For Wind Turbines

In re­cent years the use of wind en­ergy has be­come es­tab­lished with high growth rates and good pro­spects for the fu­ture. Simple ro­tors have be­come more and more power­ful high-tech power sta­tions.

Nowadays the design of new per­form­ance classes plus their off­shore loc­a­tions re­quire a high level of in­vest­ment - and the pro­tec­tion of the in­vest­ment against in­ter­rup­tions in op­er­a­tion and even total loss. Up till now man­u­fac­turer, op­er­ator and fire bri­gades have been help­less when deal­ing with the risk of a fire.

The ma­chine cabin, the heart of a wind en­ergy fa­cil­ity con­tains gen­er­at­ors, gears, brakes, switch cab­in­ets, trans­formers and con­vert­ers, and so rep­res­ents a spe­cially high fire risk. If a fire should break out as the res­ult of over­heat­ing of com­pon­ents, elec­trical faults or a light­ning strike, then the fire will find plenty of com­bust­ible ma­ter­ial in the form of min­eral oils, lub­ric­ants, plastics and elec­tronic com­pon­ents.

The ex­posed loc­a­tion of the ma­chine cabin re­stricts fire de­part­ments' at­tempts at fight­ing the fire; the usual ap­proach is there­fore the con­trolled, com­plete burn out. And with off­shore fa­cil­it­ies any out­side help would in any event ar­rive too late.

1. The cabin space is small, the number of electrical equipment is large, the fire hazards are many, and the causes are complex (Electrical fire, solid fire and liquid fire may occur).

2. Remote location, unattended, away from the fire rescue center (Once a fire occurs, it is often only allowed to burn).

3. The site safety environment, electromagnetic environment, climate environment is harsh (Requiring reliable performance, Anti-lightning, vibration, heat, corrosion, air flow, electromagnetic interference).

4. High position from the ground, difficult to rescue

(Height 70-160 meters, high wind speed, large ventilation air flow, sufficient oxygen in the cabin, rapid fire spread).

5. Huge fire losses

(The equipment price of a single typhoon power unit is about 1-3 million US dollars, and indirect losses will occur, such as the impact on the power grid, causing secondary fires, etc.).

1. Lightning strike (Powerful lightning current injected from the blade tip or cabin tip)

2. High temperature operating conditions (Gearbox and mechanical brake device produce a lot of heat, resulting in a significant increase in surface temperature to ignite nearby combustible materials, mechanical brake device emergency braking generated by a large number of sparks may also ignite nearby oozing oil and other flammable materials, hydraulic tubing burst, high temperature oil spattering electrostatic spontaneous combustion caused by fire)

3. Device and equipment failure (Wind turbine out-of-control over speed, equipment overload operation, short circuit of generator cable or winding, bearing overheating, high temperature of junction box or brake system , short circuit of control cabinet or frequency conversion cabinet)

4. Improper installation of electrical equipment (Poor contact of connectors, short circuit, grounding fault, insufficient insulation strength, incorrect selection or failure of overload protection devices, incorrect selection or installation of electronic components and control components, etc.)

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5. Improper on-site operation (Hot work operation, illegal bringing into the fire source to ignite the oil in the cabin)

Traditional fire alarm systems are not dedicated to wind turbine application, there are the following prominent pain points:

1. False alarm, false spray
The site security environment, electromagnetic environment, and climate environment are poor, lightning strikes, electromagnetic interference, and high humidity and heat are easy to cause false alarm and trigger of the system, resulting in unnecessary losses and maintenance costs.

2. Delay in extinguishing
In the automatic mode of the system, it is necessary to wait until more than two types of fire detectors alarm at the same time, and then delay 30 seconds before starting the fire extinguishing device, delaying the precious fire extinguishing time in the initial stage of the fire.

3. Traditional point type detectors are difficult to play a role
The air flow in the cabin is very fast, and the smoke generated by the fire is difficult to gather, so that the traditional point detector alarm is slow or even unable to sense and alarm.

4. The fire extinguishing device has a temperature control blind area
The monitoring range of the fire extinguishing device started by temperature control is small, and it can not achieve effective fire detection and fire extinguishing for the tower cylinder and the tower base. Once the temperature sensor fails, it is easy to cause problems such as false start, not start, and not start in time, resulting in greater fire losses.

Specialization, Customization, Visualization

• Visual alarm through 2-wire fire signal loop circuit, quickly confirm fire alarm, quickly extinguish fire, no fear of false alarms, avoid false spray.

• The visual fire detector is equipped with a built-in camera, integrating security and fire protection.

• An aspirating high-sensitivity fire detector is added, providing an extremely early warning and visual confirmation of fire alarms.

• Metal smoke hoods and duct smoke detectors are installed in the areas with high wind speed within the cabin. 

• Combine local control and remote control

Construct a closed-loop fire control system featuring high reliability, high anti-interference, multi-dimensional detection, early warning, timely confirmation of fire alarms, and rapid fire extinguishing.

Fire detectors setup scheme

1. A set of fire bus video surveillance cameras and various types of fire detectors (smoke, temperature, flame) are installed in the generator room to cover the main areas of the room, especially the key areas, including the gearbox, brake disc, generator, and control cabinet.

2. For the areas such as the gearbox, brake system, transmission cable and transformer cabinet, as well as the bottom of the generator room where oil tends to accumulate, two-stage alarm switch-type linear temperature detectors are installed. The alarm temperature can be set to 88℃ for the first-level alarm and 105℃ for the second-level alarm, used for early detection of overheating problems. Such linear temperature detectors are also installed in the cable trays within the tower.

3. A set of fire bus video surveillance cameras is installed in a suitable location in the tower to monitor the rotation of the wind turbine blades.

4. The front-end control box contains switch-type alarm input, control output, video, data transmission equipment, fire power supply equipment, etc.