Wind Innovators 2012: William Lowndes III and William (Willy) Lowndes IV, Tindall Corporation

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Excerpt: After graduating from The Citadel in the early 60s, William Lowndes III aimed to satisfy his entrepreneurial drive by acquiring Tindall Concrete Pipe Co. It came with an acre of land, a two-bag-concrete mixer, and infinite possibilities for the future. Now the Spartanburg South Carolina-based Tindal …

Painting firm selects 360° blade-access platforms

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Excerpt:   Lankford Painting Company has purchased modular suspended access platforms to let its crews better inspect and repair towers and blades on Siemens 2.3-MW turbines at four different sites in Texas. “We get four different platforms with just one 360° blade-access platform (BAP) config …

Forget the towers. Let helium do the lifting.

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Excerpt: A wind energy company formed out of MIT has announced that it has demonstrated high altitude power production from an automated prototype of its airborne wind turbine. The company recently completed testing of a 35-ft scale prototype of the Altaeros Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT) at the Loring Comm …

Safety: Making MET towers more visible

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Excerpt: Meteorological Evaluation Towers (MET) are placed in remote locations to gather wind resource data for one or two years. These MET towers vary in height from 60 to 100m (197 to 328 ft) above ground level (AGL) and are getting taller to provide the best wind data. Typically, towers under 200-ft AGL r …

To be precise, the FAA has no 500-ft limit on turbine towers

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Excerpt: The FAA’s alleged 500-ft height limit for wind turbines often comes up in discussions. The figure is of greater interest lately because turbines with rotors of at least 105-m diameters on 100-m towers (frequently referred to as the new norm) will exceed the 500-ft mark. So how will the FAA hand …

Welder brings simpler operation to large welding wire diameter on thick materials

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Excerpt: The recent high amperage Flextec 650 multi-process welder from Lincoln Electric delivers up to 815 amps of welding power. Its FLEXible TEChnology lets welders use a variety of processes – stick, Touch Start TIG (DC), MIG, flux-cored CV submerged arc and arc gouging – on numerous applications …

Patent for unusual downdraft wind tower OK to file

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Excerpt:   The Downdraft Tower is a tall hollow cylinder with a water spray system at the top. Pumps deliver water to the top of the tower to spray a fine mist across the entire opening. The water evaporates and cools the hot dry air at the top. The cooled air is denser and heavier than the outsi …

New website for hydraulics

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Excerpt: Power Team has launched a newly redesigned website with enhanced features that let users more easily search products and product specifications. The company manufactures high-force hydraulic pumps, cylinders, and tools. The equipment ranges from hydraulic torque wrenches and power units for construc …

Service lifts earn UL certification

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Excerpt: Underwriters Laboratories have issued an AECO Certificate for the Shark Work Cage/Elevator for use in wind turbine towers. An AECO certification in North America represents completion of a complete review by a third party certification body whose authority stems from ISO Guide 65. Certificate is …

Huge steel-plate rolling machine now takes instructions from an iPad

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Excerpt: The largest manufacturer of offshore wind towers in Northern Europe has ordered a new DAVI heavy four-roll machine with the capability rolling steel 4.0-m wide by 145-mm thick. “It’s the largest four-roll machine in the world completely dedicated to building foundations for offshore wind tow …