Hi Direct approach: improving wind turbine drivetrain reliability.

Hi Direct approach: improving wind turbine drivetrain reliability.

Offshore wind turbines have been plagued by reliability issues that have driven up costs and damaged confidence in the technology. But could a new generation of drivetrain technologies change this?

For nearly a year, people gazing across Scotland’s Firth of Forth have been able to catch sight of an impressive feat of engineering: the world’s most powerful offshore wind turbine. The 7MW monster — the first of its kind — has blade tips that tower 196m above sea level, sweeping an area twice the size of the London Eye.

The majestic structure is part of a bigger plan to make use of the UK’s offshore wind capabilities. The total offshore generating capacity in UK waters provides around eight terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity each year, enough to power around two million homes. Industry estimates suggest that by 2020, offshore wind will supply between eight to 10 per cent of the UK’s electricity annually.

One way to overcome reliability issues is to take the direct-drive route. That is what Alstom has beenm attempting with its 6MW Haliade WTG wind turbine.

The technology is giving the UK a chance to conquer a growing global market. Offshore construction costs are high, but fairly predictable. Without the same size constraints, wind turbines at sea provide economies of scale. They also produce far more energy than their land-based equivalent, with offshore turbines reaching 3–8MW of capacity. These energy gains, however, come at a cost when it comes to maintenance.

A wind turbine’s drivetrain provides the biggest headache for engineers. ‘They are a classic issue in the wind industry,’ said Daniel Castel, offshore platform director at Alstom. ‘Lots of effort has been made to improve the reliability of the gearboxes but the truth is that there are still some issues that prevent the achievement of a lifetime solution. This is especially critical for offshore where the operating expense is so high.’

’Haliade WTG is a direct-drive solution featuring our pure torque layout that allows for sharp control of the loads that go through the power train. 

Daniel Castel, Alstom.

To avoid excessive damage, Ricardo has come up with a solution dubbed MultiLife, which involves rotating the fixed inner components so that wear take place throughout the full circumference of the bearing rather than just on a small section.

Historically, gearboxes have suffered from failures in both the planet bearings and the high-speed shaft bearings. The high-speed shaft bearings, which undergo huge forces, can often be replaced on site, but any planet bearing failure requires removal of the gearbox from the turbine for repair elsewhere. The downtime this creates means that close to 25 per cent of a wind farm’s maintenance costs are linked to gearbox failures.

‘Individual offshore turbines are now pushing well above 5MW capacity, so it is crucial to design and build in the highest standards of reliability from the outset,’ said Paul Jordan, Ricardo’s global head of clean energy and power generation. ‘We need to avoid the risk of high costs of failure and remedial replacement of major components such as gearboxes.’

Jordan’s team has been working on a gearbox and drivetrain design for the Samsung Heavy Industries 7MW offshore wind turbine being tested in Scotland. The mammoth structure is designed to gather energy in some of the world’s roughest oceans. It has a rotor diameter of 171.2m with a hub that stands around 110.6m above sea level. The rotor tip moves at 95m/sec, meaning the drivetrain has to handle torque of 6.9MNm.

‘The most challenging aspect was the six degree of freedom dynamic analysis of the full drivetrain,’ said Jordan. This analysis allowed the team to subject each piece of the gearbox to finite element (FE) analysis testing. ‘It was important for us to consider gravitational and assembly loads as well as those due to operation,’ added Ricardo’s chief engineer for the project, John Stanton.

The team’s simulation revealed wear on the inner bearing concentrated over a small arc of around 40˚. The team came up with a solution — dubbed MultiLife — which involves rotating the fixed inner components so that the wear would take place throughout the full circumference of the bearing. This, the team claims, extends the life of the bearing by up to five times and avoids the bearing damage reaching a critical condition.

But to achieve more gains in reliability, Ricardo claims new innovations are needed. ‘There are limits to the optimisation of drivetrains that can be achieved through intensive simulation,’ said Jordan. ‘However, there are further step-changes that can be achieved through the adoption of advanced technologies that we have developed from our experiences in other, more mature industrial sectors such as off-highway equipment, motorsport and 

road vehicles.’

Ricardo’s TorqLife technology is claimed to improve wind turbine architectures susceptible to damage from loads such as strong gusts or emergency stops.

One way to overcome the reliability issues is to take the direct-drive route. That’s what Alstom has been attempting with its 6MW wind turbine, dubbed Haliade WTG. ‘We do not have any gearbox in the drive train,’ said Castel. ‘It is a direct-drive solution featuring our pure torque layout that allows for sharp control of the loads that go through the power train.’ With no gearbox coupled to the generator, the turbine consists of fewer rotating parts, increasing reliability.

Ricardo has also developed a technology, named TorqLife, which it claims improves wind turbine drivetrain architectures susceptible to non-torque loads transmitted into the gearbox. The same potentially failure-inducing mechanism can also affect the generator for direct-drive architectures. This load can be created under certain operating conditions such as gusts or turbulent wind conditions and fault conditions such as grid loss and emergency stop.

TorqLife uses a dual-function coupling that avoids drivetrain overloads. It is based on an arrangement of hydraulic cylinders between the rotor shaft and gearbox, or direct-drive generator, which are able to isolate non-torque loads. Ricardo claims this innovation offers the prospect of enabling wind turbine drivetrains to survive in the harshest conditions for their full lifetime.

‘What makes our job really rewarding is that our endeavours will help ensure that a much greater proportion of renewable power is delivered to the grid, and at a much lower cost than would otherwise be the case,’ said Jordan. If the UK is to make the most of its offshore wind power potential, then technologies such as this will be vital to ensuring investors’ support for the industry. Addressing concerns over reliability could also help win over those who remain on the fence over renewable’

A Hi Sustainable Approach & Green Routine

A Hi Sustainable Approach

With the latest Dubai Green Building Codes coming into effect for all residential and commercial construction in early 2014, the country is reaching a significant milestone in the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015 and its goal to become a city that follows the highest levels of sustainable development. 

Although many of you are no doubt already familiar with the impending regulations, I will briefly revisit what they are and who they will impact.

The regulations apply to:

1) All new buildings.

2)Additions, extensions and refurbishments of existing buildings that require a building permit from Dubai Municipality.

3) Existing buildings, where specified (for example, certain Mixed Use Buildings and when there is a change of use for a building).

The regulations are a welcome introduction and, contrary to perceptions that their implementation is overly-hasty with no structured process for educating stakeholders, the government is actually taking considered steps to inform the industry about the new requirements.

Dubai Municipality has made the regulations public and also issued guidelines on the certification of green building projects on its website. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the guidelines.

Click here or image above to visit DUBAI Municipality - Homepage

It is also a good idea to associate with organisations such as Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network click here to visit homepage. Its CSR Label is an excellent framework that helps companies to monitor, measure and improve their CSR and sustainability practices.

The key to the successful delivery of green projects, as per the new regulations, is to define roles and responsibilities – whether it is deciding who will look after new documentation procedures, sourcing of green-certified products, or agreeing how much of the regulation responsibility will be shared with your partners.

This is important in order to avoid making sudden changes to your business processes and for defining new roles when regulations come into effect.

Companies, building owners and designers can make small, internal changes to make adopting sustainable practices easier. For example, sourcing a list of green product suppliers is a good way for interior designers to ensure easier product selection. This simple practice greatly helps us at Summer town Interiors to ensure that key products we source are green-certified.

We have also created a ‘Green Library’ to provide reference material on sustainability. Mandatory regulation is just one of the many measures the UAE government is taking to support Dubai’s Expo 2020 bid, where sustainability plays a major role.

Hi Green Library Link : - Download the Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network employee volunteer guide book click here

Dubai Chamber Download Link - : "Center for responsible business", Dates to remember click here

If Dubai wins the bid, there will not only be a massive demand for construction, but a greater need for higher standards of sustainability, too. 

While the heavy hand of regulation will help accelerate green compliance, sustainability is, at its core, a voluntary code and we, as members of this industry and consultants to companies, play an important role in contributing to the triple bottom line.

Moving beyond the implementation phase, it is important to continuously assess the efficacy of the regulations so that they remain relevant and credible. The regulations themselves are a means not an end. They are a valuable tool, but become less valuable if their implementation results in an increase in projects that fail to meet the expected certification levels.

At the moment, the few projects in Dubai that are LEED-certified (click here) "to visit homepage for LEED U.S Green Building Council"  have achieved a higher level of certification (silver, gold and platinum). This is because the companies seeking accreditation are choosing to be so rather than this being a mandatory requirement.

Visit Dubai LEED Certification, Lead Certification, Asbestos, and BPI Certification Training :-  Click here to visit homepage.

Sustainability practices are already a fundamental part of these companies’ framework. Although a drop in standards is not ideal, the market has to start somewhere, so it is a situation we should celebrate, not bemoan.

A Hi Green Routine

The construction industry is often criticized for neglecting environmental issues in favor of profit.

While the industry as a whole is actively pursuing green building projects, the flip side is that not all companies who are accredited to Green Building Council membership, nor all LEED-accredited professionals, follow or encourage others to follow Eco-friendly practices in their day-to-day tasks.

If we do not collectively change our thinking and how we operate, critics of the sector’s overall environmental performance may be proved right.

With World Expo 2020 and the FIFA 2022 World Cup on the horizon, and as the GCC construction industry prepares for another construction extravaganza, there could not be a better time for all stakeholders to start seriously practicing sustainability in everything that they do.

One such issue is heavy usage of paper in the construction industry. It’s a fact that tonnes of paper and several thousand printer cartridges are being used by all stakeholders for communicating by means of circulating multiple hard copies of drawings, reports, submitting, schedules, manuals, purchase orders, invoices, delivery notes, time sheets, letters and faxes, without realizing the adverse effect we leave on the environment.

Due to this uncontrolled use of paper, paper mills produce tonnes of extra supplies. However, such paper production and usage takes a toll on the beautiful planet we live in. Paper is the third-largest industrial polluter of air, water and land, releasing well over 100 m kg of toxic pollutants each year.

Hi Sustainable Approach & Green Routine Links

GENERAL Links Section

BuildingGreen, LLC

This web-based company provides green building case studies and over 2,000 green building products organized by standard CSI divisions.

Environmental Construction + Design - Green Book

Environmental Construction + Design offers a print magazine and an online green product and resource guide.

Good To Be Green

This free directory of sustainable products and accredited green building professionals contains resources for both residential and commercial builders.

Greenguard Environmental Institute

Greenguard provides a guide to third-party, certified low-emitting interior products and building materials (registration required).

Green Seal Certified Products

Green Seal is an independent, nonprofit organization that identifies and promotes green products and services.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

FSC provides independent auditing, certification and the promotion of certified forest products under the SmartWood name.

LEEDuser

This website provides step-by-step guidance to earning LEED credits while achieving the best possible environmental benefit. It is published by BuildingGreen and supported by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The NRDC Greening Advisor
NRDC's in-depth guide gives you the tools you need to bring your business into the green era.

Life Cycle Analysis Tools Links Section

International Design Center for the Environment

IDCE is a non-profit organization that promotes community sustainability and develops and disseminates tools for scientifically robust and efficient life cycle analysis of common materials.

LBLN High Performance Commercial Building Systems

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is developing a set of life cycle cost tools for improving commercial building performance.

Whole Building Design Guide - Life Cycle Tools

The Whole Building Design Guide, developed by the National Institute of Building Sciences, provides a variety of life cycle cost and assessment tools.

Federal Energy Management Program

Here is an additional resource for downloading software developed by the National Institute of Building Sciences Building Life-Cycle Cost programs.

Hi Regional Focus "Middle East - Egypt Report":

Hi Regional Focus "Middle East - Egypt Report":

* Egypt GHG emissions, reduction strategy: 

*Content:


▪ Overall country perspective
▪ Industry overview
▪ Deep dive on selected sectors


Click Here To Download the Full Report

*Executive Summary:

Approach:

Emission baseline and abatement potential have been estimated on a macro sector basis (with a focus on 5 key sectors Power, Building, Cement, Road transport, Agriculture).

▪ Data has been collected from available public sources (local and international), syndicated by interviews with local experts and using values from comparable countries.

▪ Greenhouse Gas (GHG) abatement analysis has been developed with the objective of providing an 

integrated perspective on emissions reductions and cost. It cannot be used to forecast exact CO2 prices/ CO2 regulation or forecast individual technologies. 

Overall Business as Usual (BAU):

Emissions in 2005 are in the range of 220 Mt CO2 e and are expected to grow up to ~550 Mt CO2 e by 2030 contributing to ~0.9% of world emissions.

▪ In 2005 emissions per capita versus GDP per capita in Egypt are in line with other developing regions 

(such as India, Latin America and  Middle East), and throughout 2030 are expected to follow a typical 

growth pattern of a developing country.

▪ The 5 main sectors (Power, Building, Cement, Road transport, Agriculture) account for ∼75% of total emissions in 2005  and are expected to slightly increase their relative importance by 2030 (∼77% of total emissions). 

▪ Overall industry related emissions account for ∼29% of the total emissions in 2005 and are expected to increase their relative share to ∼36% by 2030.

Potential abatement:


Overall abatement potential is in the range of ∼200 Mt CO2e, equivalent to ∼36% of BAU at 2030.
▪ The overall potential is slightly lower than comparable developing regions mainly due to lower potential from the power sector (absence of coal plants, in BAU most of the total power production is already generated by relatively low gas plants).
▪ Total abatement potential of ~200 MtCO2e is fragmented into multiple levers and can be partially
implemented with economic benefits.
▪ Most of the abatement potential comes from the 5 key sectors  (Power, Transport, Cement, Building,
Agriculture) which account for ~80% of the total abatement.

*A specific methodological approach has been followed..