Antiwear Testing
The gearbox is generally considered the most important and vulnerable lubricated component. The gears are susceptible to surface wear such as micro-pitting and scuffing. Lubricants with antiwear and extreme pressure additives can protect against scuffing and other surface wear. Furthermore, the use of the fluid with the proper viscosity provides an adequate film thickness to prevent contact between the gear teeth.

In addition, excellent antiwear properties and proper viscosity across the operating temperature range are typical requirements to maintain proper bearing function, for both oils and greases used in wind turbine bearing applications.

Materials Compatibility
In addition to these specific wear problems, wind turbine fluids must exhibit good materials compatibility. For instance, they must not damage seals, which can cause fluid leakage. Compatibility with paints and coatings used in the wind turbine is also important. As with all lubricants, wind turbine fluids need to resist foaming, minimize corrosion, and exhibit good oxidation stability, which extends the drain interval. Finally, the lubricant needs to have good pumpability across the operating temperature range, which can include cold ambient temperatures in higher latitudes.

Many of the same tests that are used to validate automotive oils or industrial gear oils can be used to evaluate whether a lubricant is well suited to a wind turbine application.

In-Service Fluid Monitoring & Testing Program
In addition to determining whether fluids are generally appropriate for wind turbine applications, the wind generation industry makes extensive use of in-service fluid monitoring. Many installations use in-line sensors to monitor overall cleanliness or conductivity, which can indicate some level of information about wear and oil degradation. Even more important, the standard practice in the industry is to sample the gearbox oil about every six months during scheduled maintenance and send it to a testing lab, such as Savant Labs, for analysis. The tests conducted can vary, but tend to include fluid cleanliness, viscosity, acid number, water content, elemental analysis, analysis of oxidation, and ferrography. Together, these tests can identify the beginning of a wear problem and can even be used to identify root causes before the gearbox sees catastrophic failure due to wear damage.

With Savant Labs as the laboratory partner in a fluid testing program, a wind turbine operator would have years of testing expertise, rapid test turnaround, continuous communication, and a quality guarantee statement. Savant Labs provides wind turbine lubricant testing as part of the qualification process or condition monitoring programs. Savant Labs is an enthusiastic and capable participant in supporting the growth of wind energy generation.