Gearbox Technology
Gearbox is an equipment that transfers power from wind turbines to generator and adjust the rotation speed of wind turbine to be at a level needed by the generator (increasing the rotation speed). From previous experience, it is found that wind turbine had to cease operation often due to problems with the gearbox. This is because producers lacked understanding about the nature of wind load on the turbine, as well as about other components such as the material used to produce cogs, lubricant, and the appropriate types of bearing.
In the past 2 decades, wind turbine producers have cooperated with cog designers, bearing producers, and lubricant experts in doing research and development to improve load prediction for the gear, as well as in designing the production process of gearbox. They have achieved a design of gearbox that can last for 20 years. Moreover, there has been cooperation with other engineering agencies on setting the standards for gearbox design of wind turbine. The objective is to get a gearbox that only requires moderate maintenance. Nevertheless, the damages that occur to wind turbine is still mainly to do with gearbox. It is still the primary reason for downtime of wind turbines. Moreover, there are also other expenses to do with maintenance and reduction in power production. The losses caused by a gearbox accounts for 15-20% of the overall cost of a wind turbine.