
The rotor positioning invention is the brainchild of Ignacio Fernández Romero and Eugenio Plano Morillo, two engineers that currently work for Adwen, the offshore wind joint venture set up by Gamesa and Areva.
Gamesa has celebrated the fifth edition of its Patents and Inventors Competition, which is designed to acknowledge its employees’ efforts to develop innovative new technology with the potential to set the company’s technology offering apart from that of its competitors.
This year’s prize has gone to a rotor positioning invention for which the patent application has already been filed. The invention is the brainchild of Ignacio Fernández Romero and Eugenio Plano Morillo, two engineers that currently work for Adwen, the offshore wind joint venture set up by Gamesa and Areva.
The rotor positioning system consists of an application that enables automatic turbine rotor blocking or their placement at certain angles, as opposed to manual positioning at present. This application permits the generator-converter to work as an engine, instead of generating power, in order to facilitate certain tasks, including operations and maintenance work, onshore and offshore, as well as the calibration of certain sensors.
This feature also allows more efficient blade sensor calibration for which very precise azimuth positioning is required.
Every year Gamesa assesses the best inventions developed by its technology experts. The company then selects which developments will be patented in accordance with a series of requirements and ultimately chooses the best one. These inventions are acknowledged as part of the company’s Patents and Inventors Competition.
José Antonio Malumbres, Gamesa’s Chief Technology Officer, praised the innovative effort made by Gamesa’s technology experts: “The goal is to continue to boost wind turbine reliability and availability while bringing down our customers’ the cost of energy.”
Gamesa has been one of the most active wind players on the patent front in recent years, with 184 patent families and a portfolio of 700 patents worldwide.
Gamesa in the news:
- Gamesa signs 150-MW order in Brazil, bringing the 2014 global order intake to 3,300 MW
- Gamesa will supply an aggregate of 260 MW of wind power in India
Filed Under: Components, Innovators & influencers, News, Sensors, Turbines