The SynchroTeq is a modular system used to synchronously activate high-voltage circuit breakers.

The SynchroTeq is a modular system used to synchronously activate high-voltage circuit breakers. It can control a brand of breakers on the market. When using a SynchroTeq system, there is no requirement for switching resistor banks, therefore reducing expenses related to auxiliary chambers. It also improves the quality of the wave delivered on the network and protects the breaker contacts.
The SynchroTeq Plus system adds to the Point On Wave switching capability of the SynchroTeq but also manages the residual Flux for improved performance and added grid control flexibility. A few features include:

• Point On Wave switching platforms are suitable for all high-voltage circuit breakers, regardless of manufacturer

• Reduced stress on electric networks and high-voltage-power equipment. Therefore, they lower maintenance costs and increase the lifespan of expensive power equipment

• Capabilities such as residual-flux management for power transformer energization and integrated C/B monitoring

• A single platform accommodates rackmount installation in substation control house or integration within high-voltage circuit breaker’s control cabinet. Compatibility with major substation protocols including IEC 61850 / DNP3 / IEC 60870-5-10x.

Downloadable documents regarding SynchroTeq platforms come from the company’s Registration link.

Vizimax
www.vizimax.com

Windpower Engineering & Development

Learn more about platforms such as this one in a recent catalog from SafeWorks LLC.

Spider, a division of SafeWorks, LLC, announced the release of the 4th edition of its Spider Solutions Catalog, a comprehensive product catalog for the suspended-access industry. Celebrating the company’s 65th anniversary this year, the company says it has updated in-depth product information including key features, specifications, drawings, photographs, codes & regulations, and accessory lists. New features in this 320+ page reference guide include new products, such as:

• A Wind Turbine Access section highlights new products for wind-turbine maintenance and repair, including blade and tower access platforms and an innovative, reconfigurable 360° blade-access platform
• New rigging devices that add capabilities and shorten rigging time
• A new application of the LSR1 as a fall arrest anchorage

Also in-depth case studies tell how Spider solves demanding access challenges. Updated bilingual tear-out rental equipment guides help users visually identify items on site. “Now more than ever, contractors and facility owners need safe, reliable solutions that lower the total cost of access in this age of tighter budgets,” says company VP John Sotiroff. “With new products that deliver this efficiency and still more useful tools to wring the most value out of our solutions, Spider is proud to add this new desktop reference guide to our extensive tool box.” Catalogs can be requested or downloaded online at www.spiderstaging.com, or by calling 877-774-3370.

Spider Staging
www.spiderstaging.com/Wind/WindIndex.aspx

Windpower Engineering & Development

The 1000P’s portable control box, weighing only 8.5 lbs, is easy to set up – just click, plug, and climb.

Power Climber Wind has completed installation of 66 IBEX 1000P climb assist systems at Erie Shore Wind Farm near Port Burwell, Ontario, Canada. The wind farm is one of the largest wind power facilities in Canada, owned by Capstone Infrastructure, representing about 2.2% of installed wind capacity. Each 1.5 MW wind turbine is 80-m tall.

“After considering the costs associated with finding, training, and retaining a crew of top quality technicians, as well as the physical requirements involved with climbing an 80m turbine on a regular basis, the IBEX 1000P was an obvious choice”, said John Kirby, Plant Manager for Erie Shores Wind Farm. “This system has provided a substantial increase in our productivity and employee morale. The installation was seamless and has proven to be invaluable to operations.”

The recently released IBEX 1000P climb assist system sets new standards for portability and durability and offers the same market leading IBEX performance that owners have come to expect. The 1000P’s portable control box, weighing only 8.5 lbs (4 kgs) is easy to set up – just click, plug, and climb. The durable robust design is thoroughly life-cycle tested and approved by wind-turbine technicians. With the EasyClimb Controller, users customize assistance from 50 to 125 lbs (25 to 55 kgs), and enjoys constant load support regardless of climbing speed in up and down directions. The system installs in any wind turbine tower and significantly improves employee health and safety as well as productivity.

The 1000P system provides a portable control box that eliminates lugging heavier controls from tower to tower thereby improving employee morale. Click here for an IBEX 1000P video
Power Climber Wind
www.powerclimberwind.co

Windpower Engineering & Development

The ProFlex 924LD Light Dorsal Impact-Reducing Gloves glove provide back-of-hand impact protection combined with breathable Air-Mesh construction for breathability and dexterity.

Ergodyne announced the expansion of its Dorsal Impact-Reducing Glove Series to include the ProFlex 924LD Light Dorsal Impact-Reducing Gloves. This new lighter duty glove provides back-of-hand impact protection combined with breathable Air-Mesh construction for outstanding breathability and dexterity.

Offering less bulk while still providing outstanding protection, the 924LD uses slimmer molded TPR armor on knuckles and fingers for impact and pinch prevention, a 3-mm thick EVA dorsal pad to protect vulnerable metacarpal regions and abrasion-resistant PVC on the palm and fingers to limit liquid penetration. Also, the high-visible color scheme (dorsal and palm) allows for hand signaling and increased hand visibility on the job.

“The 924LD represents the latest addition to ProFlex gloves which focus on protecting the backside of workers’ hands,” said Ergodyne CEO Tom Votel. “The glove shares features of the ProFlex 925F but in a slightly lighter duty version for more supervisory positions as well as those applications that demand the highest dexterity.” The company says it’s ideal for jobs requiring protection and dexterity. The new ProFlex 924LD Light Dorsal Impact-Reducing Gloves are available February 2012 from authorized Ergodyne distributors.

Ergodyne
www.Ergodyne.com

Windpower Engineering & Development

-Rope Partner

Lightning: Wind turbine towers are a natural target for lightning strikes. A main lightning discharge is characterized by rapidly rising current that peaks at about 200,000 Amps and averages about 30,000A over its duration. Even though the event is over in milliseconds, there is great potential for harm to personnel and damage to equipment. Personnel working around such a hazard that often strikes wind turbines want to know that they are safe when entering a tower. Electrical grounding is the foundation for an expected level of safety and that begins with a properly designed and installed electrical grounding system.

A good grounding system plays a critical role guarding against catastrophic damage to blades, electronics, transformers, nacelles, and collector systems out to substations.

Hazardous weather: Another way to protect workers against lightning is to spot it before it gets to the wind farm. Advanced warning of real-time lightning strikes from real-time lightning data is safer than predictions that lead to false alarms or delayed reporting after lightning has struck.

For example, extreme weather frequently sweeps through the Great Plains. Summer brings the threat of lightning strikes to the 300-ft turbines, and brutally cold temperatures are commonplace in winter. To ensure turbines operate at peak-efficiency, most facilities have maintenance teams on-call around the clock. However, standard practice is not to send team out when temperatures dip below -30°C. To know when hazardous weather approaches, maintenance managers often subscribe to services that warn of impending lightning strikes. Such internet-based services let managers stay abreast of changing weather conditions that endanger operations. For a wider view of approaching severe weather, managers can monitor radar and track storms, wind, and lightning at online weather services.

Weather services often feature weather maps in layers that let personnel look at weather information most important to its operations. This includes National Weather Service warnings, watches, and advisories. Another layer includes custom areas of maximum impact based on parameters set by the forecaster to reflect how weather is affecting a turbine location. Weather services also provide mobile alerts to current and future conditions. Subscribers receive weather information on their mobile phones. What’s more, personalized alerts can be sent to technicians’ phones when severe weather nears user-defined alerting parameters. This is useful to field technicians on maintenance tasks. For instance, they can be notified when lightning has been detected within 50 miles.

Working at height: Even short towers are a long way up, 150 ft on the low side and soon 300 ft. Climbing up such heights challenges a tech’s knees and physical stamina. Climb-assists and service lifts are solutions. Climb assists are devices that connect a technician’s harness to an endless belt that runs on pulleys mounted over a tower ladder. Then a motor keeps a steady upward userselected pull (50 to 125 lb) on the individual, thereby lightening the tech’s load. Other hazards exist once a technology reaches the nacelle. According to Liberty Mutual’s 2009 Safety Index, for instance, accidents from falling objects cost U.S. industry some $4.3 billion that year, the fifth leading cost of industrial accidents. This type of accident is almost completely preventable by using simple tethering devices. So when technicians reach a nacelle, they often attach retractable tethers and lanyards to tools and instruments. Such tethers come in many configurations that can be used for almost any industrial tool or application.

For more specialized applications, several manufacturers say they can produce custom devices. Safety engineers are often charged with ensuring adherence to OSHA Regulation 1926.759(a), which requires “that all materials, equipment, and tools, which are not in use while aloft, must be secured against accidental displacement.” Tethers allow complying with this safety regulation.

Windpower Engineering & Development

Cylinder and linear detection tubing used by the Firetrace system for fire protection.

Automatic fire-suppression equipment has been developed to protect critical components in wind turbines regardless of location. The systems work without need of external power so they can activate around-the-clock and without manual activation or monitoring.

Some claim to require no maintenance. One design starts with a cylinder filled with an extinguishing agent. A long length of leak-resistant and proprietary polymer tubing loops around likely heat sources to serve as a pneumatic heat-and-flame detector immune to shock and vibration. The tube provides a temperature-sensitive detector and suppression delivery device. When exposed to a fire’s heat and radiant energy, the tube bursts and directs the extinguishing agent to the fire’s source before it can take hold and do extensive damage to the turbine.

Instead of trying to protect the entire turbine, these area-specific systems protect critical areas most prone to fire, such as electrical enclosures, near generators, and adjacent cabinets housing controls or electrical transmission equipment. Such systems can also protect brakes, generator enclosures, SCADA [Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition] systems, and hydraulic systems with potential to rupture near points of potential ignition. The design is said to overcome major drawbacks of traditional flooding suppression systems.

Another family of fire suppression devices is based on aerosol technology developed in the space program. The patented potassium-based aerosol works by chemically interfering with free radicals in flame. The company says the aerosol stream contains 1 to 2 micron particles of potassium compounds that provide a large surface-area interaction with the fire. Free potassium radicals in the fire zone bind with the free radicals of the fire (O, OH, H) to rapidly slow and extinguish the fire. Tests on class B fires are claimed to have shown it five times more effective than halon and over 10 times more effective than halon alternatives. The manufacturer says it is ecologically safe.

These small self-contained generators mount at ceiling height. The units have a patented thermal detector built to the generator—eliminating need for ancillary detection and releasing devices. Units are available in several temperature settings to insure applicability to the equipment being protected.

Stand alone (thermal) units have their own detection mechanism, eliminating need for separate detection and releasing controls. Suitable for many applications in smaller enclosures, they are available in sizes from 30 grams (covering up to 0.5 m3) up to 500 grams (covering up to 8 m3). Units are constructed of stainless steel components, listed for both area and volumetric coverage, and require no piping, nozzles, or other distribution equipment. This generator acts as its own storage, production, and delivery device. The devices are suitable for use in normally unoccupied enclosed volumes, they have the advantages of extended hold times, and are less susceptible to leakage.

The unit’s aerosol generator provides a controlled combustion to produce an ultra fine extinguishing agent, and according to the manufacturer, more effective than alternatives. The aerosol passes through oxidation and cooling filters where its temperature drops before it discharges through ports at low pressure. Generator placement in a nacelle or tower provides a proper flow and distribution.

Reducing combustible or smoke-generating material in the nacelle further reduces the chance of fire. To that end, a recent thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), for wire insulation, generates less smoke than conventional insulations in the case of arcing or fire. The material is intended for wire and cable jacketing in nonhalogen, flame-retardant applications. Industry is placing greater emphasis on the development of new compounds that produce less smoke and higher Limited Oxygen Index (LOI) to reduce the spreading of flames. This TPU is said to meet industry’s demand for wire and cable jacketing used in applications that need low-smoke fire resistant materials. The material provides an LOI of 33 and achieves a UL vertical burn rating of V0. Low-smoke TPUs also feature greater resistance to abrasion, wear, tear, and puncture than materials such as rubber or PVC.

Windpower Engineering & Development

Those living near wind turbines have complained the turning of the blades, flickering light, and vibrations have been the cause of their dizziness, nausea or anxiety. However, the recent report, commissioned by the state Department of Environmental Protection, has found no evidence to support this. The report did find “limited evidence” that the noise from turbines can cause sleep disruption or annoyance in those living near wind projects.

Guess what? So do cars, trains, and construction crews. Personally, I’d prefer a wind turbine outside my window than honking car horns or screaming children—both of which I currently experience. However, earplugs have proven a genius invention.  Also, I see this as another reason to push for offshore wind projects, which entirely eliminate problems of proximity.

Windpower Engineering & Development

A manufacturer of safety products has a new line that’s tailored for women. Gateway Safety’s  GirlzGear collection includes eye and head protection with a look, size, and feel that fit women better.

The GirlzGear eyewear collection includes styles that are sized 10% smaller to fit the female profile. For instance, the Serpent vented safety helmet has a rotating ratchet adjustment system that creates a custom fit for nearly any size head. The gear is available in all of the traditional lens and temple color options, plus others including pink.

Although they’re feminine and fun, GirlzGear products are serious about safety. All Gateway Safety eyewear meets the ANSI Z87.1+ high impact standard, and Serpent helmets meet the ANSI Z89.1 impact standard.

Gateway Safety

Windpower Engineering & Development

Recent surge protection devices are available for most service voltages up to 600 Vac, and come in two protection levels – 15 and 40 kA/phase (Imax).

The ABB Low Voltage Products division has released the UL 1449 3^rd Edition certified OVR DIN Rail surge protective devices (SPD). The devices provide long service-life protection for valuable equipment from damage caused by transient surges such as from lightening strikes, upstream equipment, and utility load switching.  The recent OVR DIN Rail products are approved as UL Type 4 recognized components and are usable in Type 2 applications, covering permanently connected SPDs intended for installation on the load side of the service equipment overcurrent device.  The new UL 1449 3^rd Edition places SPDs into five different categories. Types 1, 2 and 3 refer to SPDs installed at specific locations, and Types 4 and 5 refer to components used in SPD configurations. The new OVR DIN Rail SPDs will carry the UR mark, UL’s certification for recognized components.

The UL 1449 standard for SPDs has been the primary safety standard for surge protection since 1985. Prior to UL 1449 3^rd Edition, the devices covered by the standard were known as Transient Voltage Surge Suppressors (TVSS), operating on circuits not exceeding 600 V. With the 3^rd Edition these devices are now known as SPDs and may operate on power circuits not exceeding 1,000 V.

ABB says the SPDs are of the same high quality of the 2^nd Edition devices, with improved safety features that respond to the more rigorous testing required by the UL 1449 3^rd Edition standard.  The new product range uses fast acting metal-oxide varistors to limit overvoltage to values compatible with the sensitive equipment connected to the network. Extensive damage and expensive repairs can result from transient surges if surge protection is not present. These SPDs are well suited for critical power facilities such as hospitals and data centers, renewable energy installations, water and wastewater systems, and other surge-sensitive manufacturing and commercial operations.

A few highlights:

• Pluggable cartridges: when one or more cartridges reaches end-of-life, the electrical circuit need not be isolated, nor does the entire device need removal. Simply pull the dead cartridge from its housing and plug in a new one.
• Integrated auxiliary contact: optional remote monitoring capability. Wiring an integrated 3-point 1A volt-free contact allows remotely monitoring the SPD’s operational state.

The surge protection devices are available for most service voltages up to 600 Vac, and come in two protection levels – 15 and 40 kA/phase (I_max). They are used in conjunction with OVR NE12 Enclosed SPDs at the service entrance, creating a multi-level ap­proach to protection.  ABB recommends the installation of OVR surge protective devices wherever uptime is a critical element of a facility or operation.

ABB
Abb.com.us

Windpower Engineering & Development

Nano-lok SRLs can also be arranged as a twin-leg SRL providing 100% tie-off capabilities.

The DBI-SALA Nano-Lok Self Retracting Lifelines (SRL) can be used in place of lanyards and can be directly attached to any harness, reducing fall clearances. At only 1.6 lbs, the SRL’s are almost unnoticeable to the user wearing it.

The Nano-Lok SRL’s are 15% lighter and 30% smaller than competing products, making them the most compact and lightweight self retracting lifelines on the market. The lightweight design provides the ultimate comfort and productivity, while still being able to protect workers up to 420 lbs.

The SRL retains tension on the lifeline at all times, keeping it out of the worker’s way and reducing dragging, snagging, and trip falls. The automatic activating arrester locks quickly to stop falls within inches, reducing free fall distance and providing more protection at lower heights. It also features a unique six- foot web lifeline for added strength.

Nano-Lok SRLs have multiple anchorage options. The quick-connect anchorage connector allows attaching the SRL directly to the back of most harnesses without requiring a separate carabiner. Instead of being attached to the D-ring, the SRL attaches to the web, allow use of the D-ring to be used for other equipment or rescue. The cab-mount anchorage connector allows attaching the SRL to the cab of the order picker while the swiveling loop provides full range of motion.

The SRL’s can also be arranged as a twin-leg SRL providing 100% tie-off capabilities. The twin-leg configuration provides continuous fall protection and added mobility when moving from one location to another. This configuration can be used to replace twin-leg shock absorbing lanyards.

Capital Safety
www.capitalsafety.us

Windpower Engineering & Development