Wind energy is an essential renewable energy source; however, extreme environmental conditions and heavy gear loading can cause expensive wind turbine maintenance issues, including corrosion, micropitting and fretting wear. Overcoming the challenges of severe-service operation requires a superior lubrication strategy.
Extreme Operating Environments
Wind turbines operate in harsh outdoor environments, from frigid mountains and scorching deserts to wet coastal regions. Continuous operation exposes heavily loaded turbine gears to contamination from moisture and dirt. Extreme operating conditions require superior lubricants that prevent wear and extend the life of turbine components.
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Temperature Variability: Quality lubricants ensure consistent performance across a wide range of temperatures.
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Contaminants: Quality lubricants minimize the abrasive effects of wind-blown particle infiltration.
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Water: Quality lubricants maintain their effectiveness in the presence of moisture.
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Corrosion: Quality lubricants protect metal components from rust and oxidation.
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Micropitting: Quality lubricants help prevent the formation of tiny pits on gear surfaces.
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Fretting: Quality lubricants reduce oscillatory metal contact that leads to gear wear.
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Loading: Quality lubricants ensure even load distribution across gear teeth, which helps reduce wear.
Maintenance Challenges
Routine maintenance of wind turbine components and lubrication systems is inherently challenging and time-consuming due to their design and implementation.
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Location: Most wind farms are in remote areas, requiring scheduled maintenance visits.
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Uptime: Regular maintenance schedules are required to prevent unexpected failures.
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Complexity: Wind turbine maintenance requires specialized knowledge and equipment.
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Service Intervals: Frequent service intervals increase maintenance costs.
Superior Extreme-Pressure Gear Protection
A high-quality grease is designed to stay in place, which can extend service intervals and reduce the costs of wind turbine maintenance and associated downtime. AMSOIL Industrial Open Gear Grease contains advanced additives and thickeners to provide superior extreme-pressure anti-wear protection. It protects against fretting from extreme cyclical loads and vibrations, including ratcheting during backlash events that place heavy impact loads on gear teeth. Its calcium-sulfonate thickener creates tenacious thin filaments of grease that are distributed across the gear face after meshing to maintain consistent lubrication on every pass.
AMSOIL Industrial Open Gear Grease was engineered with wind energy maintenance technicians in mind. It stays in place despite heavy-impact loads, providing superior pitch and yaw gear protection for wind turbines operating in extreme temperatures and harsh, wet environments. Its unique combination of base oils, calcium-sulfonate thickener and advanced additives maintains a thick grease layer between heavily loaded gear sets to help prevent common gear-tooth issues including corrosion, micropitting and fretting wear.
Product Benefits
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Robust grease film protects gears under heavy shock-loading.
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Creates thin filaments of grease for maximum coverage.
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Exceptional protection against water washout.
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Protects equipment in harsh environments and extreme temperatures.
Consult an AMSOIL Industrial Application Engineer to identify custom solutions for your specific wind turbine challenges.