resinSENSE - real-time, on-line monitoring of resin mix-ratio monitoring system

该项目旨在加快开发新的可扩展技术，以解决可再生能源领域的一个重大问题；需要更好地控制风力涡轮机叶片生产中的树脂比例。风能是英国能源和脱碳组合的关键组成部分，从2009到2020年，英国的风能产量增长了715%(英国国家统计局，2021)。然而，为了继续增加风能发电量，并在2050年实现“净零”，需要在未来十年内将每年制造的风力涡轮机数量增加两倍(ORE Catapult)。提高产量的一个障碍是需要提高涡轮叶片的制造效率和减少浪费。涡轮叶片需要数天时间和数十名员工来制造一个叶片，相关的制造成本高达数十万英镑(CompositesWorld)。生产的所有有缺陷的叶片中有一半是由于树脂混合物的错误和不一致而直接造成的。我们的创新之处在于，使用超声波传感对树脂配比进行非侵入性和在线监测，以显著提高产量和减少损耗。从可持续发展的角度来看，这一点尤其重要，因为涡轮机叶片是风力涡轮机中少数几个不能轻易回收的部件之一(彭博格林)。在该项目期间开发的技术解决方案还将提高制造过程中的可追溯性，允许在新市场使用两组分树脂，目前监管和质量保证制度限制了两组分树脂的使用。这包括应用我们的传感技术在混合阶段表征树脂，然后将其分配到玻璃纤维模具中，从而避免刀片报废。该项目建立在一项自筹资金的可行性研究期间取得的可喜成果的基础上，该研究表明，使用超声波传感可以将聚酯树脂的混合比例区分到0.1%的水平。该项目将专注于设计和创建测量单元，改进测量算法，并将该算法嵌入到设备上以实现实时测量能力。原型传感系统以及提供关键的发展反馈回路将增加对该技术的信心，加速商业化，以解决这一限制进展的问题。

This project is to accelerate the development of novel and scalable technology to address a significant problem in the renewable energy sector; the need to better control resin mix-ratios in the production of wind turbine blades.Wind energy represents a key component of the UK's energy and decarbonisation mix, with UK wind production increasing by 715% from 2009 to 2020 (ONS, 2021). However, to continue increasing wind energy generation and enable "Net Zero" by 2050, the number of wind turbines manufactured per year needs to triple within the next decade (ORE Catapult). One barrier to this increased production is the need to make the manufacture of the turbine blades more efficient and less wasteful.Turbine blades take multiple days and many dozens of employees to manufacture a single blade, with an associated manufacturing cost running into many hundreds of thousands of pounds (CompositesWorld). Half of all defective blades produced are as a direct result of errors and inconsistencies of the resin mixture. Our innovation is to monitor the resin mix-ratios non-invasively and in-process using ultrasonic sensing to dramatically improve production throughput and reduce wastage. This is particularly relevant from a sustainability perspective, with the turbine blade being one of the few components of a wind turbine that cannot be easily recycled (Bloomberg Green). The technology solution developed during this project will also lead to improved traceability during the manufacturing process, allowing for the use of two-part resins in new markets, where the regulatory and quality assurance regimes currently limit their usage.This involves applying our sensing technology to characterise the resin in the mixing stage, before it is dispensed into the fibreglass mould, therefore avoiding the write-off of the blade. This project builds upon promising results obtained during a self-funded feasibility study, which demonstrated that it was possible to distinguish the mix-ratios of polyester resins down to levels of 0.1% using ultrasonic sensing. The project will be focused on designing and creating a measurement cell, improving the measurement algorithm, and embedding the algorithm onto a device for real-time measurement capabilities.The prototype sensing system, as well as providing a vital developmental feedback loop, will lead to increased confidence in the technology, accelerating commercialisation to solve this progress-limiting problem.