Proactive monitoring and maintenance in wind turbines

Objective

Proactive maintenance in wind turbines.

Results

Monitoring of the state of lubricant by means of online sensors communicating with a centralised system.

Proactive monitoring and maintenance in wind turbines

Sensors have been developed which are able to measure the lubricant state of health (OilHealth®) and detect particles present in the lubricant fluid (OilWear®), anticipating thus any possible degradation of the oil or potential faults in mechanical elements.

The sensors are connected to the wind turbine, and can be connected with SCADA/PLC systems, carrying out diagnoses autonomously. Moreover, they enable communication with a centralised system, aimed at making forecasts about the future state and estimating the optimum moment for changing the oil or undertaking a complementary maintenance activity.

All this provides important economic, environmental and operational benefits.