19-Nov-12 Professor:By: Peter LundIshtiaq Muhammad Advanced wind power technologyMsc Mech Student Asst Professor: Juuso Lindgren

Three parts: 1- Operation of wind turbine 2- Maintenance of wind turbine 3. Condition monitoring 19-Nov-12

Nacelle Heart of wind turbine Top of Tower Consists the gear box, low- and high-speed shafts, generator, controller, and brake. gears increase the rotational speed of the blades to the generator speed of over 1,500 RPM Generato produced electricity frequency must be 60 CPS for feeding into grid 19-Nov-12

Gear Box low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft rpm to rpm a costly (and heavy) part of the wind turbine Drives generetor to produce electricity at max rotational speed 19-Nov-12

Blades Upto 3 to 4 blades in a wind turbine, mostly 3 Converts wind energy to mechanical energy blades spin at a slow rate of about 20 RPM, although the speed at the blade tip can be over 150 miles per hour. Length upto m Material: fiberglass, Aluminum 19-Nov-12

Tower made from tubular steel, concrete, or steel lattice about 150 to 200 feet tall and 10 feet in diameter ladder running up the inside for maintenance and services 19-Nov-12

Working principle of wind turbine Wind Mechanical energy Electricity A video clip (3,5 minutes) for better show up :) ature=related 19-Nov-12

» Minimizing operational and maintenance costs » Improving turbine performance/yield » Lowering insurance risk » Protecting assets 19-Nov-12

Mechanical repair Mechanical repair Electrical repair Electrical repair 19-Nov-12

Generator and gearbox housings Wind generator and gearbox repair Bearing change outs and upgrades Slip ring change outs, upgrades & turning Grounding system upgrades Rotor lead change outs Housing and component rebuilds Brush holder upgrades Wind turbine and blade cleaning – via rope access Wind turbine main shafts Heat exchangers Blade inspection–via rope access 19-Nov-12

Wind turbine main shaft repair and Wind generator bearing change out 19-Nov-12

Heat exchangers Blade inspection–via rope access Wind generators up to 3+ MW Electric motors Cooling fans Hydraulic pumps Main breakers Electronie boards Electrical repair: 19-Nov-12

Complete rewind of wind turbine generators 19-Nov-12

Offshore maintenance is much and more difficult than onshore maintenance Offshore is much and more costly than onshore maintenance because of the usage of heavy ships, helicopters and cranes etc. Weather conditions matter too both in offshore and onshore 19-Nov-12

Typpical gear box problems 1- Highly variable load and speed: Wind is an intermittent energy source. It alternates between gusting and still. Therefore, the load that these gearboxes are trying to transmit is a lot more variable than it is in a plant operation (causes accident) 2- Low gearbox safety factors: The drive system in wind turbines is designed to be compact. "They try to make things as small as they can, so that means the safety factors are lower than usual. 3- Flexible foundation: Typically, a plant gearbox and motor are mounted on a large concrete foundation or a steel structure that’s bolted to a concrete foundation. The nacelle is flexing and the rotor itself is causing lots of loads in the whole structure. This causes misalignment between the generator and the gearbox." 19-Nov-12

4- Extreme operating environment: The turbines have to operate in extremely cold or extremely hot settings. Although the gearbox is in a nacelle and protected from rain it can still be subjected to extreme temperatures. 5- High operating temperature: Manufacturers are resistant to adding large radiators to wind turbines. They allow these gearboxes to run pretty hot, and that means the oil viscosity gets low. When they’re rotating slowly, you don’t get a thick oil film between bearings and gears, so you get metal-to-metal contact — and that’s a problem. 19-Nov-12

Condition monitoring is a strategy where by physical parameters (such as vibration,temperature, lubrication particles and others) are measured regularly to determine equipment condition. This procedure makes it possible to detect machine and component problems before they can result in unexpected downtime and the high costs associated with maintenance and interrupted production. 19-Nov-12

Today's monitoring systems can handle any number of turbines and multiple data points. Using vibration sensors mounted on a turbine's main shaft bearings, gearbox and generator, systems (in tandem with software) will continuously monitor and track a wide range of operating conditions for analysis. Wireless capabilities allow operators to review data from any location with a computer or hand-held device with Internet access 19-Nov-12

An integrated on-line condition monitoring system within a typically difficult-to-reach wind turbine nacelle (like the one shown in Fig on next page) offers a powerful tool for managing day-to- day maintenance routines and consolidating risky, costly maintenance activities. 19-Nov-12

Condition monitoring is done to detect: Unbalanced turbine blades Misalignment Shaft deflections Mechanical looseness Foundation weakness Bearing condition Gear damage Generator rotor/stator problems Resonance problems Tower vibrations Blade vibrations Electrical problems Inadequate lubrication 19-Nov-12

The following techniques, available from different applications, which are possibly applicable for wind turbines, have been identified: 1. Vibration analysis 2. Oil analysis 3. Thermography 4. Physical condition of materials 5. Strain measurement 6. Acoustic measurements 7. Electrical effects 8. Process parameters 9. Visual inspection 10. Performance monitoring 19-Nov-12

. Vibration Analysis Vibration analysis is the most known technology applied for condition monitoring, especially for rotating equipment. The type of sensors used depends more or less on the frequency range, relevant for the monitoring: - Position transducers for the low frequency range - Velocity sensors in the middle frequency area - Accelerometers in the high frequency range Examples can be found for safeguarding of: 1. Shafts 2. Bearings 3. Gearboxes 4. Compressors 5. Motors 19-Nov-12

. Oil analysis Oil analysis may have two purposes: - Safeguarding the oil quality (contamination by parts, moist) - Safeguarding the components involved (characterization of parts) Oil analysis is mostly executed off line, by taking samples. However for safeguarding the oil Quality, application of on-line sensors is increasing. 19-Nov-12

. Thermography Thermograhy is often applied for monitoring and failure identification of electronic and electric components. Hot spots, due to degeneration of components or bad contact can be identified in a simple and fast manner. Thermals cameras are used for thermography purpose. Strain measurement Strain measurement by strain gauges is a common technique, however not often applied for condition monitoring. Strain gauges are not robust on a long term. Especially for wind turbines, strain measurement can be very useful for life time prediction and safeguarding of the stress level, especially for the blades. 19-Nov-12

A short video clip (1 min) 3qQ&feature=related 19-Nov-12

Following list of references was used for this presentation ftp://ecn.nl/pub/www/library/report/2003/c03047.pdf Nov-12