Page 18 - Industrial Technology Extra - 26th May 2020

BELT DRIVES...

Belts instead of a gearbox

Continental Equips Goldwind Wind Turbines with Efficient Drive Belts

echnology company Continental is
equipping the wind turbines made by
Chinese manufacturer Xinjiang Goldwind
TScience and Technology with drive belts.
In the unique and patented construction, the belts
manufactured at the Dannenberg location in
Germany allow the rotor blades to be adjusted at
any time without the aid of gears or hydraulics.
Continental engineers used an optimal
combination of two tried-and-tested timing belt
technologies to develop the belts. Back in 2018,
Continental invested around €2 million in a new
facility at the site in Lower Saxony to meet the cost-effective and more efficient in the long term,”
Chinese company’s annual demand for over 100 says Marwede. If there is a defect, the system can
kilometers of drive belts. also be repaired very quickly because only the belt
Goldwind is one of the few providers on the needs to be replaced, not the whole gearbox.
market to use a drive without a gearbox to adjust
the blades, which is becoming vital to be able to Two product groups combined
respond flexibly to changing wind strengths. For Goldwind, it was important to develop a low-
“Goldwind relies on timing belts,” says Rolf maintenance and simpler alternative to the
Marwede, who heads Continental’s location in conventional gearbox system. The chosen belt
Dannenberg. “There are some advantages to this. solution was an exact match for these requirements
For instance, the system is less complex and and is based on Continental’s Synchrodrive
therefore less prone to vibrations and disturbances technology. Galvanized steel cords are integrated
at the top of the nacelle. Our belts are also into the belt’s interior and coated with
extremely low-wear and durable.” polyurethane, which furnishes both the teeth and
The belts provided by Continental do not require the back of the belt and forms an outstanding
any oil for lubrication and are very low-maintenance connection with the tension member. Polyurethane
overall and also largely corrosion-resistant. In is particularly abrasion-resistant.
offshore wind turbines in particular, this last point The two opposing impact directions of the steel
presents a major advantage over conventional metal cords and their strands result in neutral running
designs that are permanently exposed to salty sea properties, making the belts extremely resilient. It is
air. “In comparison with gearbox solutions, a not uncommon for there to be around 12 million
simpler design that uses drive belts is also more reverse bending cycles. But what makes the belts

May 2020 • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXTRA! • p18