ILMA Compoundings – September 2019 - 26

Sheng said. "However, longer replacement intervals, such as
seven to eight years, are not uncommon during the recent
few years, as the industry has started shifting from time-interval-based oil replacement to condition-based," he said.
Burks said that when AMSOIL introduced its PTN 320
to the market, the typical main gearbox oil drain interval was three to five years. AMSOIL PTN 320 has now
extended this interval to seven to 10 years or more.
Long life is also essential because wind turbines are
not typically located in convenient areas geographically,
and even if they are, the drivetrain is located in a nacelle
mounted on top of a tower that can be over 100 meters
tall. "This means that the lubricated components are only
serviced every six months to a year. This can be a long time
between oil samples or maintenance top offs," Burks said.
High-value assets, such as the wind turbine's main
gearbox, would routinely be sampled weekly if they were
mounted on the ground in a plant environment. "Wind
turbine operators must then get creative to keep a closer eye
on those components, such as using advanced condition
monitoring systems that can provide real-time oil and gearbox condition data over the turbine supervisory control and
data acquisition system or even a cell signal," Burks said.
He added that bearings that would typically be greased
weekly or daily in an industrial environment must go six
months to a year before a wind turbine technician can
service them.
Customers are also altering how oil changes are planned. "In
the past, they were time-based, but now savvy operators are
using condition-based monitoring programs to plan oil changes
on a condition basis instead of a time basis. This is saving the
industry a significant amount of money," Burks said.
Sheng said lubricant sampling and analyses are essential
to understanding the condition of lubricants and sometimes
component health. "To keep lubricants dry and clean is
critical to extend lubricated wind turbine component life. It
is necessary to have effective filtration systems for removing
both contaminations and water," he said.

Increased Demand

Wind turbines are an ever-growing addition to the global
power grid, and lubricant use within the wind turbine market is projected to increase at a compound annual growth
rate of 8% between 2018 and 2026 to reach $226.1 million
in 2026, up from $122.7 million in 2018, according to an
analysis by Reports and Data.

SEPTEMBER 2019

| COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG

"In the U.S. alone, we saw the installed wind power
generating capacity grow to 94,295 megawatts (MW) in
2018, up from 25,410 MW 10 years earlier in 2008," Burks
said. "This growth is even more prolific in other areas of the
globe, like China."
China has over double the capacity of the U.S., and it is
growing at an even faster rate. "This fast evolution of the
industry requires lubricant providers to be equally fast in
providing advanced technology to keep performance up and
costs down," Burks said.
Gear oil is projected to be the fastest-growing lubricant
type, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.1% in the
forecast period, Reports and Data reported. The gearbox is
considered to be the critical component in terms of downtime
and failure rates. "Almost 70% of gearbox failures are caused
due to the lubricant degradation, which reduces the life span
of wind turbine operation," according to the report.
Long is a freelance writer and journalist. She can be reached at
925-750-7163 or mindy@mindylong.com.

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ILMA Compoundings – September 2019

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