Researchers from the three universities that make up the Via Carpatia Polytechnic Network are developing innovative noise barriers. They will use giant wind turbine blades for this purpose.

Hundreds of giant propeller blades are stored near Poland’s western border, which will practically never decompose – they are made of glass fibre-reinforced composite materials. Researchers at three universities of technology from Białystok, Rzeszów and Lublin decided to propose an innovative way of using such ‘scrap metal’.

“The life cycle of a wind propeller is 20-25 years on average. This means that after 2035, approximately 225,000 tonnes of used propellers should be recycled”, says Dr Mirosław Broniewicz of the Department of Structural Engineering and Building Mechanics at the Białystok University of Technology.

A team of researchers at this university is working on a project to use composite material obtained from scrap wind turbine blades to build road noise barriers.

For the time being, the market lacks effective methods of reusing blades. US scientists use pyrolysis at high temperatures to decompose the composite material, separating the organic material from the inorganic glass fibres, thus obtaining a material that burns to produce energy, while the Danes turn propeller blades into benches, bus stops, bicycle shelters and garden furniture.

Engineers from the Rzeszów University of Technology have proposed using the blades in bridging to make load-bearing elements for footbridges. The idea was included in the programme carried out as part of the ISKRA competition – building inter-university research teams. It involves the development of road noise barrier systems using composite elements of wind turbine propellers.

After strength testing, the model panels will undergo acoustic testing. The project is expected to be completed by the end of July 2025.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński