Application Success

WIND TURBINE GENERATOR

Industry: Power Generation

Challenge

A wind turbine generator was suffering from grease leakage as the existing lip seals continually suffered failures. Frictional heat caused the seal to harden, lose flexibility, and leak. Heat transfer to grease caused carbonization, contributing to shortened seal life. Additionally, the heat generated from the lip seals was creating power loss, lowering the output potential of the turbine.

Once the seals failed, grease from the auto-lubricated bearings would continually purge through the seal, creating housekeeping issues in the surrounding area.

Solution

Customized Inpro/Seal® Bearing Isolators were installed on the generator bearing housings. Inpro/Seal Bearing Isolators are non-contacting compound labyrinth seals that permanently protect against contamination ingress and lubrication loss. The unique design used on this application incorporated an internal rotor to contain grease lubricant within the bearing assembly.

Result

These seals have operated successfully in the field since 2012. After initial installation, both the end user and OEM have deployed this solution on numerous turbines across multiple wind farms with no issues.

Onshore wind turbine farm
Wind turbine generator
Inpro/Seal Smart MGS installed on VFD-driven motor

Permanent Bearing Protection

Inpro/Seal Bearing Isolators provide permanent bearing protection against contamination ingress and lubrication loss on rotating equipment. With a unique, non-contacting design, Inpro/Seal Bearing Isolators are maintenance-free and last lifetime of your equipment.

Read More

Inpro/Seal VB45-S Bearing Isolator

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