Reliawind Limited – Study, assessment and proof of market potentials and economics of a new condition monitoring technology for wind turbine applications

可靠性和降低成本对于风电行业的发展至关重要，特别是海上风电，以及实现英国2020年及以后的目标。电力研究所（EPRI）最近的一项研究表明，如果采用状态监测系统（cms）进行预防性维护，海上风力涡轮机（WTs）的维护成本可以降低67%。从剑桥大学工程系分离出来的Reliawind公司为wt传动系统开发了一种新的CMS技术，该技术正在申请专利，比市场上的竞争产品便宜60%，安装也容易得多，并且具有更高的故障检测精度和诊断能力。ReliaWind的独特之处在于，它使用了WT中已有的电气测量方法来检测和诊断WT传动系统中的机械和电气故障。因此，硬件及其安装比现有的CMS产品要简单得多。此外，Reliawind算法基于对发电机内复杂电磁场的分析，从电压和电流测量中得到，这表明它可以提高故障检测的精度。该技术已在实验室规模的原型机上得到验证，并正在开发用于实际风力涡轮机的现场测试。该项目旨在研究、评估和证明Reliawind在陆上和海上风电应用中的商业可行性，并为进入下一阶段的商业化运营奠定基础

Reliability and cost reduction are vital to the growth of the wind industry, especially offshore,and to realise the UK's targets for 2020 and beyond. A recent study by Electric PowerResearch Institute (EPRI) shows that a reduction of 67% can be achieved in the maintenancecosts of offshore wind turbines (WTs) if preventive maintenance is adopted, enabled bycondition monitoring systems (CMSs). Reliawind, spun out from Cambridge UniversityEngineering Department, has developed a novel and patent-pending CMS technology for WTdrivetrains, which is 60% cheaper and substantially easier to install than its rival products inthe market, and has greater fault detection precision and diagnosis.The unique feature of ReliaWind is the use of electrical measurements, already available inWTs, to detect and diagnose mechanical and electrical faults in WT drivetrains. Hence, thehardware and its installation are significantly simpler than existing CMS products. In addition,Reliawind algorithms are based on the analysis of complex electro-magnetic (EM) fields inthe generator, derived from the voltage and current measurements, which have shown to giveenhanced precision in fault detection. The technology is proven on laboratory-scale prototypesand is being developed for site testing in real wind turbines. This project aims to study, assessand prove the commercial feasibility of Reliawind for on- and offshore wind applications andset the foundation for commercialisation operation to move to the next phase