Wind turbines

Safety speed monitoring

Safe monitoring of wind turbines is one of many applications for our safety relays. These speed monitors enable displaying under- and over-frequencies, as well as the direction of rotation or standstill.

With these functions, an overload of the system can be detected and the worst case, such as the destruction of the wind turbine, can be prevented.

The precise monitoring of the frequencies enables the optimal adjustment of the blades, the rotor and the resistance. This optimizes the efficiency of the wind turbine.

The monitored standstill is the basis for a safe working environment for the maintenance personnel. So they do not have to worry about a sudden start of the system and can therefore carry out its work in a concentrated and safe manner.

The DS series offers flexible options for the signal type. In this way, the safety relays can achieve a SIL3/PLe standard with incremental encoders as well as with SinCos encoders.

Data transmission

Depending on the rotor diameter, modern wind turbines are up to 200 meters high. Due to that, there is the challenge of transmitting the signals measured on the rotor to the central control unit without interference.

The electrical signal transmission reaches its limits here. This is exactly where Motrona’s LW series of fiber optic modules come into play.

The arrangement consists of a transmitter, a receiver and a pre-assembled multimode optical fiber. The transmitter modules can convert electrical TTL or HTL signals, as well as SSI signals into optical lightwave signals and transmit them over a distance of up to 3000 meters.

The receiver module then converts the light waves back into incremental signals. The light waves are resistant to extreme electromagnetic interference. Thus the signals from the rotor can reach the control unit without loss or interference.