Belarus - Innovative single-end roving for wind energy

Owens Corning announced a new single-end roving and knitted fabric, WindStrand, which will reduce the cost of wind energy per kilowatt-hour. The product will allow turbine manufacturers to increase blade lengths by as much as 6% and deliver up to 12% more power. In addition to the cost and performance benefits of WindStrand, the product also provides manufacturers with the traditional processability of glass, combined with the stiffness strength and weight of other high-performance materials. The product, which is targeted to be commercially available in late 2006, is the application using the new Owens Corning high-performance reinforcement platform, HiPer-tex.

The new reinforcement will be produced using the Owens Corning next-generation fiberglass manufacturing process, which has a small environmental footprint. The performance statistics for WindStrand are based on extensive beta testing in the field, and design blade optimization by an independent research establishment based in the Netherlands Composite Technology Centre, CTC. CTC studied the effects of replacing traditional E-glass with WindStrand for several components in a 44-meter long rotor or blade, suitable for a 2.5 MW wind turbine.

Other product highlights compared to conventional E-glass include:
- Up to 35% higher tensile strengths;
- Up to 17% higher stiffness;
- Enhanced fatigue, impact, aging, corrosion, and temperature resistance.

Owens Corning is a manufacturer of composite solutions and building materials systems