As a distributor of composite materials for the wind industry, Composites One LLC was presented a Platinum award by Great West Casualty Company as a part of the 2010 National Safety Awards Program. This is the ninth consecutive year that Composites One LLC has been named an award recipient.
Interactive e-catalog for wire and cable
A manufacturer of wire and cable has a collection of interactive e-catalogs. General Cable says its catalog allows staying up-to-date on its products and services. It will also assist the company in its effort to reduce paper usage.
Big dry-cell battery ready for use with wind farms and solar projects
Renewable energy projects often cannot consistently deliver electricity so some of the power must be stored, often in larger batteries. For example, the Notrees wind project will be the largest that uses a battery backup, and more such projects are in the pipeline. “We have a few large projects awaiting to be announced later this…
Gear and gearbox optimization software
Excel-Lent software, from a longtime builder of gears and gearboxes, quickly determines optimum gear parameters for various industries. The developer says it cuts hundreds of engineering hours off projects. Interested users can download a demo to see how easy it is to design a new gearbox. The most interesting section to design engineers will be…
Modular servo pitch controls installs easily
The recent Servo Pitch LRU pitch control system is for utility-scale wind turbines. The controls use modular Line Replaceable Units (LRU’s) for ease of manufacturing and service. Developer experience with high reliability and low maintenance provide a reliable and sophisticated pitch control. The design was recently certified for High Temperature [50°C] and High Humidity [100%RH]…
Battery stores 40 MW for Fairbanks, Alaska emergencies
Winter temperatures in Alaska can drop to -50°C, making power outages bad news. One way to prevent them is an emergency power source that feeds energy into the grid until back-up generation can come online. Battery backup is an economic and ecological alternative to ‘spinning reserve’ – gas turbines kept running in case of an…
Gearless wind turbines more often picked for the job
Siemens Energy has been awarded another order from Minnesota Power for 35, 3-MW SWT-3.0-101 direct drive wind turbines for its Bison 2 wind energy center near Center, North Dakota. The scope of supply for the wind-power plant includes transportation, erection, and commissioning of the 35 wind turbines, as well as a three-year service and maintenance…
Detector senses and melts ice on turbine blades
A recent ice detector, the LID-3300IP, is for use on wind turbines, especially those operating in extremely cold harsh weather. Effective ice detection contributes to increased safety and reduced maintenance. In recent years, extreme weather conditions around the world have proven an additional hazard to wind-turbine operations. Ice forming on rotor blades has an adverse…
Pallet handling system for flexible automation in machining centers
A new Pallet Handling System (PHS) automates part handling for machining centers when parts are mounted to fixtures, whether for a single machine or for a cell of machining centers. Liebherr says its PHS can be installed new or retrofitted onto existing machine tools, including different brands of machines to be tended by the same PHS for untended lights-out operations.
1.2-m CNC generating-gear grinding machine
German company Liebherr specializes in gear manufacturing processes, offering machines for large-module, high-volume gear grinding, and now in an extended platform range up to 1200 mm dia. The machine is well-suited for gear-grinding applications such as bull and output gears for wind power gearboxes.
First use of Winergy HybridDrive
The HybridDrive drive combines a wind-turbine gearbox with a generator. Developer Winergy AG says the HybridDrive is significant because it combines a two-stage planetary gearbox and a medium-speed synchronous generator in one relatively compact unit. The drive train is supplemented by a frequency converter. It’s first use will be in the Fuhrländer FL 3000 wind…
Cylinders for hydraulic pitch adjustment
German company Liebherr is offering their hydrau-lic cylinder for hydraulic pitch adjustment in wind turbines to the American market. The company offerso both electromechanical pitch adjustment with gearboxes as well as hydraulic pitch adjustment with the corresponding blade bearings as a full system. Cylinders are supplied in accordance with a customer’s particular requirements, in-cluding piston rod heads and integrated stroke measuring systems.
6-MW turbine gets GL certification
GL Renewables Certification (GL) has been chosen by Siemens Wind Power for the type certification of their 6-MW direct drive offshore wind turbine.
Seal material for hydraulics good to 270°F
A proprietary polyurethane compound, Zurcon Z25, has all the characteristics of the widely used Zurcon grade Z20 with an elevated operating temperature to 130°C or 270°F. Zurcon Z25 is recommended for hydraulic applications in which high-temperature performance is required due to an improved extrusion resistance and compression set. The material is ideal for use in…
125-V module OK for vehicles in Europe
Maxwell Technologies says the North American office of United Kingdom’s Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) has granted European Economic Community (EEC)-Type Approval and Conformity of Production (CoP) clearance to Maxwell’s 125-volt Heavy Transportation Module (HTM125). The 125V heavy transportation series of ultracapacitor modules is a high performance energy storage and power-delivery product line for hybrid buses…
OEM selects simulation software to develop composite wind-turbine blades
A developer of industry-specific engineering software and services says wind-turbine manufacturer Nordex has purchased FiberSIM software to streamline its design-to-manufacturing process for composite wind-turbine blades. Nordex uses FiberSIM to develop detailed ply designs, accurate flat patterns, and manufacturing output, and complete documentation for the engineering release. The software will let Nordex enhance the automation of…
2.75-103 wind turbine commissioned in the Netherlands
GE’s first 2.75-103 wind turbine recently was commissioned at the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands wind farm in Wieringermeer. The turbine sports electrical uprates and GE’s 50.2 meter proprietary blade design that offers an annual energy production increase of more than 9% at 7.5 m/s over the 2.5-100 machine. Minor electrical changes also allow…
Offshore builder chooses a Colossus press roll
Machine-tool builder Davi says it has another order for its Press-Roll 3-roll Colossus (with variable axis) with a 10 ft x 7.125 in. capacity, placed by a large offshore platform manufacturer in China. The country is gaining worldwide leadership in this industrial market. The machine joins other DAVI plate rolls used in this market segment…
Lithium-ion batteries manufactured in water-based process
A developer of large-format Lithium-ion rechargeable cells, batteries, and energy storage systems (ESS), says it will collaborate with Hydro-Québec to further develop water-based manufacturing processes of Lithium-ion batteries. Hydro-Québec is a world leader in advanced Lithium and Lithium-ion battery research and has a strong intellectual property (IP) position for aqueous electrode technology. Hydro-Québec started…
California PUC comments on energy storage legislation
The following story was submitted by law firm Stoel Rives (http://www.stoel.com/) The California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) workshop on its implementation of California’s recent energy storage bill, Assembly Bill (AB) 2514. The bill requires the CPUC and municipal utilities in California to open proceedings by March 1, 2012 to determine appropriate targets for the procurement…