Remanufactured bearings reduce maintenance costs for wind farm

Duncan Plant and Construction, the Antrim-based specialist in wind turbine operation management and maintenance, has recently benefited from the fact that Kaydon remanufactured bearings perform like new but cost much less.

Duncan Plant's wind farm customer had asked it to source a complete set of wind turbine blade bearings to replace items that were worn and damaged. These were originally supplied by Avon Bearings, which is now part of the Kaydon Group.

In the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia, Kaydon is represented by R. A. Rodriguez, whose Industry Manager, Dave Young, suggested the remanufacture option. He comments: "This is a time- and cost-saving alternative that proved ideal for this customer. Remanufactured bearings still offer unsurpassed quality, have a full-year warranty and are available on fast turnaround."

Corrosion and structural damage

The worn Avon double-row ball slewing ring bearings were critical elements of a Zond 550kW wind turbine. They have an outside diameter of 1062mm and are 125mm deep, with tapped holes on the outer ring and drilled holes on the inner ring. All three bearings exhibited signs of corrosion on the raceways and had been subject to a degree of structural damage.

Through R. A. Rodriguez, Kaydon provided a Class 'A' refurbishment of the bearings at the former ISO-certified Avon plan in Ohio, USA. All were restored to 'as new' condition and returned to Duncan Plant, complete with a condition and action report.

Such has been the success of this project that Duncan Plant has been asked to arrange the systematic remanufacture of further Zond wind turbine blade bearings at the wind farm. Ultimately all blade sets will be refurbished in this way, giving the customer many more years of power generation capability without the time and expense of outright renewal.

Contact R. A. Rodriguez for more information about remanufacturing bearings.