The fundamental drivetrain architecture stays the same from 3 to 10MW which facilitates development of a consistent drivetrain sourcing, manufacture, operating and maintenance strategy across a wide turbine product range.
An independent gearbox and drivetrain-design specialist has launched a unique ‘medium-speed drivetrain design for the next generation of onshore and offshore wind turbines in capacities from 3 to 10 MW. Available to wind turbine designers and manufacturers worldwide, the Romax Butterfly platform for drivetrain design is benchmarked, says the company, to outperform the latest ‘medium speed’ designs and has been developed using Romax ‘Cost of Energy’ (CoE) modeling tools.
The company has developed more GL certified gearbox designs than any other and has applied all its experience in developing the Butterfly platform. It challenges conventional design considerations, using its design and performance monitoring expertise to focus on minimizing the lifetime cost of the drivetrain, taking into account factors such as reliability and maintenance cost projections, as well as performance.
“The Butterfly drivetrain platform represents the state-of-the-art in terms of simulation and engineering in the wind industry,” says Romax Director of Drivetrain Dr Xiaobing Hu. “It is revolutionary in providing a turnkey solution optimized for a minimum cost of energy.”
As the latest addition to Romax’s range of ‘pre-developed’ gearbox and drivetrain designs, one of the key benefits of the Butterfly platform is that it offers turbine designers and manufacturers a quicker route to market and reduced risk with new turbine products.
Furthermore, because Romax is a specialist designer and not a manufacturer, customers are not tied to a single supply source. The Butterfly drivetrain platform offers multiple component and sub assembly sourcing options, providing turbine designers and manufacturers with total control over component specification and supply chain.
The platform covers all drivetrain elements, including rotor shaft assembly, gearbox, generator, bearings, couplings, brakes, and lubricating system, and exceeds GL2010 and IEC 61400 requirements.
The drivetrain platform offers several flexible design options including a, two bearing or moment bearing front-end arrangement, multiple generator technologies, and multiple main frame configurations. A key platform feature is that the gearbox and generator are semi-integrated which shortens the drivetrain and eliminates issues such as poor alignment between the two components.
All Romax gearbox and drivetrain designs are supported by the company’s lifecycle engineering services, including manufacturing assessment and support, technical training, certification support, supply chain management, operations and maintenance services and the Romax InSight condition monitoring system.
Romax Technology
www.romax.com
Filed Under: Gearboxes, Generators, News
