For a 5-megawatt wind turbine prototype, aerodyn employs the latest control and software technologies, including a comprehensive PC-based control solution and the new modular TwinCAT Wind Framework. The TwinCAT Wind Framework features the latest software engineering and Big Data applications to extend current Industry 4.0 concepts to the wind energy industry. The modular software supports, for example, the direct provision of sensor data to the operator’s database, and in general enables the easy adaption of the wind turbine operation management to future requirements.

  This post will be a little different than normal as it does not address a specific technical issue but rather the industry’s “state of mi...

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as scoring a goal. Here at Power Transmission Engineering, our goal is to provide you with as much relevant educational and technical material as possible, and every issue we strive to cover the subjects of power transmission and motion control from as many different angles as possible, so that no matter your job title, and no matter your industry, if gears, bearings, motors and related components are important to you, we’ve got you covered.

The Department of Energy estimates that 4 million megawatts of potential power—four times the amount all U.S. power plants combined currently produce—exists in offshore wind energy. Construction of America’s first offshore wind turbines began in July. The wind farm, which is being constructed off the coast of Block Island, RI, will consist of five turbines. Together, they will produce 30 MW.

rotary-type blowers? Examples: for motor KW; RPM; temperature; pressure production; lifetime; etc. In other words, how do I choose between belts or couplings?

There is often a lively debate early in a program when we are discussing the pros and cons of laser welded ring gears vs. bolted ring gears. Just a...

In recent years the estimation of gearbox power loss is attracting more interest — especially in the wind turbine and automotive gearbox industry — but also in industrial gearboxes where heat dissipation is a consideration as well. As new transmissions concepts are being researched to meet both ecological and commercial demands, a quick and reliable estimation of overall efficiency becomes inevitable in designing the optimal gearbox.

After a sluggish 2013, annual installations of new wind turbines grew by 44% in 2014, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. And while much of that growth has been in Asia— particularly China, which now leads the world with 114 GW of installed capacity—the USA, Europe, and the rest of the world expect steady growth for the next couple of years as well (Fig. 1).

Wind turbine gearboxes are subjected to a wide variety of operating conditions, some of which may push the bearings beyond their limits. Damage may be done to the bearings, resulting in a specific premature failure mode known as white etching cracks (WEC), sometimes called brittle, short-life, early, abnormal or white structured flaking (WSF). Measures to make the bearings more robust in these operating conditions are discussed in this article.

The complete technical Calendar from the September 2014 issue of Power Transmission Engineering.