• SKF India Limited

Continuous Monitoring & Lubrication of Windmills

Given the operating conditions a wind turbine faces over a typical 20-year service life, maintenance problems aren’t a question of “if’, but “when”. For many wind farms, the number of maintenance technicians trying to delay the inevitable is limited, and determining how best to deploy them is a challenge.
 
When inevitable maintenance problems occur, farms are faced with the prospect of exorbitant crane mobilisation costs, lost energy production, and soaring costs per kilo-watt-hour. And to make matters worse, spare parts for wind turbines are very difficult to come by in this rapidly expanding industry. SKF, the leading global supplier of products, solutions and services within rolling bearings, seals, mechatronics, services and lubrication systems, offers a solution with WindCon 3.0, an online conditioning monitoring system.
 
SKF WindCon 3.0 is an easy-to-manage, proactive maintenance system that helps wind farm owners reduce operating and per-kWh costs. Easily installed on all turbine sizes and types, on land or at sea, the system continuously monitors single units or entire farms to reliably predict when maintenance activities will be necessary. Using vibration sensors mounted on a turbine’s main shaft bearings, drive train gearbox, and generator, as well as access to the turbine control system, the system collects, analyses, and compiles a range of operating data.
 
By enabling operators to monitor and track deteriorating component conditions in real-time, SKF WindCon 3.0 enables maintenance decisions to be based on actual machine conditions, rather than arbitrary maintenance schedules. Along with the possibility that maintenance intervals can be extended, the system provides a powerful tool for managing day-to-day maintenance routines and consolidating risky, costly maintenance activities.
 
SKF WindCon 3.0 uses SKF WebCon data analysis, warehousing and web hosting services. WebCon enables centralised remote monitoring and makes it even easier to access and act on collected data. Utilising wireless communication, SKF WebCon helps shorten lead-time from alarm to solution, as operators can review data from any location with a computer or hand-held device with Internet access. And with SKF WebCon, operators don’t have to develop or maintain any databases – SKF manages and stores all data remotely. SKF WindCon 3.0 Gadgets provides live data of specific critical cases.
 
Finally, simplified maintenance and increased reliability that SKF WindCon 3.0 provides can be enhanced with WindLub – SKF's centralised automatic lubrication system for wind turbines. WindLub easily integrates with SKF WindCon 3.0; so along with fully automated lubrication, the combination provides operators with a complete overview of the lubrication system, including pump status and grease levels.
 
Just as SKF WindCon 3.0 helps wind farm operators perform the appropriate maintenance at the right time to optimise resources, WindLub delivers the exact quantity of the appropriate lubricant at the right positions at the right time.
 
Interconnected with SKF WindCon 3.0, WindLub ultimately enables an even more proactive maintenance approach.