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ELLE™ Leading Edge Protection

Dudeinacrane

Leading edge protection with Polytech

Enhance your blade performance, reduce your operating costs, and improve the levelized cost of energy (LCoE). Top that with a solution designed to protect for a lifetime, and you get ELLE™- Everlasting Leading Edge. For any site. Offshore. Onshore.

Leading edge erosion – a billion-dollar problem

Micro-scale surface erosion can already reduce aerodynamic performance. And in worst cases, erosion can compromise the blade's structural integrity.

Leading edge erosion is a current and future problem. Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie forecasts that the money spent repairing leading edges globally will surpass one billion dollars per year by the end of the decade.

IMG 3338 Måde
Erosion Risk Matrix
Tip speed and annual rainfall are two main drivers of leading edge erosion, resulting in different erosion risks.

Site-specific leading edge protection

Your turbines will experience significantly different leading edge erosion rates depending on their location and types. This makes it difficult to choose the right leading edge protection – and complicated to forecast its durability and financial value.

But once you know your erosion risks, you can decide on the most optimal LEP strategy.

At Polytech, we have developed site-optimized leading edge protection solutions to make your choice easier:

  • ELLE™ Onshore for onshore environments and moderate-risk sites
  • ELLE™ for offshore environments and high to very-high risk sites

Leading edge erosion calculator

Our leading edge erosion calculator follows the DNV-RP-0573 and evaluates and predicts the durability of erosion protection systems. This way, we can calculate leading edge erosion at your specific site for your specific turbine.

You will also get to see how our ELLE™ solutions would protect your turbines at the site.

Calculate the erosion risk at your site

Erosion Calculator Imac No Background

Meet the ELLE™ family

Site-optimized Leading Edge Protection. Anyplace. Anywhere. Anytime

Installation during manufacturing
Retrofit
Application conditions –temperature (°C) 10-35°C 5-35°C
Application conditions – relative humidity (RH) 0-100% RH 30-90% RH
Sealer -
Pressure-sensitive adhesive
Fit Standard that fits all blades Custom to fit specific blade design
Delivery On continuous, 33m-long rolls (cut and install) 1 m pieces in sealed vacuum bags
Shelf life Up to 18 months Up to 18 months
Training -

Why choose ELLE™?

It all comes down to expertise and experience that we have built over 25+ years



Proven to provide the most optimal AEP over the lifetime of your turbine

Most durable solution on the market

Tested and validated according to DNV and ASTM standards

Field validated on 18,000+ turbines on 5 continents

The most durable material on the market

We know materials. We are born out of polyurethane (PUR); one of the strongest, most versatile, and most durable industry materials, hence our name Polytech.

25+ years of material R&D, accredited laboratory testing, field exposure tests, and field validation on more than 55,000 blades. 

All this is behind the chosen material for ELLE™.

The ELLE™ surfaces are designed and dimensioned to absorb the kinetic energy from all airborne particles, including rain, hail, and sand.

As such, ELLE™ perfectly protects the rigid fiberglass surface of the blade.

ELLE Leading Edge Protection Material

DNV verified ELLE™'s

  • erosion strength,
  • risk of delamination,
  • test results, and
  • lifetime durability calculations

according to DNV-RP-0573.

As such, ELLE™ is currently the only leading edge protection solution on the market that is verified by DNV. You can therefore trust its durability – and the expertise that lies behind our ELLE™ solutions.

Blog DNV Certificate ELLE Lifetime

ELLE™ can be applied during manufacturing but can also be retrofitted to your installed base.

Require your OEM to install ELLE™ during blade manufacturing for your turbines. Installation in this controlled environment eliminates any dust, air bubbles, etc. under ELLE™, and can lower common installation mistakes.

And if you have operating turbines, then it is not too late. You can easily apply ELLE™ using rope or basket. We know that installations might be postponed at the very last minute due to, e.g., bad weather. That is why we designed our solutions with a wide application window.

ELLE Leading Edge Protction Installation

 

Contact us

Get in touch with our Sales team directly or contact our Business Development Director William Tyllström to learn more about how our solutions can optimize your operations.

 

William Tyllstom
William Tyllström
Business Development Director