Under the wave of global energy structure to green low-carbon transformation, the wind power industry is ushering in a period of rapid development. With the increasing capacity of wind turbines and the continuous increase in blade length, the complexity of the internal structure of the turbine has also climbed. Tiny damages to core components such as gearboxes, generators, blade roots, etc. may trigger downtime failures or even safety accidents. Traditional inspection methods rely on manual experience or disassembly inspection, which is not only time-consuming and costly, but also may cause secondary damage due to improper operation.
How to quickly and accurately capture hidden dangers without dismantling the equipment? With cutting-edge technology and scenario-based innovation,yateks’s industrial endoscope has become a tool for efficient operation and maintenance in the wind power industry.
1.What are the key points of wind power operation and maintenance?
Wind turbines are exposed to extreme environments all year round, enduring harsh tests such as strong winds, salt spray and temperature differences. According to statistics, gearbox failure accounts for more than 30% of the failure rate of wind turbines, while the internal structure of the blade cracking, bolt loosening and other problems are also frequent. Traditional detection means face three major problems.
（1）Blind areas
the gearbox internal cavity is complex, the blade hollow structure is narrow, naked eyes or ordinary tools are difficult to reach the key parts;
（2）Low efficiency
dismantling and inspection takes several days, affecting power generation revenue;
（3）Poor precision
relying on personnel experience, it is easy to miss the detection of minor cracks or early wear.
2.What problems can yateks’s industrial endoscopes solve?
In view of the special needs of the wind power industry, ATEC has launched the industrial endoscope solution designed for large-scale equipment, and cracked the operation and maintenance problems with the three major advantages of “non-destructive, accurate and intelligent”:
（1）Ultra-high-definition imaging, details appear
Equipped with two megapixel high-definition camera and adaptive ring-shaped complementary light technology, even in the high dust and oil covered gear box interior, it can clearly capture 0.05mm-level cracks, rust or particle wear. The unique panoramic stitching function can automatically generate a panoramic image of the inner wall of the blade, a key to locate the damage location, and say goodbye to the limitations of the “leopard in the tube.
（2）Flexible control, no fear of complex structures
Yateks borescope adopts ultra-thin diameter probe (minimum up to 0.85mm), with 360° arbitrary guidance technology, it can easily pass through the gear box oil channel, blade bolt holes and other narrow spaces. The ultra-long pipeline of up to 15 meters covers the whole area inspection needs of large units.
（3）AI intelligent diagnosis, early warning of potential risks
The integrated AI intelligent analysis system, based on the million-level wind power component defect database, marks the suspicious area and evaluates the damage level, generates a visualized inspection report, provides data support for maintenance decision-making, and helps to realize predictive maintenance.
3.How yateks’s industrial endoscope reduces costs and increases efficiency for wind power companie
Case 1:
A coastal wind farm found pitting and indentation on the surface of the planetary wheel of the gearbox through yateks’s Xplus borescope during regular inspections, replacing the parts in time to avoid scrapping the gearbox and saving more than 800,000 RMB in maintenance costs on a single occasion;
Case 2:
In response to a 5MW wind turbine blade rattling problem, technicians used yateks’s Realta series two megapixel borescope to quickly locate gear corrosion and wear, which shortened the 3-day inspection process that originally required lifting and disassembling to 2 hours, and reduced the power generation loss to about 200,000 RMB/day. The reduction in power generation losses amounted to about 200,000 yuan per day;
Case 3:
A well-known domestic enterprise that mainly produces high and low-speed heavy-duty gearboxes uses Yaktes’s N seriesborescope to inspect star wheels and sun wheels of wind turbine gearboxes before they leave the factory to ensure that the factory quality is 100% qualified to be delivered to the engineering unit.
As a leading brand in the field of domestic industrial non-destructive testing, Yateks continues to focus on the cutting-edge needs of the wind power industry, launching customized products such as oil-proof probes and high-temperature and long-lasting products, as well as setting up a nationwide network of wind power operation and maintenance services to provide one-stop solutions of “equipment + training + data analysis”. solutions. At present, AT&T has served dozens of domestic and foreign head energy enterprises, with a cumulative total of tens of thousands of wind turbines inspected, and a defect identification accuracy rate of 98.6%.
The future of green energy requires smarter guarding. Yateks’s industrial endoscope empowers the digital transformation of wind power operation and maintenance with innovative technology, making every hidden danger invisible, helping enterprises reduce costs and increase efficiency, guaranteeing the stable operation of the power grid, and jointly promoting the accelerated realization of the “dual-carbon” goal.