Wind Power Surge Protector
Wind energy is one of the most mature and large-scale renewable clean energy sources. Wind power generation has brought great opportunities for the harmonious development of man and nature. However, due to its height and location in open areas, wind power generation equipment is at great risk of being struck by lightning. The blades of the wind turbine are as high as 100 meters. There are a large number of sensitive electronic components inside the unit, which are very expensive. Their value accounts for more than 60% of the investment in the wind power plant. Once struck by lightning, in addition to the power generation loss during the repair period, huge repair and disassembly costs will be added.
According to statistics, for every 100 wind turbines in a wind farm, the annual number of lightning strikes is about 10%. Among all external factors that cause wind turbine failures (such as storms, icing, lightning strikes, and power grid failures), lightning strikes account for about 4%.
The thermal effect and electromagnetic force generated by lightning strikes produce arcs in the lightning current channel. The intense high temperature during the arcing process causes damage to the wind turbine blades or even bending and breaking. At the same time, the internal equipment of the unit (generator, control unit, signal unit, sensor...) will be impacted by a strong inductive surge. Even when there is no lightning, the grid surge voltage and operating overvoltage will have a continuous impact on these devices and reduce their service life.
In order to ensure the efficient operation of the wind turbine and improve the overall reliability of the wind turbine, it is necessary to install a safe and reliable surge protector at the sensitive part of the equipment. It can discharge the lightning current into the ground as soon as possible when the wind turbine is struck by lightning, and reliably reduce the overvoltage to the withstand voltage value of the protected equipment. Due to the particularity of wind turbines, the surge protector used in wind power is different from the surge protector used in ordinary buildings. The technical requirements in terms of product structure, creepage distance, impact resistance, voltage protection level, and anti-interference ability are higher than those of ordinary surge protectors.
There are only a few lightning protection manufacturers in China that can produce a full range of surge protectors for wind power. The EPO series 690V wind power dedicated surge protector designed and produced by us using patented technology has a high continuous working voltage of 760V, large current discharge capacity, no continuous current, low voltage protection level, and unique functions of tripping, local and remote alarm.
Wind power surge protector not only has the conventional function of protecting against inductive lightning and operating overvoltage, but also has super arc isolation technology and main circuit tripping technology. On the one hand, it can effectively reduce residual pressure, absorb large current, and improve the stability of wind power voltage itself; it can also prevent the surge protector from burning itself due to unstable wind power voltage, greatly improving the reliability and safety of wind turbines.
