A valuable application for shredded composite material from wind turbine blades

The wind energy industry is growing significantly, which increases the number of decommissioned wind turbines as well. The blades of wind turbines are mainly made of fiber reinforced thermoset polymer composite, which is difficult to recycle. Most blades currently end up in landfill or incineration which is a waste of this high value material....

Modelling far-field dredge plume dispersion

By its very nature dredging is an environmental impact, since dredging includes the excavation and/or relocation of sediment in a river, sea or estuary. One of the environmental impacts related to dredging is increased suspended sediment concentration (SSC) levels, forming plumes of sediment. These so called dredge plumes originate from spillage...

Mfolozi floodplain flood management

The Mfolozi Floodplain is situated in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and is part of Africa’s largest estuarine system: the St Lucia system. This estuarine system forms the main part of the iSimangaliso Wetland, which is a World Heritage Site of UNESCO. Since the beginning of the twentieth century the Mfolozi Floodplain is under...

Fieldwork coastal engineering: Artificial islands Asparuhovo, Bulgaria

Sirius Beach and Azalea Beach are beaches situated north of Varna in Bulgaria. The beaches have names of hotels situated at the beach. The hotel owners describe large scale erosion at the beaches over the years. Throughout the years groups of students from Delft have measured the waterline (by GPS) and the cross sections. The beaches are...