The scientists of the Institute for Machine Elements at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen have developed a new active torque-vectoring gear similar to that of a controlled differential utilized in motor vehicles. The new research is developed after closely watching the gears and generator systems of wind turbines where the two pole pairs of the generators are needed to achieve a synchronous speed of 1500 rounds to attain 50 hertz frequency.
The new development supplements the use of planetary gears in the conventional designs by a torque-vectoring gear with an auxiliary electric motor. The new system can be utilized as a drive and as well as a generator. The new system facilitates the power from the rotor to get either boosted or diverted to maintain the steady rotational speed of the generator. The concept requires the introduction of an 80 kW electric motor for a 1.5 MW wind turbine.
The new concept incorporates a lighter power train that needs a smaller sized nacelle for the wind turbine. The design allows the use of an additional sturdy low-maintenance generator, which does away with the requirement of additional power electronics for adjusting the wind turbine frequency thus improving the total efficiency of the power generation facility.