Have you ever been to a wind farm? It’s amazing! Recently, my filtration adventures brought me (and Matt) on a road trip to a wind farm in a rural area…
A major wind turbine manufacturer had an emergency with some of their turbine power units, and they needed to have them serviced as soon as possible. For each turbine they needed to flush and replenish the gearbox oil and the hydraulic fluid in each of the power units. They contacted us on a very short notice, right before a major holiday weekend, but understanding the severity of the matter we made the trip to help them out anyway.
Once we got there, the steps of the job were rather simple:
1. We drained the old gear and hydraulic oils from the reservoirs.
2. We filled and flushed the reservoirs with flushing oil.
3. We refilled the reservoirs with pure, clean, filtered lube oil.
The company had instructed us to achieve a certain oil cleanliness level (according to the ISO code 4406). They set the target at 16/14/11 (click here for an explanation of these numbers). We accomplished this cleanliness level in each unit, the first time around! Then we verified the results by testing the lube oil and hydraulic fluid right on-site. In order to do this right we used a high-quality laser particle counter and an oil analysis patch test kit. It turned out great. We didn’t have to re-flush or re-filter anything. It was done right. Success? Yes!
Do you have a question about our wind turbine services or hydraulic filters? Feel free to contact us anytime. Our friendly team of experts will be happy to help you out with your particular issue.
Until next time!
Paul at Precision Filtration Products
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