Still cleaning and degreasing wind turbine generators with flammable brake & choke cleaner?

A survey by Frontier Pro Services, reported on at Renewable Energy World, says that 60% of US wind turbines may be behind on maintenance. Apparently, there simply are not enough qualified technicians to do the work. According to the findings, many wind farm operations and maintenance teams are so resource constrained that they are barely able to keep up with the unscheduled maintenance repairs their wind turbines require to continue generating electricity. Even regular, scheduled preventative-maintenance like oil changes and gearbox lubrication (services that are often still under warranty) are falling behind as manufacturers face similar resource struggles related to the shortage of qualified technicians.

Lack of Maintenance Leads to Costly Repairs

The main component causing downtown for turbines is the gearbox, which if it fails can cost 15-20% of the price of the turbine to replace. Furthermore, failure to monitor and replace oil as needed could lead to wear on bearing and gears, causing greater financial loses than simply replacing the part. Frontier says, “When a $1,500 bearing fails unnoticed, it can lead to production loss and revenue loss including an unscheduled replacement of a $100,000 dollar gearbox and an unscheduled crane cost of up to $70,000 to access the failed components.” Source

Environmental, Health & Safety Regulations further complicate wind turbine maintenance

Local regulations, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, [BAAQMD] forced a Northern California wind farm operator and their maintenance staff to rethink their long-time use of flammable brake & choke cleaner for both shop and field maintenance, repair and overhaul. Their brake & choke cleaner was comprised of 55% acetone and 45% miscellaneous industrial chemicals such as methanol, benzene, toluene, xylene, isopropyl alcohol. VOC regulations in California continued to decrease the percentage of VOC content. Adding more acetone was not an option since the cleaning performance would suffer coupled with a dangerously low flash point. The good news is there are both aqueous and non-flammable solvents available that clean safely and cost effectively.

A tested and approved option is S-34 NG.  It is ideal for shop cleaning and can be used in a convenient trigger spray bottle as well as in parts washing equipment. It has undergone extensive testing against stringent cleaning, environmental, health and safety criteria. One of the largest wind power holding companies, NextEra Energy Resources, has endorsed it for use in their wind turbines as part of their more than 43,000 megawatts of power generated annually in 27 states and Canada.

Can nonflammable degreasers lower your wind turbine maintenance expenses?

Yes, you can preserve your renewable energy equipment, i.e. wind turbine generators, gears and bearings, and protect the environment by ditching flammable degreasers such as brake & choke cleaners. Reduce operating costs and extend service life by simply choosing the proper industrial degreaser for carbon brush replacement, generator cleaning and maintenance on hub slip rings. VOC compliant, non-flammable options get the job done safely, cost effectively and more quickly.

Ecolink Inc. offers several tested and approved  industrial cleaner degreasers, degreasing solvents, and nonflammable degreasers for wind turbine generator maintenance.

We offer numerous alternatives to:

Call 800 886-8240 or email info@ecolink.com to discuss your current use of any of these or other manufacturer’s brand to switch and start saving. With over 200 products to choose from, including several new formulations not yet listed on the website, we feel certain we can expand upon the savings and safety improvements enjoyed for nearly 20 years. Chemist owned and operated, we offer guaranteed FREE samples, including FREE freight, to evaluate for a RISK-FREE evaluation.

Industrial Degreaser related articles

• Wind Power 2010 in Texas – Less than 30 days Away (ecolink.com)
• Nonflammable degreasers for Imperial Electric Motors (ecolink.com)
• Green Chemistry – Replace your tired old solvent degreasers (ecolink.com)
• Removing Carbon Deposits from Stator Bars, Stator Motors (ecolink.com)
• Armature Rewinding: Degreasing Damaged Coils, Stators (ecolink.com)