In recent years, with the continuous improvement of wind power technology, the construction cost of wind towers has become lower and lower, and the installed capacity of wind towers in various countries around the world has increased rapidly. By the end of 2018, the cumulative installed capacity of wind tower in the world has reached 590.8 GW, and the cumulative installed capacity of wind power in China has reached 590.8 GW, reaching 209.5 GW.
Anti-Corrosion Challenges in Wind Tower
In order to achieve safe operation of wind tower equipment for 15 or even 25 years, we must pay attention to the anti-corrosion of its steel structural parts. Depending on the corrosion level of its operating environment, different anti-corrosion structures and different types of coating systems need to be used. Powder coating is an environmentally friendly green coating. It is easy to obtain a thicker coating during coating. The coating of the coated equipment is not easily damaged during transportation and application, and the protection of the base material is long-lasting. In addition, powder coating has the characteristics of high utilization rate and low overall cost. It has its inherent advantages when applied to steel structure parts of wind tower.
Focus on Bearing Longevity
The yaw bearing of the wind turbine is installed at the connection between the tower and the cockpit, and the pitch bearing is installed at the connection between the root of each blade and the hub. Each wind turbine uses one set of yaw bearings and three sets of pitch bearings. The life span of the wind turbine main engine is required to be more than 20 years, and the cost of bearing installation is relatively high. Therefore, the life span of the yaw and pitch bearings is also required to be 20 years. Leaving aside factors such as the resistance to impact deformation and contact fatigue life of the base material, how to ensure such a long anti-corrosion life of these bearings has become one of the factors that various manufacturers focus on.
Advancements in Coating Technology
In recent years, the industry has continuously promoted automatic operation modes: in the field of pre-treatment sandblasting, multi-dimensional mechanisms are used to realize automatic sandblasting operations, liberating workers from heavy labor; in melt spray spraying metal zinc/zinc-aluminum alloy operations, promote the use of fully automatic operation mode assisted by robots and rotating mechanisms, achieve precise control of coating thickness, upgrade arc melt spraying equipment, make it fully suitable for fully automatic operation, extremely low failure rate and operation interlocking, high quality The application of advanced coatings and reliable environmentally friendly ventilation equipment in many companies has won praise and trust from users! The painting system also uses robots to automatically assist operations. The application of these robot automatic operating methods completely liberates workers from possible occupational injuries.
Environmental Considerations and Future Outlook
As society pays more and more attention to environmental issues, the development and utilization of green energy will become more and more extensive, and green energy industries such as wind tower will maintain their current rapid development. The use area of wind tower is no longer limited to inland areas, but also has many applications in coastal and other areas. The humid and high-salt environment has increasingly higher requirements for the anti-corrosion of wind tower.
Summary
The main purpose of the sandblasting and painting rooms and spray coating production lines in the wind tower and new energy industry is to ensure the safe operation of wind tower and prolong its service life. With the continuous improvement of wind tower technology and the rapid growth of global wind tower installed capacity, environmentally friendly coatings such as powder coatings have unique advantages in the corrosion protection of wind power equipment. The promotion of automated operation modes has also increased production efficiency while focusing on the corrosion resistance of wind power equipment will become one of the key concerns for manufacturers.
