SPARES & REPAIRS
FEATURE SPONSOR
WHY IS COMPONENT REFURBISHMENT AN INCREASINGLY POPULAR OPTION FOR TURBINE MAINTENANCE?
The wind turbine sector uses a range of rubber-to-metal bonded components including gearbox bushes, generator mountings, direct drive torque reactors, nacelle hood mounts, and couplings.
After a number of years service these parts are often removed from the turbines for inspection during maintenance and turbine overhaul and refit programmes, although they may still meet the original specification.
REFURBISHMENT POSSIBILITIES However as part of its ongoing commitment to this increasingly important industry, Aegis Rubber Engineering Ltd identified the possibility of refurbishment for existing products during these programmes.
With the emphasis on product condition and life cost this presented an opportunity to challenge some of the ongoing issues in manufacturing, including raw material cost, availability and the associated environmental impact of metal and raw material production.
EXPERIENCE With a history of supplying components for nearly twenty years to OE wind turbine manufacturers, the company’s understanding of the application and the demands placed upon the parts has also provided them with important technical experience and data.
Products can therefore be evaluated at various stages of their operational lifecycle prior to refurbishing.
COMPREHENSIVE TESTING
As part of this inspection process, it is possible to identify those parts in which all or part of the metalwork can be re-used. A comprehensive testing regime assesses the performance of the component to understand any failure mechanisms or whether the part still achieves its original specification.
REFURBISHMENT PROCESS
Assembled units can then be deconstructed in-house. The metal components are individually recovered by removing the original polymer, either mechanically, or chemically at a specialist reclaim facility.
Both techniques result in the original
By developing techniques to remove the old rubber, the metal parts can often be recovered and reused for a defined new service period, which in some cases will be at the end of the turbine’s working life.
rubber-to-metal bonding interface being separated. The metalwork can then be re-processed, remoulded with new rubber and re-assembled prior to entering a new service period. Due to the nature of certain applications and length of service requirements, damaged metalwork and parts with critical dimensions can be replaced where necessary.
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
Whilst the work so far has predominantly involved gearbox bushes and mountings, these techniques could be applied across a whole range of rubber-to-metal bonded products used in wind turbine technology. Part refurbishment and reconditioning offers a number of advantages over complete product replacement in terms of environmental impact, financial cost and potentially reducing maintenance turn- around times.
SERVICES AVAILABLE
The company, based in West Sussex, specialise in the design, development and manufacture of rubber-to-metal based anti- vibration and shock isolation systems.
They supply a range of technical solutions to the Renewable Energy industry and the products that they manufacture for the Wind Turbine sector include gearbox bushes, generator mountings, direct drive torque reactors, nacelle hood mounts, and couplings.
Aegis Rubber Engineering Ltd
114
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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