Bonfiglioli Wind Power Solutions

Greg Schulte, President of Bonfiglioli, talks about some of their gearboxes used in the latest state-of-the-art wind turbines to control such significant functions like yaw and pitch drives. Bonfiglioli's know-how in the power transmission industry has focused on special applications offering 100% reliability and in particular, on the manufacture of gear motors for mobile machinery translation, slew and wheel drive applications, and gearboxes for wind turbine nacelle and blade rotation. For more information, go to: Bonfiglioli.

Megawatt Generating Windmills

Capturing the power of the wind is something Vestas is doing with windmill technology that ties together several engineering disciplines to create a modern windmill that can generate 3.0 megawatts of power from a self contained cell that is positioned high above the ground.

Wind Turbine Blade Pitch Control

Moog provides solutions for both hydraulic and electric blade pitch control. Blade pitch control is the system which monitors and adjusts the inclination angle of the blades and thus controls the rotation speed of the blades. At lower wind speeds, the pitching system leads to an acceleration of the hub rotation speed, while at higher speeds, blade pitch control reduces the wind load on the blades and structure of the turbine. For more information, go to: Moog.

Slip Rings for Wind Power

Modern wind turbines require delivery of power and signals to and from the rotating blades by a reliable rotary union assembly. Moog Components Group, a sister operating group of the Moog Industrial Group, provides a line of wind power (WP) products that are designed for this application. Slip Rings, utilizing fiber brush sliding contact technology are “no maintenance” rotary devices for transferring electrical power and signals. This fiber brush contact system eliminates the need for common slip ring maintenance procedures such as vacuuming of brush debris, lubrication, regular inspection for wear, and brush replacement. For more information, go to: Moog.

Wind Farm Collector System Optimization

Eugene Knabe from Cooper Power Systems discusses wind farm collector system optimization, and designing those systems for energy efficiency, with Machine Design’s Leland Teschler. Cooper Power Systems engineers and manufactures medium- and high-voltage electrical equipment, components, and systems that deliver reliable electric power to homes, industries, businesses, and institutions worldwide. For more information, visit Cooper Power Systems and Cooper Power Energy Automation Solutions.

Clipper Windpower Permanent Magnet Generator

Clipper Windpower’s advanced electrical system for their Liberty wind turbines is based on the permanent magnet MegaFlux generator. Unlike the industry's most commonly used, doubly fed generators, permanent magnet is simpler, nearly maintenance free, and operates at higher efficiency over a wider range of power output. For more information, visit Clipper Windpower. Also read Leland Teschler's Machine Design article, Green technology: Inside an advanced wind turbine.

Quantum Drive Distributed Generation Powertrain

The Liberty wind turbine's patented distributed generation powertrain, "Quantum Drive," a compact two-stage helical distributed configuration, moves gearbox technology well beyond the vulnerabilities found in standard three-stage planetary gearboxes typically used in today's multi-megawatt wind turbines. For more information, visit Clipper Windpower. Also read Leland Teschler's Machine Design article, Green technology: Inside an advanced wind turbine.