Wind Turbine Condition Monitoring Partner Chosen

ThyssenKrupp System Engineering GmbH, developer of MDI-Wind, an online condition monitoring system designed especially for wind turbines has chosen WearSens^® from cmc Instruments GmbH to sit at the heart of the system.

Key factors in the choice of WearSens^® were: cmc Instruments work with academic partners to fully understand the process of wear and damage, highly sensitive detection, showing change in oil before additives react, extremely early  warning of potential damage, significantly earlier than other technologies such as vibration monitoring or particle measurement, use of data to optimise load against wear and use of data to predict maintenance instead of rigid intervals

Wind turbines are an expensive asset that can require a lot of maintenance. Offshore wind farms and those in remote locations are costly to service. Accurate condition monitoring can result in huge potential savings in both money and downtime.

Bearings and gearboxes in wind turbines often fail well before the theoretical L10 life. One of the reasons for this is that damage inside the gearbox is being noticed much too late. Gearbox damage is the end result of a series of events.  The beginning is hairline crack formation on the bearing raceway and this can be initiated by a number of different factors, too much load, turbine imbalance, transmitted vibration and simply the passage of roller bearings over time.

WearSens^® and MDI-Wind combine to give 24/7 asset protection that you can rely on. Previously, condition monitoring systems had to rely on older technologies which detect change much later in the process. 

WearSens^® can be incorporated into condition monitoring systems or used as a stand alone system. It is easy to install or retro-fit with a choice of inline or flow through measurement. The decentralised, web based monitoring system makes results available anywhere in the world.

WearSens^® is a unique condition monitor, online and continuous.  Applications include industrial compressor systems, wind turbines, high voltage transformers, large gearboxes and lubricant analysis in automotive and marine test benches .

cmc Instruments manufacture analytical and process instrumentation for gases and liquids including  the new WearSens® and OilQSens^® - patented, online systems for condition monitoring in roller bearings, gears and transformers.