Gearbox Wear
Customer: UK Customer
Sensors Used: Vibration, oil particulate monitoring
Location: Hull, England
Savings: £120k
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Oil monitoring gave an early indication of wear in the
gearbox.
At a site near Hull a wind turbine was retro-fitted with FLOW which in addition to accelerometers also monitored oil particulate and condition using Hydac’s MCS1000 measurement and filtration system.
Wear in the gearbox was detected by a higher than normal increase in ferrous particles within the oil. This followed with an increase in gearbox vibration levels approximately 1 week later.
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As the wear progressed the rate of deterioration increased as indicated by the particle level. On inspection wear was found on the gear wheels.
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Early detection of this wear allowed an up tower replacement of the worn gear wheel resulting in reduced downtime and a possible major failure.
