NREL and Great Lakes WIND target midsized turbine designers and manufacturers

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: The U.S. DOE and NREL have launched the Midsize Wind Turbine Development Project to help close the existing technology gap and facilitate development and commercialization of midsize wind turbines. The Laboratory is sponsoring workshops in Ohio and Oklahoma, facilitated by Cleveland-based Great Lake …

Quick-locking pin speeds assembly work

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: The design features a solid, spring loaded “wedge-shaped plunger” that combines ease of use with secure fastening. The wedge-shaped plunger easily retracts when inserting the pin into a hole. The angled, ramp-like face of the wedge ensures smooth insertion. Once fully inserted, the plunger sprin …

A better coating for wind power bolts

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Andrew R. Pfeifer, Metal Coatings International Inc., Chardon, Ohio, metal-coatings.com Since the 1970s, users of high strength ASTM A490 bolts were prohibited from using metallic coatings. The main reason for this restriction was the possibility of early fracture due to hydrogen embrittlement. F …

Low speed wind power generator could take weight out of the nacelle

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: The weight of wind turbine generators is a significant issue because weight translates to costs. The structural weight of a direct-drive generator, for example, can exceed 80% of the total weight on the tower. The structure is needed to overcome the force of magnetic attraction between stationary an …

Developer says 20% blade weight reduction possible

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Increasing rotor blade length increases its swept area, thereby increasing the amount of captured energy. But larger blades add significant weight to a turbine. So reducing wind-structure weights through composite materials is essential to improving overall efficiency. HyperSizer Structural Sizi …

Can an air leak give turbine rotors an efficiency boost?

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: An idea originally developed to increase lift in slow moving aircraft wings and simplify helicopter rotors may soon improve the efficiency of wind turbine rotors and possibly reduce their cost of manufacturing. This "circulation control" aerodynamic technology could let wind turbines produce signifi …

Yaw brakes for wind turbines

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: A full array of caliper designs is available from Twiflex, Ltd. to meet the yaw braking-force requirements of any size wind turbine. All brake models are durable, hydraulically activated, and direct applied. Models T20 and T40 deliver up to 40 kN braking force, feature two-bolt side mounting, an …

Rotor brakes for wind turbines

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Twiflex brakes are fully assembled, provide high levels of reliability, easy electronic monitoring and maintenance, and come with organic or metallic linings. Friction liners are sized to ensure adequate heat dissipation during an emergency stop and with an even pressure distribution across pad surf …

Many seals for turbine tasks

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: There is a lot of sealing work in a nacelle. Hydraulic equipment, of course, needs them along with areas such as where blades meet hubs. These must all be weather tight yet allow rotation. Simrit Americas, Plymouth, Mich., manufacturers several designs in a range of materials for these applications. …

The Gearbox Standard for Windturbines gets an Upgrade

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: The recently drafted ISO/IEC standard for wind-turbine gearboxes is significant for many reasons. First, several organizations collaborated to produce ANSI/AGMA/AWEA 6006-A03, which was adopted without change in 2005 as ISO 81400-4, an international standard. The new draft (IEC project 61400-4), exp …