Challenge
The interest in all forms of renewable energy has grown in the last few decades. Worldwide, the wind power industry seems to be in the lead. The demand for wind turbines is growing rapidly together with their capacity to make wind industry highly competitive. We are currently working with several companies that manufacture or provide service to wind turbines. One of them, the world’s leading supplier of components and services to the wind turbine industry contacted us looking for high quality hydraulic hoses.
Solution
The hydraulic hose was needed for a servo-motor in a wind turbine. When watched from the ground, the wind turbines look like simple wind mills, but they are not so. High, in the body of a nacelle, there is an installation set to minimize mechanical loads , maximize power production but built to work on its own. The installation responds to signals received from wind sensors and controllers. Then a servo-mechanism must position the blades with respect to the flow of the wind. The mechanism not only adjusts for the optimum speed but also puts the blades into a safe position if the speed is too high or even stops them to protect the wind turbine from damage. The importance of the servo-mechanism is really high and so is the cost of its maintenance. Having a wide range of hydraulic pipes at hand, we decided to choose a top performance hose for hydraulic oil.
The 1/2’’ hydraulic rubber hose with two steel braids of reinforcement (2SN) can withstand a minimum of 400000 impulse cycles. The working pressure of the application is 160 bar, but the maximum working pressure of the hose is 275 bar (bursting pressure 1100 bar). The working conditions in the wind turbine are pretty harsh. The hydraulic pipe is exposed to high ambient temperature fluctuations. Our high pressure hose can work in temperatures ranging from -40°C up to +100°C. To make a complete hydraulic hose assembly, hydraulic fittings were mounted with stainless steel 316L ferrules. To facilitate connection, screw-to-connect hydraulic couplings were mounted to make the hose assembly complete.
Result
We managed to deliver a top quality hydraulic hose assembly perfectly matched with the requirements of the application, working conditions and loads.
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