team New Jersey constructed the first precast concrete sandwich panel house, dubbed the ENJOY house, ever to be entered into the competition. By using precast concrete sandwich panels with less steel and more fiberglass products, the team wants to highlight the use of composites in their energy efficient, “passive” house design.

Unique to the Team New Jersey design, the passive strategy focuses on using basic architectural design techniques to reduce thermal transmissibility through insulative materials. “By strategically using fiberglass in the windows and reducing transmissibility in the frames, we actually ultimately do less work to keep a constant temperature in the house,” says Richard Garber, NJIT associate professor and Team New Jersey faculty leader. Concrete was chosen for its thermally efficient properties such as its ability to retain heat absorbed during the day and effectively release it at night. “We were trying to stay away from using steel because it expands and contracts differently than concrete, causing steel connectors to crack the concrete and transmute heat into the house,” says Garber. The concrete walls are framed with steel rebar to withstand the heavy weight of the concrete roof and solar panels instead of using an earlier proposal for an epoxy carbon fiber grid for reinforcement. However, some of the panels were intentionally designed with less steel to reduce thermal transmission, the window frames were designed with pultruded fiberglass and the team used fiberglass connectors from Hughes Brothers in Seward, Neb., in the wall, roof and floor panels.

The Anatomy of the Concrete Sandwich Panels

The design of the concrete sandwich panel for the Solar Decathlon house was developed by John Ruga, president of precast concrete manufacturer, Northeast Precast in Millville, N.J. In order to cast the walls, first the team set up the rebar in the formwork. Next, they poured a three-inch layer of precast concrete. Then they laid out six inches of polystyrene insulation mixed with Nuopor, a new insulation solution from BASF that includes graphite, and placed Aslan 700 fiberglass connectors on top. Another layer of rebar was then applied along with floor connections before another three-inch layer of concrete was poured into the formwork. So, as opposed to traditional precast concrete panels manufactured with concrete on the exterior and traditional mortar and wood on the interior, the groups’ panels use the fiberglass ties to assemble concrete panels on the interior and exterior of the house, increasing the properties of concrete and fiberglass to insulate the house.

By using different materials and basic design techniques, the house is much more energy efficient and capable of longer sustainability compared to that of traditional wood frame houses. Compared to similar one-story houses, these sandwich wall panels have an R-value, or a measure of thermal resistance, of 30.0 when traditional wood frame houses have an approximate R-value of 21.0.

One challenge the team faced when building the concrete panels was fulfilling the stipulation that the building solutions had to be front loaded and integrated into the precast sandwich panels by the students. Professionally, a fabricator would design the shop drawings, including a layout of the house systems such as plumbing, electrical and fumigation. But since Northeast Precast was donating its time and services, the students were left to integrate the building systems. They even built-in radiance flooring in the floor panels and the panel roof was inverted at an angle to prevent the summer sun from hitting the floor.

Jen Switala, a recent master’s graduate from NJIT and the student leader for Team New Jersey, says that the significance of using precast concrete in the house design will make more people aware of what sustainable really means. “The housing industry feels that what it means to be sustainable is to put solar panels on the house and use green materials. I would like to see the housing industry move is to make the whole house sustainable,” she says.

Garber agrees, “There’s still a trend in America to keep up with the suburban single-family home. However, more countries around the world are more intelligent to these kinds of designs and are looking for an accepted and desired solution for housing. There is more sway of public mindset that needs to happen and we think our little house will be a part of that,” he adds. “I actually think that this kind of home material science is going to develop so quickly that it will beg consideration in building products. I would like to see more cost-effective, maintenance free and energy efficient technology in U.S. houses. Not to mention I think it looks cooler.”

Team New Jersey will ship their entry to Washington, D.C. to display on the National Mall from September 23 – October 2, 2011. They expect that their design, which also includes a solar panel roof and water runoff to recycle rain water, to be very competitive in the Solar Decathlon.

To read more stories like this, click here.

Angie McPherson is the communications coordinator at ACMA. Email comments to amcpherson@acmanet.org.

Philip Totaro, Principal at Totaro & Associates

Philip Totaro’s company Totaro & Associations works with renewable energy companies to develop new products and technologies. Specifically, he gets involved in business risk mitigation and intellectual property due diligence activities when clients want to introduce a new product. Totaro spent the early part of his career in aerospace & defense and more recently in power generation and renewables, which gives him significant experience with composite materials and manufacturing.

What is the main focus of the wind energy sector and how are composites involved?

Wind turbines have become one of the most cost competitive forms of renewable energy production, and they are striving to become cost competitive with conventional forms of power generation like coal and natural gas by reducing acquisition costs as well as operational/maintenance costs. Over the past 30 years the cost of energy production from wind has been reduced from ~0.90 cents / kwhr to ~0.06 cents / kwhr according to an annual report published by Lawrence Berkley National Labs. This has been the result of both policy and innovation.

Wind turbine blades have been one of the most heavily innovated components of a wind turbine during that time, and composite material use in those blades has grown substantially. From formation of structural components such as the spar or box beam to the use of skin panels to provide torsional stiffness, the impact of composites has been to enhance reliability and reduce weight.

What do you see driving the industry right now?

Globally, what has helped the wind industry has been policy, typically in the form of mandates (like a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for renewable energy deployment coupled with incentives, which come in the form of tax breaks or production credits for developers and utilities. The U.S. wind turbine industry is in an interesting state right now given the pending expiration of the production tax credit, along with lingering effects of the credit crisis, as well as an over-capacity of production for blades, nacelles, and other components. The glut of manufacturing capacity was the result of the tax incentives provided to anyone willing to invest the capital in opening up a factory domestically. The result was a majority of new factories opened by foreign-led firms intent on creating a domestic manufacturing footprint to gain market share and comply with domestic content production requirements to receive some of the tax incentives. That being said, the industry continues to innovate because the single largest driver is the desire to displace conventional forms of energy production and at least a 2 cents / kwhr reduction in the production cost of energy is required in order to make that a reality. Since demand for wind turbines in the domestic industry has stagnated recently, the major OEMs are focusing on cost out on their existing platforms as well future technology development with early stage R&D, which is three to five years from commercialization at this point.

What do you mean by “over-capacity”?

I’d say too many manufacturing facilities have led to too much production. For example, in the U.S. there is a 14 GW manufacturing capacity for nacelles that will be online by the end of 2011, but so far there is only a demand in 7-9 GW range. While I’m not sure what the exact statistics are on blade production, they are similar, and the fact remains that there is more supply than demand right now. Add to that a lack of ongoing policy at the Federal level with regards to the production tax credit and other renewable energy incentives, and there is a level of uncertainty and a lack of desire to invest in development projects. Right now, it looks like the tax credit will end in 2012 because coming up on congressional and a presidential election, no one wants to take sides on a divisive issue. The cyclical stalling gives manufacturers’ years of boom and bust, which is not good for job hiring or economic sustainability.

What would help the composites industry expand within renewable energy?

Materials science will be the most dominant force in influencing the renewables industries over the next 20 years. In any industry, material science ends up being the largest influence in creating change in technology. Through our efforts in investigating wind industry technology trends, my firm has identified six trends driving the sector. Chief amongst them is component cost / weight reduction. Some manufacturers would choose to make the blades, the nacelle and even the tower of a wind turbine out of composites if it would be cost effective. Blades are still made from fiberglass and balsa wood due to the input cost comparison with composites, but as components get larger and heavier, improved stiffness or reliability is needed and currently that can only be enabled by composites. Other materials are currently not as cost or weight-effective as fiberglass and balsa. However, shape memory alloys (SMA) are one material that is strongly being considered for aerodynamic performance enhancements. We’re at a point where significant R&D investment in furthering technology is resulting in minuscule improvement. We need something more radical and no one has that figured out yet. We need to talk about implementing carbon nanotube based technologies and composite materials in areas that will have a huge impact.

Are there key pieces of legislation or law that you keep an eye on?

Domestically, energy policy will have the largest stimulus on the composites industry. If there is an extension of the production tax credit or other incentives for renewables like wind, then demand should return in a robust way that will bolster the sub-component suppliers as well.

What more would you like to see from composites?

Continued technological innovation around manufacturing and quality are the most important contributions the composites industry can make to wind turbine production. Most wind turbine blades are made with a hand lay-up process, which can lead to manufacturing defects and lack of consistency. As the industry moves towards more composite material use in wind blades, manufacturing processes that have been pervasive in the aerospace and defense industries for the manufacturing of wings, fuselages and helicopter rotor blades, need to be more heavily utilized. Specifically, automation in manufacturing around fiber placement and the manufacturing and use of pre-pregs or pultruded rods for structural members in the blades are the largest areas of innovation being talked about right now in the wind sector.

What does the wind energy market have to look forward to in 2011-2012?

Globally, growth for wind turbines will continue, albeit in a tepid manner, but there is still significant potential for demand to return more robustly in the U.S. if energy policy will be addressed this year, which is a long shot. If not, the focus will shift elsewhere globally, with China and South America becoming hotbeds for wind turbine deployment, and the European offshore market set to take off in the coming years as well. Currently China—growing at a rate of 12-15 GW per year—is the leader in wind energy, and that trend is expected to continue. However, they tend to use older technology in their manufacturing. For example, there’s not a lot of composites usage as they sign licensing agreements for older designs from the U.S. and European turbine OEMs. Other developing countries like Brazil and India also continue to implement energy policy that encourages growth.

Where are the biggest opportunities for composites in the wind energy market?

Obtaining a larger footprint of composites use in the wind sector will be the result of making the materials more cost competitive. Although, even if the material cost is a net increase for the overall capital cost of the turbine, if it enables technology enhancement such as larger rotor diameters with the same loads as conventional materials, then they could have a significant impact on the cost of energy production for wind.

Within wind energy, what changes need to occur to see more growth?

The owners and/or operators of wind farms are typically technology agnostic, meaning as long as they can get the power produced cheaply and re-sell it to us as consumers with profit and mark-up to cover transmission, then they are happy with whatever form of energy production they get. Further reduction in overall cost of energy for wind will also be needed for more widespread adoption. As long as natural gas and coal are abundant and cheap, wind and other renewables will have a tough time displacing them. While it might be nice to see everyone take an interest in clean energy production for the sake of environmental preservation, consumers ultimately tend to speak with their wallets. It’s possible to change their mindset and the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) is lobbying for that type of change, but it’s slow moving.

To subscribe to CM’s weekly Q&A, click here.