Balluff: Improving the reliability of wind turbines with smart sensors

With nearly 30 years of experience in the wind power industry, Balluff's answer to improving the reliability of wind turbines is intelligent sensor solutions. With a history of nearly 100 years, Balluff is a leading international manufacturer of automation solutions, and Balluff hopes that through intelligent sensors, customers can directly connect the entire network from the upper PLC to the lower sensors, so as to realize the control of the entire wind power system. So how can we improve the reliability of wind turbines and provide more added value to customers through smart sensors? It is mainly reflected in the following three points:

1. Provide richer sensor information

Ordinary sensors can only provide standard I/O signals, I believe that many wind power people have encountered similar experiences, wind turbines in the normal operation process, the control system suddenly reported some fault information and immediately shut down, but when the engineer came to the scene, after inspection did not find an obvious fault source. This can be caused by a missing signal from the sensor or an error signal.

Balluff's IO-Link-based smart sensors prevent similar situations from occurring. In addition to the standard I/O signals, the sensor can also transmit more real-time status data, such as short circuit, open circuit, power supply and other diagnostic information to the control system, so as to realize continuous diagnosis of the sensor's own status. In addition, for some sensors with more complex functions that require parameter configuration, they can also be automatically configured through the control system.

2. Develop more comprehensive customized products

After nearly 30 years of experience in the wind power industry, Balluff has developed a large number of customized sensor solutions for wind turbines, covering almost all aspects of wind turbine systems, the most representative of which is the micro-pulse displacement sensor for measuring the pitch angle of hydraulic pitch systems, as shown in Figure 2. For wind turbines, when it comes to reliability, we have to mention hydraulic pitch systems. At present, the domestic pitch system mainly adopts the electric pitch system, and one of the main reasons is that the hydraulic pitch system is prone to failure. In fact, in Europe, major OEMs such as Vestas, Siemens and Gamesa all use hydraulic pitching. From a technical point of view, hydraulic pitch is more competitive than electric pitch systems in terms of system performance, reliability and overall cost, especially for future offshore wind turbines.

In cooperation with these well-known OEMs, Balluff has developed the micropulse displacement sensor BTL specifically for hydraulic pitch systems. The micropulse sensor BTL uses the principle of magnetostriction, which is installed in the hydraulic cylinders of the hydraulic pitch system, and measures the displacement of the piston rod by accurately detecting the movement position of the magnetic ring, thereby monitoring the pitch angle of the blades. Compared with other displacement detection methods, the micropulse sensor is more accurate and also uses a non-contact measurement method, which makes the system even higher.

3. Recommend more reliable application solutions

From the perspective of working principle, there is nothing special about the sensor itself, and the real value of the sensor lies in the specific application scheme. Moreover, the simpler the sensor principle selected for the application, the higher and higher its stability, which will inevitably make the whole system more reliable.

An example of this is an inductive sensor from Balluff, as shown in Figure 3. Inductive sensors, also commonly known as inductive proximity switches, use the very common principle of electromagnetic induction, and when the sensor approaches or moves away from a metal object, it will output a high/low level signal. Although the working principle is simple, it is possible to accurately measure the rotational speed of the wind wheel or high-speed shaft by installing an inductive sensor on a rotor locking disc or a high-speed shaft coupling, and if two inductive sensors are installed at a certain position and angle at the same time, the rotational speed of the rotor can also be measured. Due to its simple principle, low cost and high reliability, inductive sensors are basically the preferred solution for major wind turbine manufacturers.

From the perspective of cost composition, perhaps the sensor is only a small part of the wind turbine. However, as the source of data acquisition in the control system, it has an important importance that cannot be ignored. Balluff is willing to grow together with China's wind power industry, provide the most reliable intelligent sensor solutions for the wind power industry, and help users achieve a successful transformation to intelligence.

Balluff: Improving the reliability of wind turbines with smart sensors

Sections viewed

Contact

working hours