New method for lubricating wind turbine pitch gears using embedded micro-nozzles

• The increase of power generated by wind turbines has increased the stresses applied in all of its components, thereby causing premature failures. Particularly, pitch and yaw gears suffer from excessive wear mainly caused by inappropriate lubrication. This paper presents a novel method to automatically lubricate the wind turbine pitch gear during operation. A micro-nozzle to inject fresh grease continuously between the teeth in contact was designed, manufactured, and installed in a test bench of a 2 MW wind turbine pitch system. The test bench was used to characterize the fatigue behavior of the gear surface using conventional wind turbine greases under real cyclic loads. Measurements of wear evolution in a pitch gear with and without micro-nozzle show a decrease of 70 % of the wear coefficient after 2×104 cycles.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Strömningsmekanik och akustik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Fluid Mechanics and Acoustics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Strömningslära

Fluid Mechanics

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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