September 2019

28 OFFSHORE ENGINEERING EQUIPMENT offshoreequipment.co.uk September 2019 Renewables  Instrument supplier for offshore wind turbine platforms PSM Instrumentation has announced it is part of an innovative floating wind platform project which allows the exploitation of wind potential at sea in depths of more than 40 metres. The innovation focus of the project is the conception of a floating foundation, based on the experiences from the oil and gas industry, which will support wind turbines in offshore applications. The floating foundation is semi- submersible and anchored to the seabed. It is built entirely onshore, including the installation of the turbine, thus avoiding the use of scarce marine resources. PSM was selected as the instrument supplier for the initial floating wind platform project in Portugal, which was the first offshore wind turbine in open Atlantic waters. Due to the success of this project, it was asked to supply instrumentation for the next phase which covers a total of seven wind platforms – one in Spain, two in Portugal, and four in France. As part of its role in the project, it has supplied marine certified instrumentation including submersible switches to monitor water levels and ingress for flood detection, continuous level monitoring transmitters and pressure transmitters for various process pressures. The company already has orders in place for the 3 off 8 MW platforms and expect to see the same for the 4 off 6 MW platforms as this phase of the project progresses. These two projects will demonstrate the low risk profile and economic competitiveness of the technology, preparing the way for future commercial size floating offshore wind farms. www.psmmarine.com A compact Industry 4.0 solution package for wind turbine azimuth drives is the result of a long-term development partnership between Bonfiglioli and Schaeffler. Schaeffler Torque Sense and SmartCheck sensors record torque, speed, vibration and temperature information. This data is transmitted through a gateway, combined and processed using algorithms, developed by Bonfiglioli and based on more than 60 years know-how in gearmotors and dedicated specifically for the application. Subsequently, the data is made available for users on the Bonfiglioli Cloud platform. The Bonfiglioli Dashboard provides a clear overview of the collected information for the operator. Maintenance measures can be carried out in a load- oriented manner and unplanned downtimes of the system can be minimised, and operating costs can be more than halved. On the Bonfiglioli dashboard, the operator can carry out a continuous control of the state of the geared motor based on the data situation, including an estimation of the remaining service life of the drive. Abnormal behavior of the azimuth drive is reported as naturally as critical conditions. On this basis, the maintenance intervals can be optimised to the actual needs and necessary repairs can be made at favourable times. www.bonfiglioli.com Predictive maintenance for gearboxes in wind turbines