5 Questions with Don Brazen, US Wind Segment Leader

1. What parts of the wind turbine does FUCHS provide lubrication solutions for?

Wind power in a nutshell is simple to understand but difficult to generate. The concept of wind energy is very simple in that you take the kinetic energy of wind and turn it into mechanical energy, via a series of large mechanical components, before finally turning into electrical energy. These components operate under different loads and environmental conditions and require proper lubrication to minimize wear from friction and vibration.  

Our lubricants are applied to pitch and yaw bearings, gears, and motors. There’s the main bearing which is very large and can hold anywhere from 25 to 100 pounds of grease. From there you go into a main gear box with gear accelerators that hold anywhere from 85 to 150 gallons of oil. Moving down from the main gearbox is the generator where the mechanical energy gets turned into electrical energy. This component has a bearing that also requires grease. There are also several smaller applications like hoist chains and tower bolts.  But the pitch, yaw, main bearings, main gearbox, hydraulic system, and generator make up 99% of the lubrication on a wind turbine. 

2. How is FUCHS investing in technology and R&D to develop efficient lubricationsolutions for the wind industry? 

Lithium has historically been a common thickener in lubricants for wind applications, but lithium is a finite resource. The push for electric vehicles has diverted much of the lithium supply to automotive manufacturers and has caused the cost of lithium to rise significantly over the last few years. Our R&D team has been focusing on developing alternative thickener technologies that will perform as well or better than their lithium counterparts. We’re also hearing that more wind turbines are seeing stray electrical current traveling from the generator all the way to the main bearings and gearbox which could lead to white edge cracking and other issues. Our application, development, and validation test laboratory is also looking into the impact of stray electricity on lubricants to ensure our products offer adequate protection under these conditions.

3. How do our lubricants impact the overall sustainability of a wind turbine design? 

Our lubricants improve the sustainability of wind turbines by improving the overall efficiency of the components we lubricate, enabling the turbines to generate more power per kWh. Lubricants also protect against wear to extend the life of components which ensures more uptime and fewer parts that need to be replaced. One way we extend life is by encouraging re-greasing after the first six months of operation. After six months you start to see little metal fines from the break in process. When these particles get in the grease they can’t be filtered out and they introduce a new source of wear in the design. Purging the grease at the first or second lube cycle can remove these debris particles and extend the life of the bearing.  

4. FUCHS is a one-stop-shop for wind lubrication. What kind of services do we offer in addition to our lubricants? 

The two biggest services we offer are oil analysis and lubricants in auto-lubricators. Customers can send us a sample of their oil or grease and we can analyze its makeup and send a file back with our findings. The goal of our analysis is to identify the source of a problem or identify potential problems before they occur. Auto-lubricators can dispense precise amounts of lubricants at the right time to ensure the component is properly lubricated and requires less frequent servicing and free up technicians to do other maintenance jobs.

5. How does FUCHS differ from our competitors in the wind industry? 

FUCHS has the broadest offering of any lubricant company. Anything the wind industry needs, we have. We have grease and oil for bearings and gears, but we also have generator cleaners, grease for hoist chains, lubricants for tower bolts, and more. We truly are a one-stop-shop.