Wind speed greater than 15 m/s or about 33.6 mph can cause excess stress loading on the wind turbine rotor.
On wind power sites, it is important for project stakeholders to monitor weather conditions during any activity, such as wind turbine access and hub entry. Some of the many high risk weather conditions on wind power sites include high winds, freezing rain, thunderstorms, and lightning. However, working in moderate wind and wind gust events are standard operating procedure (SOP).
A wind turbine rotor assembly captures energy from the wind and converts it to usable mechanical power to turn the generator. Accordingly, wind on the rotor assembly creates stress loading. However, wind speed greater than 15 m/s or about 33.6 mph can cause excess stress loading on the rotor and drive-train assembly, when the rotor lock system is engaged and the blades cannot pinwheel.
As a best practice, always refer to the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) standard operating procedure for acceptable wind levels for locking the rotor assembly, and performing construction, operations and maintenance (O&M), and repowering activities in the nacelle and hub. The rotor lock system is the primary means for holding the wind turbine at rest, with a backup drum or disk brake as a secondary means.
Keywords
construction, disk brake, drum brake, freezing rain, high winds, hub, lightning, nacelle, O&M, operations and maintenance, repowering, rotor, rotor assembly, rotor lock system, SOP, standard operating procedure, thunderstorms, wind events, wind farm, wind gust events, wind power, wind turbine, wind farm
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(Source: Kilcollins, Wayne. Maintenance Fundamentals for Wind Technicians. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.)
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