hydraulik - HANSA-FLEX Hydraulics Canada Inc.

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HYDRAULIKPRESSE
OFFSHORE ENGINEERING
Electricity generation from offshore wind turbines
may well play a major role in Germany’s future energy
and climate control policy. The advantage of
offshore installations is that the wind blows more
strongly (at much higher speeds) and more continuously.
The offshore wind parks spreading across wide
areas of our coastal waters have enormous potential
to generate energy.
In order to work really productively, offshore wind
parks should be situated well away from the coast.
This means the technical demands placed on offshore
installations in terms of tower construction,
cable laying and servicing are correspondingly
high. They not only have to withstand the wind and
waves, they also have to be highly technically reliable,
so as to ensure low-maintenance, trouble-free
subsequent operation. Any servicing of the wind
park carried out at sea costs money, and has to be
done by service technicians shipped out specially.
The gigantic offshore wind parks operated by the
Bremerhaven-based Multibrid GmbH essentially
consist of a foundation, a tubular steel tower and
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A new dimension in offshore wind turbines
Heading out to sea
HYDRAULIKPRESSE
the gondola – which is in effect the engine room,
housing the generator and a 116-meter diameter
rotor.
Multibrid specialises in the production of highperformance
five-megawatt offshore wind turbines.
Highly-qualified specialists work together
with component suppliers to ensure the ongoing
development of Multibrid technology. Multibrid’s
M5000 is the world’s first wind turbine designed
exclusively for large-scale offshore parks. Its design
enables it to be quickly and easily installed on-site.
The only assembly work is to join together the
tower, gondola and rotor; all the other components
come pre-assembled and ready to run. Concerted
development efforts have resulted in technical solutions
which set new standards and are optimally
attuned to conditions at sea.
Sea water-resistant materials and compact gondola
design are key. Like the rotor, the gondola is
designed to be light-weight, so as to aid transport
and installation. This is vital, because of course all
the components – and the equipment needed to
assemble and install them – must be dragged on
pontoons by ocean-going tugs to the park location.
Large floating cranes swing the components
into position, constantly buffered by the wind and
waves.
Salty air must be kept out
To meet the special needs of the offshore environment,
the Multibrid M5000 features a hermetically
sealed encapsulation to provide the systems
with permanent protection against corrosive sea
spray. That is a vital factor determining durability
of components and systems at sea. The encapsulation
process prevents any penetration of ambient
air into the gondola or hub of the wind turbine.
An air conditioning system mounted to the base of
the tower filters the ambient air as it is drawn in
and separates off water and salt particles. The conditioned
air generates a pressure in the tower and
gondola which ensures it passes through the plant
ISSUE AUGUST 2008