Hempablade Edge 171 is Hempel's new coating for leading edge protection (LEP) on wind turbine rotor blades.
Hempel, coatings supplier to the wind energy industry, announced the launch of Hempablade Edge 171, a new coating for leading edge protection (LEP) on wind turbine rotor blades.
With the highest rain erosion performance data on the market for a liquid LEP and some of the lowest dry film thicknesses, Hempablade Edge 171 provides long-term protection against rain erosion and reduces time and cost during rain application. “Hempablade Edge 171 is one of the simplest LEP solutions on the market to apply, yet able to withstand the toughest environmental conditions. It provides exceptional protection against rain erosion and composite damages. This extends the interval between maintenance and repairs, giving operators more uptime and lower maintenance costs”, explains Lars Rindom Jensen, Head of Solutions for Wind Blades.
Furthermore, Hempablade Edge 171 requires some of the lowest dry film thickness on the market – just 150 microns – and only needs one or two coats to ensure high protection. This increases application speeds, allowing customers to maintain more blades with the resources available.
“Hempablade Edge 171 has been developed as we listened to the industry challenges and requirements. Its low thickness reduces LEP consumption, application time and drying time, so applicators can work faster, whether they are onsite or in the blade production. It also has a wide application window – from 5-35°C – which means applicators can extend the maintenance season and working day. The result is higher productivity and less blade downtime during maintenance”, says Lars.
“Hempel is recognised as the industry’s leading coatings supplier,” Lars explains. “We fully understand the challenges manufacturers, operators and maintenance companies face and are the only coatings company with an in-house RET facility. During development and validation, we put Hempablade Edge 171 through more than 400 exhaustive tests to ensure it delivers extremely valuable performance and application benefits. We are very proud to offer it to our customers.”