Nick Rasper / Service Technician / ITH Every once in a while, the bolts that hold a wind turbine and tower together must be checked for tightness. Vibration and tower swaying has a way of loosening the occasional one or two nuts. But rather than lug a 100-lb hydraulic pump around a wind farm, which
Gearbox model predicts longer bearing life with controlled torque reversals
RECENT PERFORMANCE MODELING of wind-turbine-gearbox bearings with field data suggests that taming torque reversals could lengthen a gearbox-bearing life up to two fold. The field data was collected by engineers at AeroTorque and supplied to bearing simulation and prediction firm Sentient Science. The later company has collected data on millions of military aircraft bearings and
Continuous oil monitor mounts to Jensen oil filter
The CJC Oil Contamination Monitor, OCM 15 from CC Jensen, measures wear generation in oil systems. It is intended for use with hydraulic, lube. and gear oils. Benefits include the Earliest possible warnings of wear generation Condition based maintenance, instead of breakdowns Increased ROI and investment protection, and Remote online monitoring
Lapp take the wrap off several new connector kits
Standard EPIC HBE Kits Kit includes all components needed to make electrical connection. Inserts are screw terminated with wire protection. Rated current 16 amp. Screw termination wire gauge range 20 to 14 AWG. Hoods and bases standard grey. Meets IP65, NEMA 4 and NEMA 12. Epic Ultra kits These kits also include all components
Antaira Technologies unveils 10 port industrial PoE+ managed Ethernet switches
Antaira Technologies, a developer and supplier of industrial device networking and communication products for harsh-environment applications, announces its expansion in the industrial networking infrastructure family with the LMP-1002G-SFP and LMP-1002G-SFP-24 series. The company’s LMP-1002G-SFP and LMP-1002G-SFP-24 series are cost effective 10-port industrial gigabit PoE+ managed Ethernet switches, with a 48 to 55-Vdc high power input
Symbio Fcell selects Ceramic Maxphase for new automotive fuel cell
Editors Note: This news from a fuel-cell manufacturer will be of interest to wind advocates because the hydrogen needed by fuel cells will likely come from electrolyzing water and ideally with wind generated power. French company Symbio FCell manufactures fuel-cell powertrains and range extenders for cars and commercial vehicles. The producer has chosen the Ceramic
The big plus from clean oil: 70% gearbox life extension
Editor’s Note: The following was authored by Hansen Hunt and was posted at the Upwind Solutions blog site here http://goo.gl/cDIHBI. It references a case study here: http://goo.gl/wnpRRZ An improvement of just one ISO code in oil cleanliness can extend the bearing’s “relative life” by 20%. Three code drops can provide a 70% life extension. Clean
AssurX announces an update to its training management software
AssurX, Inc., an enterprise quality management, risk and regulatory-compliance software developer, has announced the release of the latest update to its AssurX training management software. The company says AssurX training management software is an intuitive, flexible system that ensures proper training compliance, even in complex, fluid environments. Mapping precisely to your real-world operations, the training
Software allows designing a composite & analyzing structure its in at once
Manufacturers and engineering firms in the advanced-composites sector can now use software developed at Purdue University to reduce the design cycle of materials and structures, and analyze models too complex for existing methods. AnalySwift LLC, a commercial software developer, has launched SwiftComp, technology that provides efficient, high-fidelity modeling of composites and reduces analysis times without
Manufacturer duplicates bearing race smearing in lab and identifies a resistant coating
Wind turbine gearboxes are a little more reliable since researchers at The Timken Company have been able to reproduce smearing damage on bearings in the lab. Producing it means they know what causes it, and later tests on selected surface treatments show that one works well eliminating the damage. “Smearing is a damage mechanism in
16,000 tests on 500 composites now publically available
This article was extracted from the August issue of the Sandia Wind Research Newsletter and published with permission. Wind turbine blade growth continues to have the largest impact on energy capture and LCOE reduction. While the 40 to 45-m long blade is today’s mainstream segment, it is estimated that blades over 50-m long will be
Reducing food processing plant’s energy costs
Food processors in the U.S. face an unprecedented competitive environment and must look for ways to be profitable without negatively affecting the quality of finished products. The challenge of maintaining high product quality while simultaneously reducing production costs can often be met through investments in energy efficiency, which may include the purchase of energy-efficient technologies…
Q&A: CyboEnergy solar inverters offer benefits of central, string and micro
California-based CyboEnergy, a division of industrial automation company CyboSoft, has developed what it calls a “mini inverter” with benefits of both central inverters and microinverters. At its booth at Intersolar 2015, the company showed how its CyboInverters can operate in either on-grid or off-grid mode. A time-based grid power feature also allows energy to be stored in batteries and sent to the
Solar Power World Releases 2015 Top 500 Solar Contractors List
Solar Power World, the industry’s leading business-to-business publication, announces the release of the 2015 Top 500 Solar Contractors list. This is the biggest and best annual listing of North America’s top solar contractors working in the utility, commercial, residential and off-grid markets. Companies on the list are grouped by specific service (construction firms, developers, electrical
Smaller robots help increase efficiency
Comau has introduced a high-speed, 6-axis articulated robot that features a payload of 3 kg and a reach of 630 mm. The third robot within the Racer family, the Racer3 is the company’s response to the market demand for fast, cost-effective robotic automation within small- to medium-sized companies and emerging countries. With a streamlined design…
GE’s industrial software to boost efficiency across BP’s global operations
GE Intelligent Platforms Software announced a new production optimization project to connect all of BP’s oil wells globally to the Industrial Internet. Using GE’s data management software, BP field engineers will gain real-time access to common machine and operational data sets across all wells, arming them with information to make better decisions to improve efficiency,…
Solar Speaks goes live at Intersolar
We’re taking our popular podcast series on the road and to a live audience. Solar Speaks Live will be at Intersolar North America in the Unirac booth from July 13 to 14, 2015. Solar Power World editors will interview industry thought leaders and about their unique solar industry perspectives, involvement and outlook. Interviews will be
Solar Power World joins SunSpec at Intersolar event as its official media sponsor
The SunSpec Alliance, along with its official media sponsor Solar Power World, has announced the lineup for the PV Finance Conference and Solar Asset Symposium, which will take place at Intersolar July 13 and 14 at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco. Now in its fifth year, the expanded SunSpec Solar Finance Conference and Asset
Technology makes hydraulic reservoirs more efficient
Design World recently spoke with Paul Michael, a research chemist for the Fluid Power Institute at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and Mark Schmidt, Business Development Manager for Helgesen Industries of Hartford, Wis., on HydroNucleation reservoir technology. DW: Can you tell us a little bit about HydroNucleation reservoir technology? Schmidt: The purpose of our technology…
Why solar tracking is a key technology for unlocking the potential of utility-scale PV
Quotes for very large solar photovoltaic projects in sunny parts of the United States are coming in at an astounding 5 to 6 cents per kWh. Certainly these projects enjoy economies-of-scale advantages compared to smaller or rooftop photovoltaic projects. There is, however, one other very important technology advantage—because the utility-size systems are ground mounted, trackers
Moving to solid-state LED technology
Victor Zaderej • Director of SSL product development Important changes are happening right now in the lighting industry that will affect us all—and hopefully change the lives of the least fortunate on the planet. Although Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1879, it took nearly 50 years—and the development of centralized power systems—before the…
Fighting the cold: Renewable hybrid systems may be the answer
One thing wind turbines have going for them is their capacity to withstand freezing temperatures, especially with the latest in blade de-icing technologies. The same doesn’t hold true for solar panels where even a relatively small amount of snow on top of a panel can seriously impact the energy output of a solar system. Panel
What Tesla’s big announcement has to do with solar
Last night, Tesla Motors held a live presentation at Tesla Design Studio in Los Angeles. During the event Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel unveiled a new Tesla battery that has home, commercial/industrial, and utility-scale storage applications. College of Marin will be the first community college in California partnering with
Which works better for more accurate torque? Current control or torque sensors?
Paul Bundy / Energy Service Manager / AIMCO There is significant debate in the bolting industry as to how to best measure torque. When using electric torque drivers, one camp suggests that monitoring electric current provides sufficient torque control. A more recent position suggests that a torque sensor in the head of the tool works
Clever crane lowers the cost of gearbox swaps
An unusual 30-ton capacity crane can pull itself up into a nacelle, and when bolted down, allows lowering a worn gearbox and picking up a new one, all at a lower cost than a conventional crane callout. The design from Denmark’s Liftra, fits in one standard 40-ft. container with a wheel chassis for easy transport.