Jupiter also manufactures large quantities of wooden wind turbine blade kits. When casting wind turbine blades, the kits function as distance material in the sandwich construction – i.e. the layer placed between two glass fibre laminates.
The blade kit consists of differently shaped and sized pieces matched to the predefined curvature of the blade, fitting into the blade mould, adding both distance and strength to the casted FRP construction.
Balsa wood is cheaper than other existing solutions. Balsa wood is very lightweight – approx. 120 kilos per m3 – while at the same time maintaining strength through long fibres. Balsa wood is also able to withstand a higher casting temperature, which makes this material Jupiter’s first choice for blade constructions.
Besides balsa wood, pine, plywood and Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) are also used in the blade kits – e.g. to increase stiffness or hold together other composite components. |
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Manufacturing wind turbine blade kits, Jupiter converts standard measure rectangular wood boards into complete kits of several wood pieces fitting perfectly together when inserted into the blade mould.
The basic balsa wood is based on environmental friendly and sustainable processes, balancing logging and planting. Balsa wood has excellent growth conditions in countries located in South America – especially Ecuador, where it takes no more than four or five years from planting until logging. Fitches are glued together into blocks before being cut into standard measure boards prepared for export.
Production and packaging are carried out at Jupiter’s facilities in Vordingborg, Denmark.
The five overall activities in balsa wood production consist of five steps: |
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