A Novel Fire Resistant Material (“FIRESS') to Mitigate Fires in Wind Turbines

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Wind energy is an exciting emerging sector and plays a major role in reducing the dependency on fossil fuels. Now-a-days, electricity generation is becoming more reliant on renewable energy and therefore wind energy is steadily increasing share of its power generation in the energy mix. Globally, massive Wind Turbines (WT) are widely being used to capture wind's power and converting it to electricity. The wide use of polymer composites in wind turbine primary structures such as blades and nacelles increases the potential for fire related hazards. Safety management of WT and keeping them fully operational and at low levels of risk is becoming more important. A novel Fire Resistant Material called “FIRESS” was developed for fire mitigation applications. FIRESS is composed of up to about 82% fly ash (a waste by-product from coal-fired thermal power stations) and the remainder is a high char yield organic binder. In this paper, the concept of fire mitigation in composite structures using FIRESS is described. The fire resistant and mechanical properties of FIRESS has been evaluated and the results showed ultra-superior fire resistance, excellent set of mechanical properties and low density (light weight). FIRESS's outstanding fire resistance qualifies itself as a passive fire protection material for wind turbines.