Graco helps provide the right lubrication to the right bearing

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Excerpt: A wide range of automatic lubrication products protect wind turbines while they operate. Accurate, reliable, and adjustable lubrication for each lube point keeps critical machinery in the nacelle running at peak performance for increased productivity, lower maintenance costs, and more efficient lubr …

New, longer lasting brake pads for wind turbine

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Excerpt: Tribco Inc. will exhibit brake pads that last 3 to 5 times longer than conventional brake pads—but won’t scratch or wear down brake rotors—because they are lined with Braketex, the world’s first and only 100% Kevlar fibered composite friction lining. Braketex is also virtually dust fr …

Yaw and pitch drives for wind turbines

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Excerpt: Series 700T slew drives from Bonfiglioli USA, Hebron, Kentucky, come in 13 sizes with output as high as 70,000 Nm thanks to planetary gearing with up to three stages. Output shaft with integral pinion rides on wide-span, high-load bearings. A robust housing features low or raised mounting flange. In …

Gearboxes for pitch drives

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Excerpt: Pitch drives are located at the base of turbine blades to turn them so they capture wind or let it pass. Limited space and reliability requirements have led Wittenstein, Bartlett, Ill, to develop the alpha TP+ and alpha SP+ drives for those applications and others. Adding sensors to the drive …

Teeter bearing help wind turbines Sssssssh

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Excerpt: A few early wind turbines in the U.K. drew considerable criticism because they were noisy, So Wind Energy Group Ltd. (WEG) paid more attention to acoustic isolation in the recent MS-3 turbine. The primary noise-attenuation feature was a Metalastik Spherilastik “teeter” bearing from Trellebo …

Cylindrical roller bearing now handles greater loads

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Excerpt: Compared with traditional cylindrical roller bearings for wind-gearboxes, SKF USA, Kulpsville, Pa., says its design carries greater load. SKF high capacity cylindrical roller bearings are improved for higher load ratings, for a higher safety factor, extended service life, and a higher power dens …

Automated lube lengthens life of bearings and seals

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Excerpt: Maintenance crews acknowledge that frequent lubrications with small quantities extend the working life of bearings and seals. But long hours of hub crawling is physically and mentally demanding work. A better idea is a centralized and automatic lubrication system for wind turbines. One instance, …

A material for large parts, without an autoclave

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Excerpt: Cycom 5320 is a toughened epoxy resin prepreg system from Cytec Engineered Materials, Woodland Park, NJ. It is intended for out-of-autoclave (OOA) manufacturing yet provides the performance of an autoclaved material with the benefit of lower processing costs and manufacturing flexibility. The materi …

Tensioning bolts hydraulically

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Excerpt: Hydraulic mounting equipment from Riverhawk Co., New Hartford, NY, consist of specialized tools for installing and removing compressor wheels, thrust discs, and hydraulically fitted coupling hubs. The company says its bolt tensioning equipment has advantages of A modular design that …

How clean is oil in the turbine? Monitor tells

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Excerpt: Operators of hydraulic and lubrication equipment are paying more attention to oil contamination. On the one hand, more value is being placed on well-thought-out, high grade filters. And on the other hand, more attention is being paid to monitoring the oil’s cleanliness. In the case of high-val …