The major issue for premature failure in wind turbine gearboxes is bearing failure, which leads to gearbox failure. A wind turbine gearbox will not survive if the oil is not clean and especially if the hard ferrous particles are not removed from around the bearings The LaserNet 230 particle counter and ferrous debris monitor has been shown to be an excellent analytical tool for end users to be able to diagnose wear faults in various machine applications such as gear boxes, engines and transmissions.
The wear generated in a wind turbine gear box is a function of load, speed and lubricant condition. The lubricant must be correctly specified for the turbine gear box’s idealized operating load and speed and its condition must be carefully monitored in order to maintain the required lubricant film thickness in these regimes. Ever-changing wind conditions and large variations in climates make wind turbine condition monitoring extremely challenging. As a result careful continuous automated monitoring of these critical and expensive assets is required.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is an existing user of the LaserNet Fines® (LNF) technology in drive train wind turbine monitoring. They have demonstrated and recommended that condition monitoring using the LNF is critical to avoiding premature failures in wind turbines.
Existing particle counter/auto sampler setups are not ideally suited to processing heavy batches of wind turbine oil samples which can also vary considerably in contamination level. Extra dilution steps for the viscosity and the contamination levels are required making them unsuitable compared to the standard clean oil hydraulic applications for which they were initially designed for.
Wear particles typically found in a gearbox and how they are generated
The abnormal wear generated in any gear system typically comes from the pitch line of the gear tooth (fatigue) or the tip of the gear (severe sliding). At the pitch line, the contact is rolling so the particles will be similar to rolling contact fatigue particles. The gear contact has an increased sliding component as the root or tip is approached and the particles will show signs of sliding morphology. This morphological wear data is extremely beneficial to the end user and abnormalities in the gearboxes caused by large particle generation are easily identifiable when trends are established that can distinguish ferrous from non-ferrous material. Another critical feature of a wind turbine gearbox is the bearings are both on the low and high speed stages and any misalignment of these will induce failure.
The major issue for premature failure in wind-turbine gearboxes is bearing failure, which leads to gearbox failure. A wind-turbine gearbox will not survive if the oil is not clean and especially if the hard ferrous particles are not removed from around the bearings. The LaserNet 230 particle counter and ferrous debris monitor has been shown to be an excellent analytical tool for end users to diagnose wear faults in various machine applications such as gearboxes, engines, and transmissions. The wear generated in a...
The major issue for premature failure in wind turbine gearboxes is bearing failure, which leads to gearbox failure. A wind turbine gearbox will not survive if the oil is not clean and especially if the hard ferrous particles are not removed from around the bearings.
The LaserNet 230 particle counter and ferrous debris monitor has been shown to be an excellent analytical tool for end users to be able to diagnose wear faults in various machine applications such as gear boxes, engines and transmissions. The wear...
Evaluating the wear condition of equipment is a primary requirement of condition monitoring programs. Oil wetted equipment will generate wear particles throughout its lifetime, the nature and rate of the wear varies from initial break in through to end of life seizure. The technique employed to detect wear and its severity is spectroscopy. Spectroscopy is a technique for detecting and quantifying the presence of elements in a material. Spectroscopy utilizes the fact that each element has a unique atomic structure....
TOTAL ACID NUMBER
A high concentration of acidic compounds in a lubricant can lead to corrosion of machine parts and clogged oil filters due to the formation of varnish and sludge. When a lubricant breaks down, acidic by-products will be formed from the chemical decomposition of the base stock and additives in the presence of air and heat. Total Acid Number (TAN) is a measure of acid concentration present in a lubricant. The acid concentration of a lubricant depends on the presence of additive package, acidic...
Particle counting is a critical aspect of any machine conditioning program and there are many tools out there available to monitor and track the quantity and severity of the contamination, be it due to external contamination or machine wear.
The specific application and type of particles will often govern what is the best particle counting technique for the job at hand. The continuous cleanliness of a hydraulic system, for instance, is very critical and even very low levels of dirt ingress can clog actuators...
No offshore facility wants to be caught with a sheen around their platform as that can result in a costly fine for exceeding discharge permit limits for oil. Onboard oil in water analyzers are necessary to ensure the oil/water separation systems are functioning properly before overboard disposal of the produced water. Bench top analyzers have traditionally been used to test oil in water although inline continuous monitoring systems are now on many platforms. While the inline system will give the operator valuable...
Portable oil analysis solutions empower ship maintainers to act fast in preventing failure Marine operators have known why oil analysis is a critical part of a good maintenance program for quite some time, and they practice it with combinations of onboard test kits and shoreside analysis laboratories commonly provided by the lubricant supplier.Slow steaming, long component lead times, constant switchovers from HFO to lowsulfur fuel, and high and low BN lubricants means having an effective oil analysis program to...
The InfraCal Soot Meter, from Wilks Enterprise, gives users an approved ASTM testing method for measuring the percent level of soot in diesel engine lubricating oils -- ASTM Method D7686-2011 entitled “Test Method for Field-Based Condition Monitoring of Soot in In-Service Lubricants Using a Fixed-Filter Infrared (IR) instrument.”
While there is widespread disagreement on used-diesel oil condemning limits, it is well known that excessive soot in the lube oil causes abnormal valve and injection-train...
While there is widespread disagreement on used-diesel oil condemning limits, it is well known that excessive soot in the lube oil causes abnormal valve and injection-train wear. It can also increase exhaust emissions and clog filters. Typically, the suggested limit for soot is in the neighborhood of 3% but can go much higher.
With the new ASTM Method D7686, truck, bus, ship, locomotive, and off-highway equipment fleet operators, power generation plants, as well as used oil labs and engine test facilities,...
Anyone involved in field analysis of oil in water will continually get the question “Does your equipment match the regulatory method?”While the amount of oil in water is highly regulated -- it can also be a challenging measurement. It is complicated by the fact that oil comes in many forms and the measurement is defined by the particular regulatory method. When EPA 1664 is the regulatory method, the “oil” is anything that is extracted into hexane and remains after the hexane has been...
Infrared (IR) analysis is the most widely used measurement technology for measuring biodiesel in diesel. Both EN 14078 and ASTM D7371 methods use infrared as the analytical method and more specifically FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectroscopy. Infrared is a common spectroscopic technique used for quantitative and qualitative analysis. In the biodiesel measurement, the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) has a characteristic absorption at 1745 cm-1 (5.4 micrometers) due to the carbonyl group. Both the EN and ASTM...
A White Paper discusses emulsion-breaking techniques for ensuring accurate oil in water measurements. Certain water samples, such as those containing detergent, may form an emulsion when oil in water extraction into a solvent is done. In order to ensure an accurate measurement, the emulsion must be broken. Six techniques are described that can be used for reducing an emulsion in order to obtain valid oil in water measurements -- whether the analysis is done by infrared, gravimetric or UV techniques. All of the...
A problem that is sometimes encountered with biodiesel blends is inaccurate blend ratios. This article describes a quick analytical method to assess blend ratios and ensure fuel performance.
According to a study1 done by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the chief problem found with biodiesel blends was inaccurate blend ratios. Retail customers and fleet managers do not typically worry about whether the blend ratio is correct until a problem occurs. For fleet managers, this can mean a total shutdown of...
It is estimated that 23-28% of Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs) are due to Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) or as much as 19 million gallons from 1998 to 2001 (State of North Carolina, 2004). Our increasingly mobile society has led to a decrease of cooking at home and a significant growth in the commercial food sector. This, on top of other industries such as metal processors, meat packers, cosmetic manufacturers and industrial laundry establishments that already contribute to oil and grease in the waste stream,...
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as other regulatory agencies around the world, have established limitation guidelines for discharges of “oily wastes” from facilities utilizing any type of oil and grease in their manufacturing process. However, recently several biodiesel plants in the US have been fined for illegally discharging vegetable-based oil and grease and polluting nearby streams. While biodiesel plants are new to the industrial community, they need to be good neighbors and properly...
Onsite Field Measurement of Oil and Grease A quick and easy field analysis method for determining oil and grease concentration levels is important for both offshore oil platforms and soil remediation sites.. Prior to the Montreal Protocol, infrared (IR) analysis using Freon as an extraction solvent was a widely used field and laboratory method. In 1999, the U.S. EPA promulgated Method 1664A to replace existing Freon methods. Method 1664A uses gravimetric analysis and hexane for the extraction process rather than...
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