Wind power nationally is growing at a rate of roughly 30% a year, but it remains a major capital expense. Perhaps more importantly, wind turbine repair and upkeep costs are high and downtime means a significant loss on investment.
LORD MicroStrain Sensing in Williston, Vermont is helping keep those costs low with its wireless systems for condition-based monitoring. Using sensors, wireless nodes, and data aggregators, LORD MicroStrain’s systems are able to provide the data necessary to successfully predict failures of wind turbine components, including gearboxes, rotors, and bearings.
Our sensor nodes can transmit reliable vibration data, which is in turn is able to alert wind farmers of any situations that can be damaging,” says Stephen DiStasi, LORD MicroStrain Staff Engineer. “Being able to predict and rectify a failure of a gearbox months in advance is a huge advantage. It’s much easier, more cost-effective, and frankly practical to quickly and proactively replace a part than to wait for it to fail and potentially also damage other parts, increasing the downtime that much more.
The company serves a growing customer base across the country. In addition to vibration, LORD MicroStrain’s sensing systems unobtrusively and precisely monitor load, pressure, temperature, torque, power, and more.