for direct-drive architectures where maintaining the small air gap is critical. Moreover, geared systems are also potentially at risk from torque overload under certain operating conditions such as gusts or turbulent wind conditions and fault conditions such as grid loss and emergency stop, where high loads can be experienced in the drivetrain before action can be taken to protect the drivetrain by controlling blade pitch. TorqLife is a unique and highly innovative dual- function coupling that avoids drivetrain overloads. It is based on an arrangement of hydraulic cylinders between the rotor shaft and gearbox, or direct-drive generator, which are able to kinemati- cally isolate non-torque loads and enable peak torque truncation to bring the torque to within acceptable limits. This innovation offers the prospect of enabling wind turbine drivetrains to survive in the harshest conditions for their full 25-year operating life without major mainte- nance intervention.


Enabling Advanced Condition Monitoring While intensive simu- lation-led design and the adoption of innovations such as MultiLife and TorqLife are aimed at delivering through-life turbine reli- ability, durability and drivetrain optimization, the ability to identify incipient failures in the fi eld remains a signifi cant commercial priority for wind farm operators. The SensorLife system aims to provide a practical ap- plication of acoustic emission and ultrasonic sensors with advanced signal processing techniques for detection of early- stage faults for bearing and mechanical driveline condition monitoring. With these techniques, the sensor data not only


gives advanced warnings of system health issues, beyond current state-of-the-art, but can also potentially be used to develop remaining useful life predictions for key components in the drivetrain, whether direct-drive or geared. “We are seeing a signifi cant demand for Ricardo services from both wind farm developers as well as the manufactur-


Schematic of the SensorLife system, which combines acoustic emission and ultrasonic sensors with advanced signal processing techniques to monitor the condition of bearings and the mechanical driveline.


ers of the latest large-scale multi-megawatt turbines,” said Jordan. “With the imperative to push further in ensuring that the major components of the drivetrain system are suffi ciently reliable as to be fi t for life, we believe that our reliability in- novations have truly game-changing potential to reduce the total cost of wind energy both on land and offshore.”


Edited by Yearbook Editor James D. Sawyer from information provided by Ricardo PLC.


61 — Energy Manufacturing 2016


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