Author Topic: The Crowsnest Pass (Read 12514 times)

SparWeb · « **on:** March 05, 2010, 07:50:11 PM »

I drove through the Crowsnest Pass (the southern-most pass dividing Alberta and British Columbia) last weekend, and snapped a few photos that you guys might appreciate:

I also happened upon a Nordex turbine (60 meters) undergoing a bit of maintenance:

I was tempted to talk to the guys working on it, but they seemed busy and the fence was closed.

There's a new project nearing completion nearby. As I drove past I could see the rows of WT's on one side of the highway (stopped) and the grid station on the other side (no wires in it).

I suppose somebody's writing a press release for "another ## MW" installed in Canada.

willib · « **Reply #1 on:** March 05, 2010, 09:50:44 PM »

Great photo's steven

in the last pic what do ya suppose those two circular objects are on the Nacell(sp?) wind sensors?

Those Nordex blades need some feathering of the trailing edge me thinks?

Also is that guy going up or down , and more importantly where did the rope come from?

Fantastic shots of the mountains

Its very scenic up there!

fabricator · « **Reply #2 on:** March 06, 2010, 07:38:00 AM »

There is a ladder or stairway inside the tower, the guy in the spider basket is likely touching up paint on the tower.

fabricator · « **Reply #3 on:** March 06, 2010, 07:40:18 AM »

Those things sure are beautiful.

TomW · « **Reply #4 on:** March 06, 2010, 07:59:52 AM »

Nice post!

And...

Not a tail vane in sight.

Just had to point out the obvious considering recent yaw threads here.

Beautiful area, BTW.

Thanks for the share!

Tom

ghurd · « **Reply #5 on:** March 06, 2010, 08:42:02 AM »

You'd think they'd put an elevator in something like that!

I can not recall the last time I saw sky that color.

G-

tanner0441 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 06, 2010, 12:23:26 PM »

Hi

Is it a scam and the little round things on the top are HAWTs that really generate all the power.

We have several not too far from here, you can drive to within about 100 yards of them, there are two complete wind farms just off shore localy as well.

Brian.

fabricator · « **Reply #7 on:** March 06, 2010, 01:17:43 PM »

Now that I look at it closer, that is just tools or equipment being hoisted up.

willib · « **Reply #8 on:** March 06, 2010, 06:49:55 PM »

I guess your in the UK?

In the states here we dont have one windmill off shore,

Yet.

This could be the year though.

Massachusetts has been thinking about it, or squabbling about it .

Maryland is also thinking about it.

So is Atlantic city, BTW there are four already in AC , they are by the water treatment plant, I hear that they are popular to look at..

This is a google shot of one

SparWeb · « **Reply #9 on:** March 06, 2010, 07:46:44 PM »

Yup, it's just a bundle of parts and a drum of oil coming down, not a person. Just like your car, gotta change the oil every few thousand miles, er, million rev's. Pretty sure there was a man up there running the hoist, because the fellow at the bottom was just watching and waiting to receive it all.

The rings around the anemometers are a mystery to me. Here's a close-up:

And you can click on it to see it at full resolution.

There's a lot of stuff on the nacelle that gets me. What's with the rail going over the cover? I can see four maybe five posts holding up a long rod, and the rod has an overlapping joint in the middle. I went to the Nordex website and there I was able to learn that the dark "bumps" that protrude on the hub of the blades are attachment points for the ladders... Ladders? When the hub is assembled on the ground, the workmen must go inside through the hatch at the center. Since the hub is 10 feet across, they put a ladder on it to climb up. Bigger Nordex machines even have a circular handrail that looks really silly when the rotor is raised and attached up in the air.

SparWeb · « **Reply #10 on:** March 06, 2010, 07:51:39 PM »

Ghurd: "I can not recall the last time I saw sky that color."

Now I've got that CCR tune in my head.

Long as I remember, the rain's been comin' down

RP · « **Reply #11 on:** March 06, 2010, 08:12:32 PM »

Those rings look like some kind of lightning / corona discharge protection to me. That may be the purpose of that rail across the cover too.

Both seem to have an otherwise non-obvious spiky thing pointing off into the air.

willib · « **Reply #12 on:** March 06, 2010, 09:50:02 PM »

~ Clouds of mystery pourin' confusion on the ground.~

Yep they do look like lightning rod cages

SparWeb · « **Reply #13 on:** March 06, 2010, 11:02:41 PM »

Ah, here's a picture of a Nordex, seen from a dizzying perspective (helicopter?) showing you inside the open canopy:

Lightning protection sounds very plausible purpose for all those do-dads up there.

fabricator · « **Reply #14 on:** March 07, 2010, 05:33:13 AM »

Holy spit! That is an awesome picture! It looks like the ladder is in place on the hub because they were putting some kind of seal material in the blade/hub cover, it looks like it is not quite finished yet.

ghurd · « **Reply #15 on:** March 07, 2010, 05:54:05 AM »

And I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the Snow

G-

Shadow · « **Reply #16 on:** March 07, 2010, 06:31:12 AM »

I wonder if those things are wind sensors, as they need to sense both windspeed and direction for the computer to adjust accordingly.

Awesome pictures!

Perry1 · « **Reply #17 on:** March 07, 2010, 03:43:16 PM »

Hey Steven,

Great pic's. That big Nordex is an interesting design. The 'rods' you see along the top of the nacelle are for tie off points for the techs. With the top down they should run down the center. A sliding fall restraint device clamps onto them to protect the techs. During maintenance if you didn't want to crack the top open you would just walk across it to get to the anem's.

I like the porthole in the spinner. Not sure if people realize but much of the work to be done occurs in the hub. The only way out there is to climb on top of the turbine and slide down the spinner to the hatch. It can be a come to Jesus moment as at this point you are more so hanging off the edge of the abyss than at any other time.

Perry

Ungrounded Lightning Rod · « **Reply #18 on:** March 11, 2010, 02:22:46 PM »

Yes, lightning protection.

Bolt hits the spike and current is carried around the stuff inside the circles.

Meanwhile the circles keep the potential smooth around the stuff inside so it doesn't get hit by a sideflash or have corona discharges.

I can't make out the stuff in the circles but it looks more like laser fog detectors than anemometers. (Which doesn't make a lot of sense but what the heck. I'd expect wind sensors in that area.)

Ungrounded Lightning Rod · « **Reply #19 on:** March 11, 2010, 02:25:26 PM »

I can't make out the stuff in the circles but it looks more like laser fog detectors than anemometers.

Maybe wind direction arrow at back, spinny-cups at front? Two for redundancy and/or dodging downwind effects of the big blades?

Ungrounded Lightning Rod · « **Reply #20 on:** March 11, 2010, 02:28:09 PM »

Jeez I'd hate to be on that ladder around the hub or the crow's next at the front and have the brake come loose.

(Actually I'd hate to be on it, period. I get acrophobic tingles just looking at the picture.)

Perry1 · « **Reply #21 on:** March 11, 2010, 09:00:42 PM »

This particular turbine is a Nordex N60, at least I think it is. It has an output of 1.3 MW.

The sensor pods each have a cup style anemometer and a wind vane. There are two for redundancy. Actually only one of each is used, the second monitors the first and faults out the turbine (shuts down) if there is a difference.

The rings around them are for lightning grounding as previously mentioned.

Perry

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Author Topic: The Crowsnest Pass (Read 12514 times)