Controlled testing throughout the turbine-blade development process is critical to selecting materials and manufacturing processes to limit leading-edge and water-droplet erosion damage and to predict their success in the field.
Water droplet erosion (WDE) is the loss of solid material from a surface due to repeated small-scale, high-intensity pressure pulses produced by the impact of high-speed water droplets. Damage from WDE is seen in many applications including steam-turbine blades, aircraft, and missiles, as well as wind-turbine blades. Turbine blades are particularly susceptible to roughening of […]
In today’s environment, companies need to be able to also make high confidence asset integrity decisions, enabling them to increase the profitability and productivity of the asset base while minimizing the exposure to the risk of catastrophic events.
Asset maintenance first hit the headlines during the late 1980s when it became a target for efficiency improvements throughout the process and chemical industries globally. Initiatives at the time focused upon traditional methods of improvement, reducing the numbers of staff and trying to work smarter with fewer resources. Despite these cuts, the pressure remained for […]
Turbine control retrofits and green-energy solutions platforms are transforming the way operations teams manage wind-energy generation.
As renewable energy gains more traction in the global economy, wind-farm owners and operators have new opportunities as what was once a niche market for energy production is now considered a critical building block of the global energy economy. Utilities of all sizes are acquiring wind assets and large wind farms to add to their […]
