1 Introduction

1.1 Wind energy

wind are caused by uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun and irregular of earth
surface. Hot air reducing the pressure at the surface while going up, cooler air going down
the result is the wind. The air has mass when it is in motion it have energy of motion

1.2 Why wind energy?

“Wind power is renewable. Winds will keep on blowing, it makes sense to use them”.

1.3 Wind power plant

Also known as a wind farm, a group of wind turbines connected together and its output
going to a common power provider system. Operation, control, and maintenance functions
are centralized through a network of computerized monitoring systems. Special training
team provide visual inspection ,maintenance, and repair operations.

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2 Theory
The function of wind power system is to use the kinetic energy in the wind as much as
possible and transform this energy into electric energy, we can get this result by letting the
wind energy force an aerodynamic rotor to turn. This will be the first step by transforming
the wind energy into mechanical energy and then the rotation of a slow turning rotor shaft
is transferred to a high speed shaft which is connected to a generator. The output from the
generator is then connected to fed the grid. The development of the wind power business
has changed some of the components, but the basic idea of operation is still the same.

“Many developments and improvements have taken place since the commercialization of
wind technology in the early 1980s, but the basic architecture of the mainstream design is
little changed. Most of the wind turbines have yaw system to preserve alignment with wind
direction.”

The wind power system is a complex system and to do a better analysis it will be easier to
divide the system into smaller part systems such as subsystems.

2.1 Wind farms advantages and disadvantages

2.1.1 Advantages
• Wind is free.
• Produces no waste or greenhouse gases.
• The land of wind farms can be used for farming.
• Wind farms can be tourist attractions.
• A good method of supplying energy to remote areas.

2.1.2 Disadvantages
• The wind is not always predictable. Some days have no wind.
• Suitable areas for wind farms are often near the coast, where land is expensive.
• Some people feel that covering the landscape with these towers is unsightly.
• Can affect television reception if you live nearby.
• Can be noisy.

2.2 Inside the wind power system

The names of the components are general and apply to almost all designs of wind
turbines.

2.2.1 Rotor blades

Rotor blades plays an important part in the wind power plant which is directly dealing with
wind power energy using lightweight blades with special coat raising the efficiency of the

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unit. Another feature of some blades is heating inside the blades to be used in arctic
climates. The most common design is a three-bladed rotor .

2.2.2 Hub
The hub is rarely defined in failure statistics but is categorized as a part of the structure.
The hub is the centered of the rotor blades which connects the blades to the main shaft. It is
usually made of cast iron.

2.2.3 Structure
The structure consists of the tower, and the nacelle and the rotor. It is better to have a high
tower, as wind speeds increases.

2.2.4 Drive train

The drive train basically consists of the shaft and the bearings.

2.2.5 Gearbox
The gearbox transforms low-speed revolutions from the rotor to high-speed revolutions.

2.2.6 Generator
Wind power plants have different types of generators. The main function is transforming
the mechanical power (rotation) to electric power.

2.2.7 Electrical system

This is basically all equipment required to deliver and control the electrical energy.

2.2.8 Control system

The control system is made of a main computer inside the nacelle or in the tower Structure.
In large wind farms the control system from different turbines are monitored by a center of
operations.

2.2.9 Sensors
Sensors provide monitoring the components remotely. In modern turbines a CMS
(condition monitoring system) is installed in a turbine.

2.2.10 Mechanical brakes

The wind power system can use both aerodynamic brakes and mechanical brakes.
Aerodynamic brakes are pitching the blades into a position where as less wind force as
possible is absorbed. The mechanical brake system consists of a disk brake in conjunction
with the gearbox.

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2.2.11 Hydraulic system
Hydraulic components are used in the turbine (Pitching, braking and yawing systems). And
there is a design of wind power unit using hydraulic system to bring the tower up and
down.

2.2.12 Yaw system

The yaw system is the system for controlling how the tower turns, because as the wind
turns the nacelle needs to adjust itself so it faces the wind. This system contains bearings,
gearwheels, brakes and a yaw motor.

3 Maintenance methods
Maintenance is required for almost all types of machinery and applies also to the wind
power system.

“An ideal maintenance strategy meets the requirements of machine availability and
operational safety, at minimum cost.”

Figure 3.1: Classification of maintenance types

3.1 Corrective maintenance

Maintenance action done after a fault or malfunction occurred which have to put the
system into a state which it can perform a required function.

The goal of the corrective maintenance is to bring the component back in to a functioning
state. It is rarely to be a good solution. Corrective maintenance mean that we will run the
system until a breakdown occurs (breakdown strategy).

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With breakdown strategy the preventive maintenance is reduced to minimum and the
system will be operated until a major failure of a component occurs which will result
shutdown of the wind turbine. This strategy is risky, since failures of small components can
lead to major damages. Another reason is that most failures are related to the high load
conditions and this mean that it is related to high wind periods, downtime in this periods
will equal higher production loss. If the wind turbine located offshore, accessibility of the
turbine is to be hard and risky mission, mainly if the failure in the breaking system.
Another reason should take into consideration is that the downtime could be long since
logistics is a major factor for delivering spar parts.

3.2 Preventive maintenance

The preventive maintenance is performed to prevent failures from occurring. There are two
types of preventive maintenance; The scheduled maintenance and condition based
maintenance. The different between these two types are the way of deciding when to
perform the preventive maintenance.

3.2.1 Scheduled maintenance

Scheduled maintenance is based on time schedule. The time-schedule for the preventive
maintenance can be either clock-based or age-based maintenance. Clock-based
maintenance means that the preventive maintenance action done at calendar times and age-
based maintenance means that the maintenance action done when a component reach a
certain age. The age-based maintenance need to measure the operation time.

The component that first show sign of wear will be maintained or replaced, and the
component will be replaced when it reached its lifetime. Scheduled maintenance required
access to the system in certain times. Calculation of costs for the maintenance calculated
from coasts of the supply for cranes, maintenance personnel, components use in
maintenance of the system, and transporting of personnel and spar parts to the wind farm is
a major factor with preventive maintenance strategy.

3.2.2 Condition based maintenance

Preventive maintenance based on performance and monitoring the system. Performance
and parameter monitoring may be scheduled or continuous.

The system components will operate to a defined condition when this condition is reached
the component needs to be maintained or replaced. This strategy will minimize downtime
and repair costs. The components will be used closer to their lifetimes, delivering the spar
parts will be easy. another benefit of condition based system is providing statistical data .

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 Figure 3.2: Condition based maintenance compared to scheduled and corrective maintenance

4 Statistics of wind power turbines

data from wind power turbines is important since it help in providing suitable maintenance
plan and may be result in redesign the component to meet the operating conditions.

4.1 Statistical data of failures

Wind power stations statistical data of failures was difficult to find. This was for several
reasons, such as: no data was collected; the manufacturers of wind turbines refused to show
data; the data are often not comparable due to different designs and locations.

4.2 handles a failure

• determining what type of failure occurred in case of safety reasons or major
damage, the turbine is shut down
• If the unit is remotely monitored an alarm is sent to the operators of the wind power
plant many alarms are not critical, just resetting the turbine is needed but this alarms
have to be stored in the database because it will say something when analyze failure
database.
• If a major failure has occurred, maintenance and repair personnel have to be
contacted to repair the damage or replace the damaged parts.
• When a major failure has occurred a report is filed describing causes of failure and
the downtime related to the failure.
• The report(*) is maintained and transformed into databases by the persons
responsible for statistical data.

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5 Overview of the gearbox
5.1 Gearbox
Damage to the gearbox are not just a problem that can be fixed by resetting a button. The
function of the gearbox is to change the speed of rotation of one shaft into another
rotational speed for another rotating shaft.

Simply in wind turbine low speed and high torque from rotor blades input for the gearbox
which output high speed and low torque throw generator

Gearbox have the longest downtime per failure. The reason for this is that they are big and
cumbersome to replace, and replacement need equipment such as cranes, special training
personal ,etc. Since the gearbox is critical to the availability of the wind turbine, its lifetime
should be measured because replacing gearbox near its lifetime will reduce the downtime
since the lead-time will be during the operating time.

5.2 Causes for gearbox failures

Gearboxes of wind turbines are designed for a lifetime of 20 years. The causes for gearbox
failures are not fully examined. The reason for this is that the first generation of gearboxes
was replaced by the new gearbox generation. These gearboxes were not practical for the
dynamic loads that face a wind power turbine. After that specially designed gearboxes for
wind power were developed.

5.3 Gearbox development

wind turbine have been improved to meet the operation conditions

• gearboxes are now have ability to resist impact caused by changing speed.
• The gear wheels in the gearboxes now have inclined toothing to increase power.
transmission and reduce noise.
• The gears now have oil coolers.

5.4 Gearbox wear and failures

the basic gearbox consists of a containing case, a lubrication system, and gears. What
differs between gearboxes is many things, the sizes, type and number of gears and bearings
and also the designed load range.

5.4.1 Misalignment
Using of laser optical system for alignments of shafts has become the basic method for
adjusting shafts.

• The mounting of the sensors is difficult due the limited space.

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 • The deformation of the nacelle affects alignment.
• The generator may sink over time.
• The alignments should be done during operating since it can be tasted throw
different states.

5.4.2 Micro pitting

inside the gearbox the gear toothing are often damaged by micro pitting as a result of
insufficient lubrication.

6 Condition monitoring system

The gearbox is the component that causes long downtimes and cost a lot to repair. What is
needed is to monitor the gearbox and its bearings.

“right service task at the right time”

6.1 Condition monitoring in general

CMS can detect problems in the system at an early stage. An early warning will give the
personnel in charge of the maintenance time to plan the repairs and if necessary order parts
for replacement. Determination of the problem is useful for making the right service task at
the right time .

Experience show that if a bearing is replaced after a failure the cost for the repair will be
greater than if it was replaced before a breakdown.

6.2 Monitoring of gearbox

Just measuring the gearbox and the bearings is not sufficient. Applying a condition
monitoring system also includes applying new methods for maintenance planning.

6.2.1 Vibration monitoring

Vibration analysis is the technique used for measuring the condition of mechanical
equipment. The technique measuring noise and vibrations from the machines.

6.2.2 Wear debris analysis

In the gearbox the gears produces small particles during the wear. These particles are called
wear debris and they mix up with the lubricating oil.

6.2.2.1 Online Oil Analysis

Since accessibility is limited to the gearbox of wind power turbine an online oil real-time
oil debris monitoring may be preferred. The technology for on line detection can generally
divided into three basic methods:

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• Electromagnetic sensing – based on sensing the field disturbance caused by metal
particles. But this technology is affecting the generator.
• Flow or pressure drops sensing – this technology uses a filter to capture debris and
measure the pressure drop or flow rate.

• Optical debris sensing – this technology have been used in offline mode.

From above points it is clear that the suitable method for wind power turbines are flow
or the pressure drop sensing.

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7 conclusion
The use of a good maintenance plan to Replace or repair the components after failure is a
way of decreasing the damage and the downtime.

It has been found that the gearbox is one of the most critical components and have the
longest downtime when fail. It is also shown that condition monitoring systems are the
suitable technique for maintaining wind farms. The Condition Monitoring System provides
a tool for predicting failure of the gearbox. This solutions is applicable to any kind of
turbine and is a good tool for predicting the condition of the system.
.

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8 References
Reliability performance and maintenance – a survey of failures in wind power systems

Available at: www.kth.se/ees/foranstallda/polopoly/2.13600/etk/research/publications/modules/

publications_polopoly/reports/2006/XR-EE-EEK_2006_009.pdf

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9 Appendix
The failure report sheet are designed with check boxes and example of the Swedish report
is shown below almost all Swedish wind turbine are connected to a system with automatic
readings of turbine performance. Failure report are not automated, but are handed in a
report by supervisor and are then compiled in a database.

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