Weather assessment? Not a problem

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Excerpt: A manufacturer of climate-monitoring devices has a new product for weather assessment. Santa Barbara-based Lufft USA will add MODBUS, a data protocol, to its list of communication standards. The protocol lets many devices connected to the same network communicate. One example is a system that me …

60-m met package standard and customized

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Excerpt: A 60-m meteorological mast and customizable met-tower package can help with wind measurements. Manufacturer of wind measuring equipment Second Wind offers ProMast 60 for developers prospecting new wind farm sites. The tower package includes a tubular tower, mounting options, and an array of i …

What to expect from oil sensors and sampling

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Excerpt: The three drive-train components that fail most frequently are the main bearings, gearboxes, and generators. All are lubricated, yet oil analysis focuses only on the gearbox. Keep in mind that a wind-turbine gearbox is a box with gears, bearings, and oil. So what’s to fail? Gears, bearings, an …

What to expect from oil sensors and sampling

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Excerpt: The three drive-train components that fail most frequently are the main bearings, gearboxes, and generators. All are lubricated, yet oil analysis focuses only on the gearbox. Keep in mind that a wind-turbine gearbox is a box with gears, bearings, and oil. So what’s to fail? Gears, bearings, an …

Does the oil need changing? Debris monitor tells

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Excerpt: Wind turbines have historically suffered various recurring failures. Some have been eradicated, but other breakdowns continue to plague the industry. Gearbox reliability is one such issue. Early failures were mainly attributed to micro-pitting in gears (or grey staining) but that is now almo …

Wind data from tall towers without their purchase

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Excerpt: Met towers are a must for a proper site assessment. But it takes a while to get them ordered, shipped, and erected, and their cost gets close to $100,000. Wouldn’t it be great to get the wind data without the tower? Engineers at WindPole Ventures agree, and so have devised a way to acquire rea …

Plating protects fittings against corrosion

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Excerpt: A proprietary plating gives hydraulic fittings protection against red rust. This helps users avoid the cost of corrosion which is calculated in terms of possible leak points and replacement fittings, along with potential lost sales stemming Parker TFD fittings and those from five major competito …

Intelligent vibration monitoring for wind plants

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Excerpt: An early failure indicator in wind-turbine equipment is a change in its vibration level. On a typical wind turbine, bearing failure and gearbox damage are major causes of turbine downtime. Key to detecting potential failure of wind turbine equipment before it happens is a continuous monitoring o …

Strong wind, weak policy in Wyoming

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Excerpt: Land procurement and development for wind farms is no walk-in-the-park. Obstacles, such as zoning and lack of transmission right-of-ways, are hampering current projects, but even more troubling are new obstacles state legislatures and city councils are implementing, such as those recen …

New ventilation ideas clean the air in plants

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Excerpt: The blades on wind turbines, and to some extent nacelles, are now made of composites, often fiberglass reinforced plastics (FRP) and in some cases carbon fibers. When these components come out of a mold, they require a little grinding and milling that put dust and debris into a plant’s air. Althou …