TAW Wind Turbine Generator Upgrades and Redesigns
Servicing the United States, Canada, Central & South America
Discuss Wind Generator Service, Maintenance and Rewinds with a TAW Wind Services Specialist: 800-333-9449.
E-Mail: tawinfo@tawinc.com
Wind Turbine Upgrades and Redesign
Random Wound Generators
The wind energy industry has deep roots with European wind turbine generator suppliers. In the early days, some OEM’s applied standard induction motors for service as wind generators. Later, units designed for induction generator duty were applied, but differently than in Europe. Although it’s possible, for example, to use a European-designed 50 Hz generator in a North American 60 Hz application, that usually means rotational speeds of about 300 RPM greater (1800 RPM). This “minor” 20% speed increase can be problematic, when mechanical connections, stator and rotor bracing and retaining systems, and other features prove inadequate for the more demanding 60 Hz application.
TAW Wind Services can redesign components such as rotor power leads, rotor winding retention bands, bearings, and other features to assure years of reliable service for the modernized generators.
Form Wound Generators
As the most common wind turbine generator size has increased from less than 1 MW to 2-3 MW and larger, most OEM’s have transitioned to form-wound generator designs for the rotor and the stator. In the past few years, especially, it’s been tough for the manufacturers to keep up with industry demand for new units. In some cases, this has meant extrapolating designs to larger units without sufficient field experience. In other cases, quality issues associated with manufacturing have been evidenced. Typical issues include premature stator winding failures due to looseness of the coils or the wedges, or bearing failures due to unconstrained circulating currents on the rotor train.
TAW Wind has the engineering staff to diagnose these issues, and redesign problematic features of even the newest of wind generators.
Servicing the United States, Canada, Central & South America
Discuss Generator Upgrades and Redesign with a TAW Specialist: 800-333-9449.
E-Mail: tawinfo@tawinc.com
|