3 ms·
AFAIK no large wind turbines change gears. All have constant speed(1) and variable blade pitch. (1): gusts can change that momentarily. No mechanical gear cou
by Gravityloss 11y ago
AFAIK no large wind turbines change gears.
All have constant speed(1) and variable blade pitch.
(1): gusts can change that momentarily. No mechanical gear could react to gusts anyway.
- angry_octet 11y agoYou are correct, it was a badly written explanation of why they don't change gears. All of the conventional ones use lots of power electronics to chop it up into a nice sine wave.
- Gravityloss 11y agoAnd actually I was not correct, the modern wind power plants are variable speed. This has an explanation why it's not always useful to go at max speed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip-speed_ratio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip-speed_ratio In general, the modern technology trend has been replacing mechanical components with electrical ones. Frequency converters have become successful, and they have no moving parts and are very efficient. On the other hand, if this can get rid of the mechanical gear at the same time, it might be a wash. But since Vestas and Mitsubishi wind power are combining and it seems the hydraulic technology used in that Mitsubishi prototype power plant will not see immediate use. Ironically, ABB and Mitsubishi developed the integrated gate commutated thyristor that's used for those frequency converters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_gate-commutated_thyristor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_gate-commutated_thy...