EP4633897A1

EP4633897A1 - Method of treating ancillary articles used in manufacture of epoxy polymer containing item

Info

Publication number: EP4633897A1
Application number: EP23828145.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Mie Rehmeier; Troels Bach NIELSEN
Original assignee: Vestas Wind Systems AS
Current assignee: Vestas Wind Systems AS
Priority date: 2022-12-13
Filing date: 2023-12-13
Publication date: 2025-10-22
Also published as: KR20250121366A; CN120677050A; AU2023396888A1; JP2025539608A; WO2024125746A1

Abstract

A method of treating an ancillary article used in manufacturing of an epoxy polymer containing item is provided. The method comprises providing an ancillary article used in manufacturing of an epoxy polymer, wherein the ancillary article is contaminated with a 5 contaminant comprising an uncured, partially cured and/or fully cured epoxy polymer. Furthermore exposing the contaminated ancillary article to a release agent to release the contaminant from the ancillary article and forming a contaminant by-product comprising the release agent and the contaminant and finally separating the ancillary article from the contaminant by-product. In this method, the epoxy polymer is an acid breakable epoxy 10 polymer, and the release agent comprises an acid.

Description

Method of treating ancillary articles used in manufacture of epoxy polymer containing item

Technical Field

The present disclosure generally relates to methods of treating ancillary articles used in the manufacturing of an epoxy polymer containing items.

Background

Composite constructions such as wind turbine blades are typically manufactured using epoxy resin infusion technology whereby a vacuum draws liquid resin into a moulded arrangement of reinforcing materials before the resin cures to form a solid part. Various ancillary articles such as vacuum bags, resin tubes, and distribution medias are required to facilitate the handling of resin and, currently, these items are treated as non-recyclable waste after a single infusion. This is largely due to the challenges associated with removing epoxy resin at various states of cure from the ancillary articles. Also re-useable articles, such as moulds and tools, sometimes need to be scraped if they get (too) contaminated with epoxy resin.

Although many of the ancillary articles typically comprise materials with well-established routes for recycling, there is currently no established route for reusing or recycling these items once they have been contaminated with cured, partly cured and I or uncured resin during the infusion process.

It is against this background that the invention has been devised.

Summary of the Invention

According to one aspect of the invention, a method of treating an ancillary article used in manufacturing of an epoxy polymer is provided. The method comprises providing an ancillary article used in manufacturing of an epoxy polymer containing item, wherein the ancillary article is contaminated with a contaminant. The contaminant comprises an uncured, partially cured and/or fully cured epoxy polymer. In other words, the contaminant comprises an epoxy polymer which may be in the form of a cured epoxy polymer resin matrix, an oligomer, which may be in the form of a partially cured epoxy polymer resin component, and/or a monomer, which may be in the form of an uncured epoxy polymer liquid resin. In some embodiments the contaminant comprises partially cured and noncured epoxy resin. In some embodiments the contaminant comprises fully cured epoxy polymer.

The method further comprises exposing the contaminated ancillary article to a release agent to release the contaminant from the ancillary article and forming a contaminant byproduct comprising the release agent and the contaminant. The contaminant may at this stage for example be in the form of swelled epoxy particles or dissolved or suspended epoxy monomers or oligomers. It is preferred that the contaminant by-product comprises swelled epoxy particles as such particles may be separated from the contaminant byproduct for example by filtering and recycled for example by depolymerization or reused as a filler material. Finally, the method comprises separating the ancillary article from the contaminant by-product.

The epoxy polymer is an acid breakable epoxy polymer, and the release agent comprises an acid. By acid breakable epoxy polymer is herein meant an epoxy polymer capable of swelling upon exposure to an acid containing release agent to mechanically break some of the chemical bonds thus forming particles of swelled epoxy polymer or capable of chemically disassemble into monomers and/or oligomers. The process of swelling the acid breakable epoxy polymer into particles of swelled epoxy polymer is herein interchangeably referred to as swelling, acid breaking or disintegrating. Acid breakable epoxy polymers may for example be epoxy polymers based on amine cured epoxy resins such as for example Olin Airstone 760, Hexion RIMR 035C infusion epoxy, Aditya Birla Recyclamine system. In other words, epoxy polymers based on amine cured epoxy resins form a subgroup of acid breakable epoxy polymers. In the method according to the invention, it is preferred that the epoxy polymer, i.e. the uncured, partially cured or fully cured epoxy polymer comprised in the contaminant, is based on an amine cured epoxy resin.

Releasing the contaminant from the ancillary article and separating the ancillary article from the contaminant by-product provides a cleaner article which may be subsequently reused or processed for recycling. In other words, one aspect of the invention concerns a method of recycling an ancillary article used in manufacturing of an epoxy polymer containing item which ancillary article is contaminated with uncured, partially cured and/or fully cured epoxy polymer. Particularly, it is observed that consumables comprising or consisting of thermoplastic polymers, such as vacuum bags, tubes and valves used for the manufacturing of epoxy polymer containing items may be more readily recycled for example by remelting and moulding when the epoxy polymer contaminants have been removed.

In some embodiments, the contaminant may be extracted from the contaminant by-product and subsequently reused or recycled. The extraction may for example involve adjustment of pH of the contaminant by-product and/or filtering, drying for example in an oven or by spray drying followed by separation of swelled epoxy particles by filtering or cyclone separator. The extraction may involve distillation of the contaminant by-product, preferably at reduced pressure. The extraction may involve separation by cooling of the contaminant by-product optionally in combination with filtering. In this way, waste produced in the manufacture of epoxy polymer containing components such as wind turbine blades may be reduced. Monomers and/or oligomers of chemically disassembled epoxy polymer may for example be separated physically from the contaminant by-product by phase separation or distillation or by chemical separation. Recycling of the contaminant may include depolymerizing the contaminant when the contaminant is partially cured or fully cured epoxy polymer resin preferably back to monomers, such as bisphenol A (BPA). Since there is no natural source for BPA and BPA is produced from fossil type materials achieving BPA by recycling of Epoxy polymer which otherwise may have ended as landfill waste (due to complication of epoxy being the mixture with ancillary articles) is highly desirable. The release agent may be recovered during the process for example as pass-through fraction in the filter or by condensation of gas after spray drying and cyclone separation of solids. Thereafter the release agent optionally with remaining smaller amounts of contaminant may be reused as a release agent - optionally after processing for example to purify or adjust composition - or the release agent may be recycled in which case it is preferred that all the contaminant (and not only a part of the contaminant) is extracted from the contaminated by-product prior to the release agent being recycled.

The method may comprise reusing the contaminated by-product as release agent after extracting at least some of the contaminant from the contaminant by-product. Optionally the contaminated by-product to be reused as release agent may be further processed before use, for example to purify or adjust composition.

The contaminant may comprise an inert component and the inert component may be released from the ancillary article to the contaminant by-product. The inert component may be a non-swellable polymer component (such as for example an epoxy that is not acid breakable, a thermoplastic polymer, or a polyester), a metal component (such as for example a sensor, a lightning conductor, a lightning receptor, or a fastener), a fibre component (such as glass fibre, carbon fibre or a composite comprising such fibres and an inert matrix material), or a particulate component (such as for example a ceramic, glass or inert polymer particle).

Surprisingly it was found that the release of the contaminant was particularly fast when the release agent comprises an organic acid and particularly when the release agent comprises formic acid and/or acetic acid. Particularly release agents comprising formic acid was found to provide a fast release with higher acid concentrations, such as above 50 weight-% formic acid in aqueous solution, preferably 60 weight-% to 100 weight-% formic acid in aqueous solution and more preferably 75 weight-% to 95 weight-% formic acid in aqueous solution.

The process of exposing the contaminated ancillary article to the release agent may comprise spraying, submersing and/or rinsing the ancillary article in or with the release agent.

To increase speed of the release of contaminant from the ancillary article, the release agent may be heated before or during exposure of the ancillary article to the release agent. For example, the release agent may be heated to at least 25°C, at least 40°C, or (most preferred) at least 50°C with higher temperature leading to faster release of the contaminant. On the other hand, too high temperature was found to be un-preferred as it may lead to degradation of the ancillary article, excessive evaporation of the release agent and/or excessive energy consumption. It was found to be preferred that the release agent was heated to below 90°C, and more preferred that the release agent was heated to below 80°C. The release agent may for example be heated in a container with an internal or external heating device prior to spraying on the ancillary article. Alternatively or additionally, the release agent may be heated in a container where the ancillary article with contaminant is dipped or otherwise submersed into. Alternatively or additionally, the ancillary article with release agent may be placed or transported through an oven to heat the release agent after exposure of the ancillary article.

The method may comprise treating the contaminated ancillary article mechanically before, during or after exposing the contaminated ancillary article to the release agent. The mechanical treatment may for example divide the contaminant into pieces, break off contaminant from the surface of the ancillary article and/or divide the contaminated ancillary article into smaller pieces. In some cases, the mechanical treatment may allow for better or faster contact between the contaminant and the release agent during the exposing of the contaminated product to the release agent. In some cases, the mechanical treatment may allow for faster and/or more complete separation of the ancillary article from the contaminant by-product. In some cases, the mechanical treatment may allow for removal of some of the contaminant from the contaminated ancillary article before exposing the contaminated ancillary article to the release agent and thereby for example reduce the exposure time between the release agent and the contaminated ancillary article and/or reduce the amount of contaminant to be separated from the contaminant by-product before reuse of the release agent. The mechanical treatment may for example involve impact, bending, compressing, shredding, scraping, brushing, (high-)pressure cleaning with air or water, vacuum cleaning, rubbing, shaking and/or washing the contaminated ancillary article optionally including or followed separation of mechanically released contaminant from the contaminated ancillary article.

The method may comprise treating the contaminated ancillary article mechanically during and/or after exposing the contaminated ancillary article to the release agent as this was found to be advantageous in speeding up the release of the contaminant and/or in reducing contaminant remaining on the ancillary article after the method. The mechanical treatment may for example be by brushing, (high-)pressure cleaning with air or water, vacuum cleaning, rubbing, and/or shaking. It could be theorized without being limited thereto that the positive effect of the mechanical treatment may be due to facilitating the access to deeper parts of the contaminant particularly during the release process, to facilitating removing of swelled epoxy particles loosely bound to the ancillary article after release process and/or mechanically breaking contaminant into pieces or breaking off contaminant from the surface of the ancillary article.

The ancillary article may comprise a thermoplastic material and/or may comprise secondary items or consumables used in the manufacture of composite wind turbine blades such as vacuum bags, distribution mediums, hoses or tubes, valves, tools, such as spatulas, buckets, brushed, rolls, moulds, and the like.

The ancillary article may comprise a confined space and the confined space be contaminated with the contaminant. In the present context, a confined space is a space that has limited or restricted means for entry and exit. Examples of confined spaces in the present context are therefore structures with through holes or blind holes such as for example tubes, hoses, pipes, buckets, cups and other partially closed containers. Here, the method may further comprise mechanically removing at least some of the contaminant from the confined space before or during exposing the contaminated ancillary article to the release agent. Mechanically removing may for example be by digging, scraping, pushing (e.g. by pressurized air or a liquid such as water, a solvent and/or release agent), pulling (e.g. by vacuum or a tool comprising a hook like feature), breaking (e.g. by impact, by bending or by compressing the contaminant and/or the ancillary article), and/or by peeling off the ancillary article or the contaminant. Preferably, the mechanically removing takes place while the contaminant is uncured or partially cured and the contaminant exhibit some level of flowability as this facilitate mechanically removing by non-contact means such as by vacuum, or pressurized air to contamination of further ancillary articles. The mechanically removed contaminant may be combined with the contaminant by-product where it may be swelled and/or chemically disassembled and recycled together with the swelled epoxy particles or chemically disassembled epoxy polymer of the contaminant. Mechanically removing at least a part of the contaminant from the confined space may allow for reducing the distance that the release agent have to swell or chemically disassemble into the contaminant and thereby reducing the time for release of the contaminant from the ancillary article.

The ancillary article may be used in the manufacturing of various items comprising acid breakable epoxy polymers, such as items coated with acid breakable epoxy polymer based coating, electrical systems and electronics, adhesives, and glass fibre reinforced items like for example boats, kayaks, swimming pools, or composite components. It was found to be particularly advantageous that the ancillary article is an ancillary article used in the manufacturing of a wind turbine blade due to the size of wind turbine blades and the amount of consumable such as vacuum bags and other ancillary articles used in the manufacturing of wind turbine blades.

The method of any preceding claim wherein the release agent further comprises an organic solvent, a surfactant, a colorant, and/or a salt. Brief Description of the Drawings

So that it may be more fully understood, the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings, in which like features are assigned like reference numerals, and in which:

Figures 1 a to 1 c are schematic representations of generic resin infusion apparatus. Figure 1a shows the apparatus before resin infusion; Figure 1 b shows the apparatus during resin infusion; and Figure 1c shows the apparatus once resin infusion is complete.

Figure 2 is a flowchart representation of a method of treating an ancillary article according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

In general terms, embodiments of the invention provide methods for treating ancillary articles that have come into contact with a liquid epoxy polymer resin system during manufacture of an epoxy polymer containing item, such as a composite and preferably a wind turbine blade, and are thereby contaminated with uncured, partially cured and I or fully cured epoxy polymer. The approach involves exposing the contaminated article to release agent containing an acid so as to remove any of the resin system that has adhered to the surface of the article. The release agent reacts with the resin system causing it to swell and/or causing it to chemically disassemble and release from the surface of the article. Removing the resin system from the article provides a cleaned ancillary article, which can be reused or recycled for its raw materials.

To provide context for the invention, Figures 1a to 1c show a schematical example of a typical resin infusion process which may be used for manufacturing a part or a whole of a composite wind turbine blade. As shown, an assembly of reinforcing material 2 is arranged within a mould cavity 4 and is covered with a vacuum bagging material 6. In this example, the assembly of reinforcing material 2 comprises multiple layers of a fibre reinforcement 8 such as glass, carbon and/or aramid fibre. However, it is contemplated that the assembly of reinforcing material 2 may comprise any number and combination of reinforcing materials suitable for use in the context of wind turbine blade manufacture, and further including for example foam or balsa wood cores, composite constructions like spar caps, sensors, lightning conductors and lightning receptors, heating panels, and root inserts.

The vacuum bagging material 6 is sealed against an upper surface 10 of the mould cavity 4 to provide an air-tight space 24 around the assembly of reinforcing material 2, between the vacuum bagging material 6 and the upper surface 10 of the mould cavity 4. An outlet line 12 to a vacuum pump (not shown) is coupled to the vacuum bagging material 6 at an outlet valve, and an inlet line 18 from a reservoir 20 of a liquid resin 26 of an acid breakable epoxy polymer is coupled to the vacuum bagging material 6 at an inlet valve. During the resin infusion process, air is evacuated from the air-tight space 24 via the outlet valve to form a vacuum around the assembly of reinforcing material 2. The liquid resin 26 is then drawn into the assembly of reinforcing material 2 via the inlet valve under the vacuum. In some embodiments, a distribution media (or flow media) may be laid between the top of the assembly of reinforcing material 2 and the vacuum bag 6 to promote uniform resin flow across the assembly of reinforcing material 2. Such distribution medias typically comprise a high-density polyethylene mesh. Once the assembly of reinforcing material 2 is fully wet out by the liquid resin 26, the resin cures or solidifies to form a matrix material which binds the assembly of reinforcing materials into a unified rigid part.

Generally, the liquid resin 26 is a viscous liquid prepolymer system configured to convert into a solid polymer system by the process of curing. The liquid resin (or resin system) 26 comprises a base resin component and may comprise a curing agent or hardener which chemically triggers the curing process. Applying heat and I or UV light to the resin system 26 may additionally or alternatively influence curing.

The epoxy polymer matrix material which results from curing the liquid resin 26 is a thermosetting material. As is well understood in the art, a thermoset material is a solid polymeric system obtained by irreversible chemical crosslinking of a resin system. Due to the irreversible nature of the chemical cross-links, known thermoset materials cannot readily be chemically disassembled and so can be difficult to process for recycling.

The epoxy polymer resin systems used in manufacturing of the epoxy polymer containing items discussed herein are acid breakable epoxy polymers. Acid breakable epoxy polymers may for example be epoxy polymers based on amin cured epoxy resins such as for example Olin Airstone 760, Hexion RIMR 035C infusion epoxy, Aditya Birla Recyclamine system. The vacuum bagging material 6, inlet and outlet valves, inlet and outlet lines 12, 18, distribution media, and any other materials or components used in the resin infusion process which are not intended to be part of the cured component are known as ancillary articles or materials. Some of these are consumables or single use materials. Examples are vacuum bagging material 6, inlet and outlet lines 12, 18, and distribution media, which are typically made from thermoplastic material. Examples of such thermoplastic material include polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, nylon, and some polyesters like for example PET. Inlet and outlet valves may comprise thermoplastic and I or metallic materials. Other ancillary articles are intended for multiple use such as tools and moulds.

Tools used for the handling or application of epoxy resin in other manufacturing methods are also considered as ancillary articles which may be treated according to the described methods. For example, spatulas, brushes, rollers and buckets are examples of such tools. Another group of ancillary articles are personal protection equipment. Working with epoxy resins may require use of protective equipment such as protective suits, gloves, safety glasses and shoes. If such ancillary articles become contaminated with resin during use, they often have to be discarded and removing the contaminant using the method of the present invention may therefore increase reuse or improve useability and value of recycled material.

As will be understood, the liquid resin 26 contacts these ancillary articles during resin preparation and/or infusion and, due to the resin’s viscous and generally sticking properties, some adheres to the contacted surfaces. As the infusion process progresses, the adhered resin may partially or fully cure to the ancillary article, thus resulting in an ancillary article contaminated with cured, uncured, and/or partially cured resin for epoxy polymer. That is to say, the ancillary article is contaminated with liquid prepolymer resin and I or solid epoxy polymer matrix material. The contaminating epoxy resin system 26 in the form of prepolymer resin and I or matrix material may be referred to as a contaminant which comprises a polymer, oligomers, and/or monomers.

T urning now to Figure 2, a method of treating an ancillary article contaminated with a liquid resin system 26 for an epoxy polymer as described above is shown in flowchart format. As shown, the first step 28 of the method involves recovering the contaminated ancillary article from the resin infusion set-up upon completion of the resin infusion process. The ancillary article may be contaminated with cured, uncured, partially cured resin, or a combination thereof.

Optionally, the contaminated ancillary article may first be mechanically broken down by means of cutting or shredding.

According to a second step 30, the contaminated ancillary article is then exposed to a release agent by for example by rinsing or submersing in release agent containing an acid, such as acetic acid or formic acid. This which causes the uncured, partially cured or fully cured epoxy resin to degrade by swelling into swelled epoxy particles or chemically disassemble into monomers and/or oligomers while leaving the ancillary article substantially intact. The acetic acid or formic acid of the release agent preferably has a concentration of 60% to 90% in water. The release agent causes the resin to soften, disintegrate and I or dissolve in the release agent and thereby release from the surface of the ancillary article. That is to say, the resin releases from the surface of the ancillary article and forms a contaminant by-product with the release agent and optionally inert component such as glass fibres.

The step 30 of rinsing may be executed by submerging the contaminated ancillary article in a bath of the release agent, for example. Preferably, the contaminated ancillary article is submerged for up to 1 hour to allow for a reaction time sufficient for the resin structure to degrade such that it is released from the surface of the ancillary article. The sufficient reaction time generally depends on at least the temperature and concentration of the release agent and the surface to volume ratio of the contaminant and may in many cases by much longer such as for example up to 10 hours or up to 48 hours. Mechanical treatment may also reduce the release time. The contaminant by-product formed from the release agent and the degraded resin is collected in the bath and may be a mixture or solution of the acid and the degraded resin. Additionally or alternatively, the contaminant by-product may comprise solid resin pieces or particles of swelled epoxy polymer, which may settle at the bottom of the bath.

In embodiments where the ancillary article is a hose or tube, such as the inlet and outlet lines, the release agent may be flushed through the hose to further promote resin release.

As shown in step 32, the release agent may be heated before or during rinsing of the ancillary article in order to accelerate the release of contaminant. Use of a heated release agent in the rinsing was found to be particularly advantageous when the ancillary article is a thermoplastic article. In such embodiments, the increased temperature of the release agent increased the flexibility of the ancillary article, thus further facilitating mechanical release of the contaminant from the surface of the ancillary article. Preferably, the release agent is heated to a temperature approximately in the range of 60°C to 90°C.

Once the resin is released from the ancillary article, the ancillary article is removed from the release agent or contaminant by-product bath and prepared for either recycling or reuse, as shown in steps 34 and 36. For example, an ancillary article may be rinsed in water to remove any residual contaminant by-product, and dried for example in pressurised gas so that it may be used again in another resin infusion process. Alternatively, the clean ancillary article may be entered into the appropriate waste stream for recycling as a cleaner and hence higher value and/or easier recyclable raw material.

According to step 38, after the ancillary article has been removed from the contaminant by-product, the contaminant including degraded resin is extracted from the contaminant by-product using an appropriate separation technique, for example using combination of one or more of adjustment of pH, filtering, separation centrifuging, evaporation, spray drying, and cyclone separator.

The recovered degraded resin is then recycled using known recycling methods in step 40. The recycling may involve depolymerisation to yield for example BPA, which may be used as a greener source for new epoxy resin. Once the contaminant including degraded resin is at least partially removed from the contaminant by-product, the release agent may - optionally after treatment - be reused in the described method for treating a contaminated ancillary article, as seen in step 42. Reuse of release agent was found to be particularly advantageous when only a part of the contaminant is extracted from the contaminated byproduct, since the reuse of the release agent ensures that the part of the contaminant not extracted is not lost but would eventually be extracted after a later use of the release agent in the method of the invention. Furthermore, extracting only a part of the contaminant is faster and more energy efficient. When only a part of the contaminant is extracted, this corresponds to reusing the contaminated by-product as release agent after extracting at least some of the contaminant from the contaminant by-product. It is contemplated that multiple ancillary articles may be rinsed in the same bath simultaneously. The skilled person will appreciate that modifications may be made to the specific embodiments described above without departing from the inventive concept as defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A method of treating an ancillary article used in manufacturing of an epoxy polymer containing item, the method comprising: providing an ancillary article used in manufacturing of an epoxy polymer, wherein the ancillary article is contaminated with a contaminant comprising an uncured, partially cured and/or fully cured epoxy polymer; exposing the contaminated ancillary article to a release agent to release the contaminant from the ancillary article and forming a contaminant by-product comprising the release agent and the contaminant; separating the ancillary article from the contaminant by-product; wherein the epoxy polymer is an acid breakable epoxy polymer, and the release agent comprises an acid.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the release agent comprises an organic acid, preferably the release agent comprises formic acid and/or acetic acid.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the contaminant by-product comprises swelled epoxy particles.

4. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the epoxy polymer is based on an amine cured epoxy resin.

5. The method of any preceding claim further comprising recycling or reusing the ancillary article.

6. The method of any preceding claim further comprising extracting the contaminant from the contaminant by-product and recycling the contaminant, preferably recycling the contaminant include depolymerizing the contaminant.

7. The method of any preceding claim further comprising reusing the contaminated byproduct as release agent after extracting at least some of the contaminant from the contaminant by-product.

8. The method of any preceding claim wherein the contaminant comprises an inert component and the inert component is released from the ancillary article to the contaminant by-product, preferably the inert component is a non-swellable polymer component, a metal component, a fibre component, or a particulate component.

9. The method of any preceding claim wherein the release agent further comprises an organic solvent, a surfactant, a colorant, and/or a salt.

10. The method of any preceding claims, wherein the contaminant comprises uncured and/or partially cured epoxy polymer, the method further comprising curing the epoxy polymer prior to exposing the contaminated ancillary article to the release agent.

11 . The method of any preceding claim wherein exposing the contaminated ancillary article to the release agent comprises spraying, submersing and/or rinsing the ancillary article in or with the release agent.

12. The method of any preceding claim further comprising heating the release agent before or during exposure of the ancillary article to the release agent.

13. The method of any preceding claim further comprising treating the contaminated ancillary article mechanically.

14. The method of any preceding claim further comprising treating the contaminated ancillary article mechanically during and/or after exposing the contaminated ancillary article to the release agent.

15. The method of any preceding claim wherein the ancillary article comprises a thermoplastic polymer.

16. The method of any preceding claim wherein the ancillary article comprises one or more of a vacuum bag, a tube or a hose, a valve, a tool, a personal protective equipment and/or a mould.

17. The method of any preceding claim where the ancillary article comprises a confined space and the confined space is contaminated with the contaminant, wherein the method further comprises mechanically removing at least some of the contaminant from the confined space before or during exposing the contaminated ancillary article to the release agent.

18. The method of any preceding claim wherein the ancillary article is an ancillary article used in the manufacturing of a wind turbine blade.