Over the past few years we’ve been getting many more inquiries from wind farms. One day recently I received a call from Jim, the lead mechanic at a wind farm on the west coast. He was specifically looking for gearbox oil change filter systems and he came across our website.
Jim had already been successfully changing the gearbox oil in the past, but he was looking for a better way of filtering it before adding it to the gearbox. His goal was to filter the oil to the gearbox manufacturer’s specifications before filling the reservoir. Gear oil that is “out of spec” increases the risk for equipment failure, which results in lost revenue and added repair costs. Jim decided that he wanted to filter the lube oil to 6 micron, which he based on industry standard gearbox oil cleanliness specifications.
Within hours of first listening to Jim’s goals, I provided him with a price quote in which I recommended our “drum-top” filter system (see image to the left) with a drum recirculating kit. The optional recirculating kit creates a sealed reservoir and would allow Jim to filter oil in a 55-gallon barrel without the oil being exposed to outside contaminants such as dirt or moisture. Also, since the drum-top unit is portable it would allow him the option of filtering either at the ground level or even in the nacelle of the wind tower itself. The drum-top system can be configured as a filtering transfer pump or as a kidney-loop system. With the help of the equipment that I recommended, and proper filter elements, Jim was able to exceed the recommended ISO cleanliness code set by the gearbox manufacturer. He is now very happy with the oil quality going into the wind turbines, and now other wind farms in the company’s fleet are looking to purchase their own portable drum-top filter systems.
Do you have a question about wind turbine services or mobile filtration systems? Feel free to contact us anytime. Our friendly team of experts will be happy to help you out with your particular issue.
Until next time!
Paul at Precision Filtration Products
P.S. Have you seen our latest videos? If not, click here to check them out now!
.