Covestro machine developed for direct infusion of polyurethane rotor blades

Due to the increasing demand for cost-efficient processes for manufacturing wind power plants, Covestro (Leverkusen, Germany) an additive manufacturing company and a leading companies in high-performance polyurethane solutions, reported on August 19 that it provided the leading wind turbine blade manufacturer Goldwind (Ürümqi, China) with a Baulé infusion machine for processing its high-performance polyurethane resin. Accordingly, Goldwind and Covestro are said to have achieved a major breakthrough with the development and production of a 64.2-meter-long polyurethane turbine blade via direction infusion.

“Covestro Elastomers developed a tailor-made Baulé machine for the direct infusion of polyurethane rotor blades,” says Philippe Jeantin, global head of Machines Division, Business Segment Elastomers at Covestro. “We designed this machine to solve various challenges involved in this manufacturing process, e.g. process under vacuum, high-volume casting and speed of resin infusion. This machine is therefore combining a very accurate dosing, a large variable output controlled by in-mold pressure and a real time data management to ensure a high-quality direct infusion process for these large rotor blades.”

According to Covestro, the Baulé machine includes a wide range of output and excellent metering accuracy, has smart flow rate control with “on the fly” changes, high-performance degassing and accurate temperature control, innovative software design and powerful data management system.

“Today, as the wind energy market is growing, we are faced with the challenge of producing ever-larger wind blades,” says Liu Baofeng, Professor-level senior engineer and head of Windblade Material Development at Goldwind. “We were therefore looking for a reliable partner to provide us with the dispensing equipment which is suitable for processing the PU resin especially developed for larger wind blades. Our manufacture was successful thanks to the machine that Covestro engineered. It will allow us to propel the whole industry to make sustainable and innovating progress towards such large blades. In the future, both sides will strengthen the cooperation in materials and related equipment, for promoting a continuous innovation and upgrading of materials for rotor blades.”