What changed?
The Impacts and Benefits
Benefits for the Company
The KTP has enabled diversification of RPL's service offering and supported a legacy of competency within RPL, allowing for future process iterations, and expansion of RPL's portfolio post KTP, driving future business growth. RPL already supplied remanufactured products to the major utility and wind farm owners/operators for assets which are half-way through their life. Developing both the business model and the technical capability of evaluating acquisition of wind turbine minor components to be remanufactured and sold to existing and new customers, has unlocked a large market for parts that were otherwise hard to find and with long lead time spare. It has promoted the creation of local and national feedstock of parts, further securing availability and a sustainable and robust Scottish and UK supply chain.
Benefits for the Academic Team
Remanufacturing is a topic which has been firmly embedded in several sectors including aerospace, office equipment and automotive but is still at its relative infancy with respect to the renewable energy. This KTP offered an exciting opportunity to establish a leading research activity around the end-of-life extension of complex components.
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) has rarely been applied as part of a justification process to remanufacture a component. High academic interest is around demonstrating that LCA can be robustly applied to both the part and process and complemented with other drivers such as economic and technology viability.
The validation of the remanufacturing processes was achieved through the development of novel material characterisation protocols aimed at providing greater knowledge and confidence in the remanufacturing process.
As the project provided the foundation for establishing a world-leading materials processing capability in Scotland and the UK, it has generated an impactful REF case study for the University of Strathclyde. It has also informed and continues to inform undergraduate projects that develop students' knowledge in turbine decommissioning, remanufacturing and materials characterisation, and Vertically Integrated Projects for Sustainable Development, offering students an exploratory, research-based and transformative learning experience aligned with the University's ethos of "useful learning".
Benefits for the KTP Associate
- The opportunity and budgetary availability to develop both hard and soft skills through training, development courses, conferences, and trade shows.
- Access to University of Strathclyde expertise and resources such as software, hardware, library, as well as membership to associations and/or institutions, accessing their databases and discounted fares on organised professional events.
- Access to University of Strathclyde benefits such as employment status, pension, holidays etc.
- Academic as well as industrial supervision, experiencing first-hand the academic knowledge side as well as the industrial practical side of the project.
- Leadership experience in working with other people.
- Access to a wider academic and industrial team for support to broaden skills and knowledge.
- Widening of professional network with newly forged relations and strengthening the already existing ones.
- The wider support network of the KTP centre and other fellow KTP associates, as well as past associate.
- Increasing his/her employability for the future, wherever that might be, due to all the above experience.