Thermoplastic gets the call in mini wind turbine

Dutch company EverkinetIQ International has specified a thermoplastic from supplier BASF for use in molding the small wind turbine used in the OEM's PIQO Series of small wind turbines. These compact wind power stations are being marketed to industrial facilities, high-rise buildings, hospitals and other municipal buildings as well as private homes.

For the turbine's rotor, the newly established BASF subsidiary Styrolution, together with its plastics distribution partner Albis Benelux, is supplying Luran S KR 2858 G3a 15% glass fiber-reinforced ASA (acrylic ester-styrene-acrylonitrile). ASA offers good resistance to weathering, UV radiation and aging together with chemical resistance. An unfilled grade, Luran S 797 S, is suitable for the 1.5 m round frame. Dutch injection older Pekago handled processing of the parts.

The first prototypes of this micro wind turbine have been installed on buildings in the Netherlands, where they are undergoing field trials. Now that sufficient data on performance and the behavior of the turbines under load has been collected, EverkinetIQ has optimized the product and is preparing for the product launch. EverkinetIQ anticipates that, following the test phase, a relatively favorable price per kilowatt-hour will be achieved.

The Styrolution joint venture was formed early this year through the merger of the styrenics businesses of BASF and INEOS.

Last August in the First Look section of MPW we mentioned a German company, Windependence, that also intended to manufacture such small wind turbines, though the company had settled on thermoset plastics and the hand lay-up process  for its products.