Products obtained from decomposition of glass fibre-reinforced composites using microwave pyrolysis

The possibility to obtain useful products from used glass fiber-reinforced composites using microwave pyrolysis were examined. A scrap of blade from a wind turbine was fragmented and microwave-pyrolysed. The oil and gas formed during the pyrolysis were characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The oil from pyrolysis consisted mainly of various aromatic compounds and had an energy content of about 36 MJ/kg. The main component of the gaseous products was methane. The glass fiber recovered after pyrolysis represented 70 % of the initial mass of glass fiber-reinforced plastic.