GEARS
WIND TURBINE GEARBOX DESIGN, TEST AND OVERHAUL
To ensure smooth and reliable operation in the field, wind turbine gearbox components require high- precision manufacturing and careful handling during assembly and pre- testing.
QUALITY CONTROL
To maintain full control over quality at all stages of production, ZF Wind Power has invested in critical core manufacturing technologies. As a result, all production steps including machining of housing and planet carrier, gear cutting, grinding and hardening are precisely controlled within strict tolerances.
Product designs combine planetary and helical gear stages, optimally dimensioned bearings and shafts and continuous oil circulation through the bearings. These technologies ensure high strength and torque capacity, excellent surface durability and low noise performance as well as optimum bearing life under specified loads, all of which contribute to a long and trouble-free working life for the gearbox. The planetary gear designs combine advanced and proven concepts to produce gearboxes that are compact and optimised for torque density and power-to-weight ratio, without compromising performance.
FEATURE SPONSOR
THOROUGH TESTING PROMOTES RELIABILITY AND LONG SERVICE LIFE ZF has a unique global load testing capacity of around 60 MW across its service and production facilities, which can validate all prototype and serial gearboxes. The newest test rig represents an investment of more than €10m and is designed to maintain test capabilities in line with the market’s continuous increases in wind turbine power.
Located at the company’s Lommel production facility in Belgium, it is one of the world’s largest dynamic gearbox test rig test facilities with a nominal power rating of 13.2 MW and peak power handling of up to 16.8 MW.
To replicate actual wind turbine operating conditions, the test gearbox is driven at varying speeds by a motor on the ‘wind/ rotor’ side of the rig to correspond with variations in wind speed. It is also subjected to varying torque levels by a motor on the ‘grid/generator’ side to simulate loading from the grid. Using this test rig, ZF Wind Power can validate gearboxes under realistic wind turbine operational loading conditions and carry out accelerated life testing to identify and solve potential technical problems before a design is deployed in the field.
POST-WARRANTY REPAIR AND OVERHAUL SERVICES MINIMISE NETWORK DOWNTIME A wind turbine gearbox must be maintained in first-class condition to ensure that it is capable of delivering its rated performance safely and reliably under heavy and fluctuating loads. If the gearbox sustains damage, the turbine’s condition rapidly deteriorates, often rendering it inoperative and no longer generating revenue. Catastrophic turbine failure may lead to a major shutdown of all or part of a wind farm and as the number and size of offshore installations grows, the cost of such a shutdown will continue to increase.
Wind turbine operators are therefore dependent on a sound support infrastructure, which the company is ideally positioned to provide via its worldwide network of dedicated wind service resources within the ZF Services business unit.
CAPABILITIES
These include maintenance and repair of multi-brand current and legacy gearboxes to OEM standards, repairs to rotor shafts, yaw gears and ancillary items such as brakes, oil coolers and torque arms.
Over £1m ZF Group stock of bearings means high availability of replacement parts on demand. Video endoscopic gear analysis and oil analysis can be performed in the field, both onshore and offshore, and up-tower bearing changes and OE upgrades are also undertaken. Fully tested gearboxes complete with ancillaries are provided with a 24 month warranty, and a gearbox exchange pool is accessible with availability contracts.
Most importantly, service provision is flexible and tailored to customer requirements.
Partial load testing of wind turbine gearboxes is available at the Nottingham, UK service centre. Where full load testing is required, this can be carried out at the ZF Services’ repair and overhaul facilities in Dortmund, Germany and Vernon Hills, North America.
SUPPORTS OPERATORS IN HOME MARKET
To provide support to the UK’s wind energy industry, in 2009 ZF Services UK Ltd set up a new wind turbine gearbox repair and overhaul facility at its Nottingham headquarters.
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www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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