Press Releases

WIND-POWER LEADER COUNTS ON MOELLER

Enercon, the leader in gearless wind-power turbine technology, has selected Moeller's XC100 FC modular PLC with fibre-optic fieldbus interface to control and monitor new installations worldwide.

Research-based Enercon developed the world's first gearless wind turbine in Germany in 1991.

The company sets the standards in technology, quality and safety in this field worldwide, operating as a full-scale manufacturer of all key components such as rotors, ring generators, grid feeding systems and microelectronic control technology.

Moeller's automation solution for Enercon wind turbines consists of several components networked together via fibre optic cables to ensure noise immune data transfer.

The main processing unit, which is the central element of the control system, maintains continuous contact with peripheral control elements such as yaw and active pitch, adjusting the individual system parameters to ensure that the wind turbine operates at optimum yield under all weather conditions.

It also monitors the grid connection to ensure that electricity is fed correctly into the grid.

Parameters such as voltage, current and frequency are measured on the low voltage side between the turbine inverter and the system transformer, with all measured values continuously transmitted to the system control to enable immediate reaction by the turbine to changes in grid voltage or frequency.

As soon as the defined limit values of the system protection are exceeded, the wind turbine is shut down until voltage and frequency return to permissible levels, when start-up commences again automatically.

The Enercon control system ensures a yield-optimised turbine operation.

Measurement data from the wind sensor is evaluated continuously and fed to the adaptive yaw control within the nacelle.

Optimum turbine efficiency at every wind strength is achieved through variable speed control, eliminating undesirable output peaks and high operating loads.

An active pitch control system enables the ideal flow angle to be set at the rotor blades to ensure maximum yields and load reductions for the entire wind turbine.

The Enercon brake system ensures maximum turbine reliability by means of three independently operating pitch mechanisms with standby power supply if the grid supply fails. Tower and generators are monitored by means of vibration and acceleration sensors to check the deflections within the tower. Temperature and air gap sensors measure other control parameters.

The Moeller XC100-FC modular PLC with fibre optic fieldbus interface handles a host of different tasks. It controls and monitors both the grid supply and the standby supply.It is also responsible for managing the accumulator, and in addition handles the control and monitoring of the air conditioning, the beacon lights (intensity and operating hours) and the reduction of daytime lighting across the entire wind park according to daylight brightness.

There is noise-free data transfer even in environments susceptible to excessive electromagnetic interference.

As an alternative to the serial programming interface, the XC100 can also be programmed via the fieldbus, thereby opening up the possibility of decentralised systems, with operation and programming either centrally or remotely.

Other features include an integrated real-time clock as well as a slot for a multi-media memory card to allow updating of the operating system, application programme and recipe data.

The PLC comes with six short-circuit-proof outputs and eight digital inputs, four of which are designed as interrupt inputs to enable a simple and direct response to events, irrespective of the cycle time.

The modular PLC can be expanded locally with up to 15 XIOC signal modules. A wide range of digital, analogue or communication modules are available, and the high density XIOC input-output (I/O) modules enable users to connect up to 32 I/O points.

The XC100-FC has an outstandingly compact design with a 30 millimetre mounting width and 100 millimetre height.

All I/O signals are wired using pre-assembled cables to save time.With the XC100/200 controllers, users can expand to 494 digital signals within a mounting width of only 510 millimetres.

« Back