By Jordan Freed, Director of Corporate Marketing & Product Strategy, Gastops There is an abundance of literature dating back over the past 20+ years about the challenge of premature gearbox failures, and the cost impact they have on wind turbine operation. While the principals of prognostics and health management (PHM) are well established, and the…
Sentient Science and Croda partner for wind turbine life extension
Specialty chemical company Croda International has announced a new partnership with Sentient Science for the recommended use of Croda’s Rewitec additives for wind turbine gearboxes and main bearings. In 2019, Croda acquired Rewitec GmbH and began to offer energy technologies customers nano- and micro-particle-based additives to increase the durability of machinery by lowering friction and…
What to know when setting two-row tapered roller bearings in wind turbine gearboxes
By Kyle Smith, principal application engineer, The Timken Company The evolution of wind turbine gearbox design has resulted in the use of an increased number of tapered roller bearings throughout the parallel shaft section to effectively manage both the radial and axial loads produced by helical gearing during operation. This arrangement includes a cylindrical roller…
Three keys for choosing and analyzing gear oil in wind turbines
A wind turbine is only as reliable as the quality of its components, and this is particularly true of a turbine’s main gearbox. The job of the gearbox is to speed slow, high-torque rotation into a much faster rotation for the turbine’s generator. However, the harsh operating conditions turbines endure — including variations in wind…
ZF earns DNV GL’s type & component certificate — a first for a gearbox manufacturer
Global certification body, DNV GL, recently awarded ZF Wind Power’s SHIFT 4k gearbox platform for the wind industry with a “type and component certificate.” The highly scalable SHIFT platform is made for maximum flexibility, easy turbine upgrades, and extended product lifetime. Previously, wind-turbine gearbox designs had to go through a long administration process of calculation…
Shell launches new gearbox oil for extended wind-turbine uptime
Shell Lubricants has unveiled a new synthetic gearbox oil for wind turbines in the U.S. market. With a market leading 10-year warranty, Shell Omala S5 Wind can help to extend operational uptime and reduce unplanned breakdown by offering enhanced protection. “Seventy percent of U.S. power businesses don’t realize that effective lubrication can lead to shorter…
Gearbox Express and HYDAC partner for gearbox rebuilds & services
Gearbox Express (GBX), the only independent company in North America focused on providing down-tower, multi-brand wind gearbox remanufacturing services and parts, announced that it has partnered with HYDAC Technology Corporation, a global innovative manufacturer in wind-turbine technology, as a strategic partner for gearbox rebuilds focusing on the North American Wind Turbine market. “We are excited…
Joint partners, Poseidon & Gearbox Express, ship first gearbox with integrated oil-monitoring
Poseidon Systems, LLC announced Gearbox Express shipped the industry’s first gearbox to include a direct-from-factory installed, integrated oil-monitoring system that eliminates the need for periodic oil sampling. Gearbox Express, North America’s largest independent supplier of gearbox assemblies for the wind-turbine industry, and Poseidon worked together to design an integrated sensor package shipped already installed on…
IPS introduces wind-turbine generator insulation system
Integrated Power Systems (IPS), a North American company that custom engineers electric motor and generator solutions, has introduced WindGuard, its first insulation system designed specifically for wind-turbine generators. WindGuard has the dielectric and mechanical strength to prevent issues cause premature generator failures, including electrical, mechanical, thermal and environmental stresses. IPS engineers addressed specific failure modes…
Schaeffler combines torque and condition monitoring into a single system
The long-term development partnership of Schaeffler and Bonfiglioli, provider in yaw and pitch drives for wind turbines, has lead to the creation of a compact Industry 4.0 solution package. Schaeffler has combined two of its proven measuring systems, the SmartCheck and the TorqueSense, to create a new condition and torque-monitoring system. While the vibration diagnosis…
How to maintain wind-turbine gearbox & oil health
By Frank May, Service engineer GlobeCore GmbH The last decade has led to strong growth in the wind industry. The overall capacity of wind turbines installed worldwide at the beginning of 2018 was 539 GW, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. This means that all of the turbines installed covered more than five percent of…
U.S. among countries with strong market for wind-turbine gearbox refurbishments, finds GlobalData
Data and analytics company, GlobalData, has released its latest report, Wind Gearbox and Direct Drive, Update 2018, which reveals that the global trends of wind power are creating business opportunities for new and refurbishment markets. It states that prominent markets such as China, the U.S., and EU, which had made significant strides in the wind market, are…
DOE announces funding for advanced wind-turbine generator R&D
The U.S Department of Energy’s (DOE) Wind Energy Technologies Office has announced a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled “Advanced Next-Generation, High-Efficiency, Lightweight Wind Turbine Generator.” The primary objective of this FOA is to develop a lightweight, more efficient wind turbine drivetrain system (gearbox and generator, or direct drive generator) that minimizes the use of rare…
Vestas extends partnership with gearbox provider, ZF
Vestas is expanding its partnership with gearbox provider ZF to offer global service solutions for customers’ gearboxes. As a result, Vestas will become ZF’s preferred supplier to perform uptower repair work and ZF becomes Vestas’ preferred supplier for shop repairs and replacement units. Vestas says it has a long track record of efficiently repairing gearboxes…
How coatings can extend the life of wind-turbine components
By Jeff Elliott, Technical Writer Oerlikon Balzers | oerlikon.com/balzers The wind industry has no shortage of challenges. A big one is manufacturing reliable, cost-effective turbine components that operate with minimal maintenance or repair. But almost without exception, turbines operate under extreme conditions that put components under considerable wear. For example, turbine shaft bearings, planetary gears,…
Magnetic gears to advance renewable-energy technology
This article is written by Rachel Rose, Texas A&M University College of Engineering. It originally appeared on the Texas A&M Engineering web site. Renewable energy sources, such as wind and wave, can power our world. Currently, mechanical gears are used inside of these energy-conversion systems to connect a high-speed electric machine to a low-speed physical energy…
New report analyzes growth of global wind-turbine gear oil market
Technavio analysts forecast the global wind-turbine gear oil market to register a CAGR of around 9% during the period 2018-2022, according to their latest market research report. However, the growth momentum of the market is expected to decelerate due to a decline in the year-over-year growth. The evolution of digital wind farms is one of the major trends…
Wind turbine owners share gearbox & drivetrain issues in survey
Editor’s note: This article and survey comes from O2O Wind International, o2owind.com and was written and compiled by Marten Nilsson. Input from 85 wind-turbine owners and employees, working for 47 different energy companies in 27 countries on 6 different continents. Real issues that owners need to solve and with input on how to solve this…
DES-Case unwraps IsoLogic, the first IIoT connected desiccant breather
Des-Case Corporation, a manufacturer of specialty filtration products such as desiccant breathers that improve process equipment reliability and extend lubricant life for companies around the world, has announced the launch of IsoLogic, the first connected desiccant breather. Patent-pending IsoLogic is Des-Case’s first entrance into the rapidly growing Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) space, expanding on…
Gearbox and oil maintenance 101
Frank May / service engineer / GlobeCore GmbH The last 20 years have seen strong growth in both the number of wind farms and the amount of power generated by wind. This growth is a logical consequence of the increasing demand for electricity and the need to diversify energy sources and reduce harmful emissions. The…