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Drive element makes more of wind energy

A Voith Turbo product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 3, 2005

Designers of wind power plants now have a drive element at their disposal which converts a broad spectrum of input speeds into a constant output speed in the multimegawatt range.

With the newly developed Voith WinDrive, designers of wind power plants have a drive element at their disposal which converts a broad spectrum of input speeds into a constant output speed in the multimegawatt range.

Key components of the WinDrive are a hydrodynamic torque convertor and a planetary gear designed as superimposing gear.

The development of the WinDrive was initiated by the Vorecon variable speed gear which has been proven over decades.

With the WinDrive, low and variable rotor speeds are converted into high, constant speeds.

Due to constant output speeds, economically priced synchronous generators can feed the produced electricity directly into the grid.

Power electronics for frequency adaptation are no longer required.

Additionally, this drive concept also has a positive effect on the weight and the space requirements in the nacelles of wind turbines.

Globally installed wind power capacities will soon exceed the 50,000MW threshold.

Studies (GWEC) predict that by 2020, 1.2 million megawatts are likely.

The development of wind energy will go hand in hand with a noticeable increase of standard turbine sizes - especially in offshore applications.

Today, wind turbines with an output of 5MW already exist as prototypes, capable of supplying the electricity requirements of about 3000 households.

When designing wind turbines of such a magnitude, special attention must be paid to vibrations and load shocks in the drive train.

Problems such as these are dealt with by WinDrive with its integrated torque convertor, because input and output side are connected due to power being transmitted hydrodynamically.

Vibrations and impacts are effectively dampened.

Reduced load in the drive train results in higher reliability and availability of the plant - an important argument for both onshore and offshore projects.

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