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Wind
turbine cooling with GE Haliade-X
The offshore wind industry is booming and will continue to grow . GE , one of the leaders in the industry , has made a prominent mark in offshore wind power technologies and offshore wind farm development with the Haliade-X , the most powerful offshore wind turbine to date .
Text & images by HEATEX
The case Industry : Wind power systems continue to grow throughout the world . According to the Global Wind Energy Council ( GWEC ), there was over 60 GW of new wind power installed capacity and production across the globe in 2019 . Rapidly expanding government commitments and technological progress are contributing to the positive outlook . Company : GE Renewable Energy is one of the world ’ s leading wind turbine suppliers , with over 49,000 units of onshore and offshore turbines across the globe . Mostly ranging between 2 MW to 14 MW . Application : The heat generated needs to dissipate to ensure the life expectancy of the components inside the nacelle . Heatex develops customized cooling systems for both onshore and offshore Wind Turbines . The turbines are placed out in the ocean , and as it rotates , the generator creates heat that needs to dissipate . Also , the salty ocean air risks causing corrosion . So after evaluating different cooling technologies , GE decided to go for an airto-air closed-loop cooling system to keep the internal air contaminant-free while cooling the generator . With every degree that the cooling system can lower the generator temperature , it effectively extends the
GE system airflow .
generator ’ s life and improves GE ’ s offered financial return . The more efficient the heat exchangers are , the more efficient the turbines are . GE was looking for a partner capable of supplying larger modules that meet demanding requirements regarding heat dissipation , quality , production , and cost . Heatex leveraged its air-to-air heat exchangers to develop a customized system solution to fulfill GE ’ s specific needs .
Challenges When converting kinetic energy to electrical energy a large amount of heat is produced in the windings of the generator . That heat needs to be efficiently removed to ensure a long lifetime and high AEP of the wind turbine . With the size of Haliade-X there were several challenges to be addressed :
• Maintaining a sufficient flow of cooled air to the generator
48 Heat Exchanger World April 2024 www . heat-exchanger-world . com