More wind in the works

The continuous rise in the proportion of wind energy in the energy mix also makes new demands on the operational reliability of the installations. The commonest problems occur in the turbine drive trains and downtimes are the result. Developers are therefore investing considerable sums in optimizing the gearbox-based drive systems. The first international VDI conference "Drive Trains of Wind Turbines", to be held in Hamburg, Germany on 19th and 20th June 2012, will be looking closely at these problems. Conference chairman Prof. Dr.-Ing. Berthold Schlecht, Director of the Institute of Machine Elements of the Technical University of Dresden, Germany, discusses the design loads of installations and components and shows how engineers can measure operation loads in order to calculate realistic load assumptions. Dirk-Olaf Leimann, Manager of Technology development at ZF Wind Power Antwerpen in Belgium reports on how manufacturers minimize the noise and vibration of wind turbine gear units. Luc Houpert from Timken Europe in Colmar, France, introduces methods by which designers can calculate the effect of loads on wind turbine bearings and the use of lubricants. Experts from Allianz Risk Consulting and SKF deal with the dynamic behavior of drive trains and the special demands made on rotor bearings. Erika Echavarría of the Turbine Engineering Competence Center & Offshore Wind, GL Garrad Hassan in the Netherlands shows how the failure rates of wind energy installations impact on the energy yield and what importance offshore maintenance has for energy costs. Other contributions in the subject groups, such as innovative developments in drive trains, significant design loads for optimal dimensioning of drives and technical safety, are presented by experts from Vestas Technology R&D, Drive Concepts, ESM and others. Further information, registration and programme at www.vdi.de/drivetrains