Fault detection in wind turbines is not a trivial task, but a rather complex one that throughout the years has developed from the method of reactive maintenance to condition-based maintenance. This calls for accurate, economical and reliable monitoring systems that can predict when a component or subassembly is failing, alerting the operator whom will then take action.
A common breakdown with wind turbines is a failure in the brake mechanism or in the gearbox, which means that the turbine is allowed to revolve at many times its normal speed. This puts an excessive load on the blades and could cause a blade to suddenly detach from the rotor. These break-away blades carry an enormous amount of kinetic energy and momentum, leading to life-threatening accidents.
Thermal imaging plays an important role in wind turbine predictive maintenance programs. Like all equipment the components in a turbine are susceptible to wear and can break down. For both electrical and mechanical components the general rule is that it will become hot before it fails. A thermography survey can spot this rise in temperature before failure occurs, detecting wear on bearings, shafts, gears and brakes.
Thermal imaging is the only technology that allows you to inspect components and provide condition monitoring on the entire electrical circuit, including connectors and cables
Drones thermal imaging cameras systems from Intellisystem Technologies are used to inspect electrical and mechanical installations all over the world. The thermal data gathered help to prevent dangerous accidents and costly downtime. All critical components of a wind turbine can be monitored using the Thermaltronix thermal imaging solution camera from Intellisystem Technologies.
UAV inspections are a safe a reliable method where we are able to inspect wind turbines fast and precise, and still remain high quality images. The Intellisystem Technologies optimized UAV can operate in high wind speeds (up to 14-16m/s).
Whether your aim is to perform predictive maintenance inspections on wind turbines or to check the the rotor blades integrity, thermal imaging cameras integrated on a Drone device are the right tool for the job. Intellisystem Technologies offers a wide range of specific thermal imaging cameras (under the Thermaltronix family name) that can be integrated on most common Drones – UAV- UAS, so you can be certain that Intellisystem Technologies has exactly the right camera for your application.
For more info about our Drones – UAV – UAS solutions please visit the relative products page