As a globally recognized clean and renewable energy source, wind energy utilization is receiving increasing attention from countries around the world. China possesses vast wind energy reserves, widely distributed, with onshore wind energy reserves alone reaching approximately 253 million kilowatts. In recent years, with strong support from national policies, the wind power equipment manufacturing industry has entered a golden age, especially given the increasingly severe energy supply and demand imbalance and rising electricity demand in China, leading to the rapid development of the wind power industry.
To further develop wind energy, countries around the world are turning their attention to offshore areas with abundant wind resources. Against the backdrop of large-scale development of offshore wind power globally, China has also begun constructing offshore wind farms. Currently, China's eastern coastal areas possess approximately 750 million kW of exploitable offshore wind energy resources, representing not only enormous resource potential but also favorable market conditions for development and utilization.
As wind power technology continues to advance, the power output of individual wind turbines is increasing. China's leading wind turbine manufacturers are beginning to focus on offshore wind power applications and are developing high-power wind turbine units of 5MW and above that are more suitable for offshore wind power.
Challenges of wind turbine testing
As a complex device composed of electrical and mechanical systems, wind turbines are often located in harsh environments, such as the field or even offshore. The extreme temperatures, humidity, salt spray, and corrosion they experience can lead to malfunctions or hidden problems after prolonged operation. Failure to conduct timely inspections can result in frequent turbine failures and prolonged downtime, causing losses for wind power companies.
Wind turbine testing generally refers to a comprehensive inspection of the unit, covering all aspects of its mechanical and electrical systems, as well as a comprehensive evaluation of the wind turbine. Wind turbine test benches typically use an electric motor to drive a generator to test its power generation function, while using an encoder to detect the motor's speed to test the generator's power generation performance at each speed range is a common practice.
Nowadays, as more and more high-power wind turbines are increasingly adopting direct-drive and semi-direct-drive technologies, the larger the generator, the more complex the corresponding wind turbine test bench becomes. To detect the motor speed on the test bench, the original toothed ring and sensor solutions no longer meet practical requirements in terms of manufacturing, installation, and accuracy.
Preferred solution
The Baumer MQR3000F magnetic tape encoder will undoubtedly be the preferred solution to solve customer problems. Its flexible and convenient installation, high accuracy of 0.003°, and vibration resistance make it more cost-effective.
Baumer MQR3000F magnetic tape encoder
In 6MW permanent magnet synchronous motor applications, the shaft diameter is 1280 mm, while the MQR3000F can accommodate a wide range of shaft diameters (300 mm – 3180 mm). It is portable, compact, and provides absolute SSI signals with a resolution of up to 20 bits. It can also support incremental signals HTL/TTL with a resolution of up to 131072 ppr. Moreover, its IP67 protection rating is suitable for wind turbine applications.
In fact, from 6MW and 8MW permanent magnet synchronous generators to even larger power wind turbine applications, the MQR3000F magnetic tape encoder can provide lower installation costs and faster installation capabilities, while its high resistance to shock and vibration provides the system with extremely high stability and availability.
