By Conor Wilkinson, EMEA Commercial Brand Manager, ExxonMobil Fuels & Lubricants Energy security and sustainability are headline topics – soaring gas and electricity prices and growing concerns about climate change have guaranteed that. Part of the answer is an increased focus on wind power; as a result, it is significantly growing in importance as part…
Maximizing turbine performance with automatic lubrication solutions
By Hans Landin, group VP at Timken When it comes to the equipment inside wind turbines, performance and reliability can’t be compromised. Turbines are often in remote locations like mountaintops and offshore outposts. They must be built to withstand very harsh and dynamic operating conditions. They’re relentlessly pounded with weather extremes including oppressive heat, freezing cold,…
Oil debris monitoring saves time when it comes to wind turbine gearbox maintenance
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…
ONYX InSight, Castrol partner to deliver independent oil sensor study for the wind industry
ONYX InSight, provider of predictive maintenance to the wind industry, and lubricants expert Castrol have embarked on a multi-phase study designed to uncover the potential of combining oil and vibration data on the accuracy of wind turbine health monitoring. Advancing predictive maintenance With the objective to bring the most innovative and advanced predictive maintenance solution…
New grease from Klüber Lubrication reduces wind turbine bearing heat
Klüber Lubrication, a worldwide manufacturer of specialty lubricants, introduces Klübersynth BZ 68-400, a lubricant specifically designed to mitigate hot bearings in wind turbines. Hardened residues that accumulate on generator bearings can become a nuisance and prevent efficient operation. Most situations require cleaning by hand, or the wind power turbines must be curtailed which results in…
GE chooses Mobil SHC Gear 320 WT for wind turbine gear oil
ExxonMobil said today that its Mobil SHC Gear 320 WT advanced turbine gear oil has been approved by GE for use in all of its wind turbines worldwide. This approval applies to all of the more than 50,000 GE wind turbines in operation today. GE’s lubricant approval process is one of the industry’s most demanding and includes more…
Timken acquires BEKA and expands global leadership in automatic lubrication systems
The Timken Company has reached an agreement to acquire BEKA Lubrication, a global supplier of automatic lubrication systems, for approximately $165 million. The company serves a diverse range of industrial sectors including wind, food and beverage, rail, on- and off-highway and other process industries. BEKA sales are expected to be around $135 million for the full year…
Castrol launches new Wind Academy to “up-skill” O&M techs
Castrol, a provider of lubricants to the wind energy industry, is launching the Castrol Wind Academy. The new Academy is a multi-channel training program designed to up-skill wind energy operations and maintenance (O&M) technician teams with the latest insights, technologies, processes, and examples of how best practices in O&M can improve operational efficiency, equipment life…
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…
Why sealing is one component of effective bearing lubrication
Effective sealing is a critical but, at times, overlooked component of effective bearing lubrication in wind turbines. In many cases, seals are the differentiating factor that impacts overall bearing and system performance. Consider that most wind turbines experience some amount of lubrication leakage. These occurrences are relatively minimal for onshore turbines but can pose an…
What’s new in gear oil, filters & analysis
The wind-power industry is continually improving turbine components and operation for greater uptime and power generation. One key to reliable operation is quality gear oil and filers. Here are a few new products and technologies. Extended turbine uptime Wind-turbine gearbox operations and management are demanding. The equipment must withstand extremes of hot or cold climates,…
A new way to assess oil quality in wind-turbine gearboxes
Written by Joe Hedges, President, Voelker Sensors, Inc. It is no surprise that gearbox failures have been linked to a lack of lubrication due to oil wear and contamination. Regular oil changes would seem to be the solution. However, changing oil in land-based wind turbines, or worse, swapping out their failed gearboxes, presents serious…
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…
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…
A new idea in wind-turbine gear oil analysis
Over 80% of mechanical failures in oil-lubricated machinery are attributable to particulate contamination. Wind turbines offer no exception. The components lubricants are expected to protect are typically exposed to dust and dirt, given the harsh and variable conditions in which turbines are built. Oil contamination is inevitable at some point, which is why early detection…
Positive outlook for wind-turbine lubricants
Written by Sushmita Dutta Project lead-energy at Kline Reprinted with permission of The Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Renewable sources of energy, which include wind power, have developed rapidly since the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was introduced in 1992 to address global warming and combat climate change. With support coming from governments in the…
Poseidon launches advanced industrial IoT fluid-monitoring system
Poseidon Systems has released its next-generation Trident Fluid Quality Monitoring System (FQMS) 2.0, an advanced industrial IoT fluid monitoring system. The Trident FQM 2.0 was purpose built and tested for some of the world’s most critical equipment within the power generation sector. With over 50 fielded FQMS 2.0 units, Poseidon Systems has validated the capability…
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…
Filtertechnik honored for its advanced digital-imaging system for gear oil analysis
Filtertechnik, a manufacturer and supplier of quality filtration systems for oils and process fluids, recently won the ‘On the Spot Oil Analysis’ category at the “Wind Innovators Awards.” These awards honor pioneering companies that have produced innovative products that make a positive contribution to the wind-power market. The new Particle Pal Pro stood out from the…