Global lubricant manufacturer, Castrol, and Romax Technology, a provider of software, analysis, and services for rotating machinery, have launched ONYX InSight — a new predictive maintenance brand that offers wind energy asset owners and operators clarity and control over technological risks and operational expenditure. ONYX InSight is the new name for Romax Insight, the joint venture…
Castrol and Romax partner to grow wind-turbine predictive maintenance business
Castrol, a global and leading lubricant brand, has announced the creation of a joint venture with Romax Technology’s InSight business, a pioneer in predictive maintenance solutions. With over 30 years’ experience working in the wind sector, this deal will combine Castrol’s global reach and knowledge of turbine lubrication with Romax InSight’s expertise in predictive maintenance,…
What are the new ideas in condition monitoring for wind turbines?
Routine wind-turbine maintenance once required a wind technician to suit up and climb up-tower just to inspect what components might need upkeep or repair. Today, wind farms can offer owners a whole new way to approach operations and maintenance, thanks to condition monitoring and advanced prognostic systems. Condition monitoring is an O&M tool that helps…
Romax InSight reaches key milestone: 500 turbines assessed with Field Pro
Romax recently announced that their new mobile service and inspection software, Field Pro, has reached a key milestone of use on over 500 wind turbines. Launched in May 2016, this milestone represents a fast up-take by technicians and engineers in the industry. Field Pro allows the planning of daily work on a web portal, with…
Romax InSight launches two new innovative technologies for wind turbine inspections, servicing and condition monitoring
Romax InSight has launched two new products – ecoCMS and Field Pro – to reduce cost and increase the effectiveness of wind turbine operations and maintenance (O&M).
Romax awarded 35th A-DA certificate for wind-turbine gearboxes
Romax was recently awarded a 35th design assessment, or GL A-DA, certificate for its NFAIC High-Precision Transmission 3.3-MW gearbox. Certificates were awarded for wind gearboxes used in turbines ranging from 1.5-MW to over 5-MW. The 35th certificate is related to a unique 3.3-MW turbine that has an integrated drivetrain, which provides a more compact structure…
Innovator: Dr. Peter Poon, Founder of Romax Technology Limited
Dr. Poon is recognized as a world-leading expert on rolling element bearings and his work has been rewarded with the prestigious James Clayton prize, Institute of Mechanical Engineers for Tribology and The British Design Council Award for his rolling bearing design.
Romax InSight supports Eurus Energy America with the biggest gearbox re-engineering and refurbishment project
Romax Technology, an independent gearbox designer and provider of software and services for predictive maintenance, has announced it will be supporting Eurus Energy America (EEA) with its largest ever gearbox re-engineering and refurbishment project, across two EEA sites. The project, at Combine Hills II in Oregon and Bull Creek Wind in Texas, is to carry…
Romax partnership with Inox hits 500th gearbox order
Romax, the design and engineering specialist, continues to demonstrate its commitment to maximizing sustainable energy yields across the wind energy industry. In partnership with Romax, wind turbine manufacturer Inox Wind has crossed its 500th order for its Romax-designed 2-MW turbine gearbox. Wind power in India, where Inox is based, now accounts for almost 10% of installed…
Moving from reactive to proactive turbine maintenance
Matthew Whittle / Product Manager /Romax / www.romaxtech.com Operations and maintenance (O&M) of wind turbines is estimated at 21 to 24% of the total cost of energy from wind. As turbines are built larger, the capital-expenditure component of the cost of energy from wind drops, but there is still room to reduce the cost of O&M. Too…
What are the problems and solutions to better gearbox reliability?
This section submitted by Ashley Crowther, Global VP – InSight, Romax Technology Modern gearboxes provide greater reliability to the wind-energy industry thanks to improvements in their design and operation. These include better bearing selection, design process, manufacturing quality, transportation, lubrication systems, and end-of-line testing. Reliability issues will never completely go away, but staying on top of…
Webinar: Day-to-day condition monitoring for a large fleet of wind turbines
This webinar describes some of the challenges faced when monitoring a large fleet of wind turbines. Factors such as different turbine and gearbox types, different condition monitoring systems (CMS), geographically dispersed sites and variations in maintenance practice all make the job of a monitoring engineer a difficult task. Romax utilize in-house software called InSight Fleet…
What I learned in gearbox technology class
You might think it strange that a company with the mission of repairing and improving wind-turbine gearboxes would share what it has learned about the machines. But that is exactly what Gearbox Express and Romax Technology did recently with me, and many others throughout the year. It’s good for the wind industry. After two days of…
Condition-monitoring research to predict turbine failures, and push the state of the art
Predicting precisely when a wind turbine component will fail is the holy grail of condition monitoring (CM). That information would let maintenance crews aggregate the needed heavy work and thereby minimize its costs. Although maintenance predictions are good now, there is room for improvements. To appreciate the state of the art, we spoke with John…
A few ideas for the better use of borescopes
Jesse H. Graeter / Lead Mechanical Engineer/Romax Technology Ltd /www.romaxtech.com After a condition-monitoring system and analyst provide the diagnosis of an ailing gearbox, a technician has to confirm the problem, often with a borescope inspection. A visual account of the gears and bearings is one of the best ways to establish the health of a gearbox.…
Keeping on top of gearbox reliability issues
Modern gearboxes provide greater reliability to the wind-energy industry thanks to design and operations improvements, such as bearing selection, design process, manufacturing quality, transportation, lubrication systems, and end-of-line testing. Reliability issues will never completely go away, but keeping on top of issues should reduce maintenance costs at aging wind parks, with problematic models, or gearbox…
Mitigating costs from planet bearing failures
Dr. Ashley Crowther / VP Engineering / Romax Technology / www.romaxtech.com As gearboxes age, planet-bearing failure from rolling contact fatigue become an issue for maintenance budgets. Many factors influence bearing life but load and cycles are required for failure. After a sufficient number of rotations, the bearing will fail from fatigue. And the higher the…
Two day gearbox training from Gearbox Express and Romax
July 15 and 16, 2014 Gearbox Training ($2,500 tuition) is a two-day, hands-on training course taught by top gearbox repair technicians, designers and consulting engineers. The course is a combination of classroom and hands-on training and includes: Introduction to gearboxes Bearing, gearing fundamentals, and assembly best practices Common failure modes Borescope inspection: identifying failures Lubrication…
The AWEA WINDPOWER 2014, Tuesday, May 6 in review
There is good news and bad news from the AWEA’s WINDPOWER 2014. The bad news is that the PTC remains in limbo, and there could be more people here, although the crowd was acceptable. The good news is that the companies here were glad to talk about the new products and services they have developed.…
A few guidelines for using portable vibration monitors
A portable vibration monitor must be highly reliable, configured for wind turbine, easy for wind farm technicians to use, and rugged enough for use in the nacelle. Ashley Crowther, Tugan Eritenel, John Coultate, and Mike Hornemann, Romax Technology, www.romaxtech.com The development of vibration diagnostics for machinery ramped up in the 1960’s after a researcher published a…