Engine support technology
Most production processes use motors (electrical or thermal) that require energy to work. The way in which motors have to supply power is via a shaft that, in general, operates at a fixed speed and that provides a torque that depends on the load presented by the production process.
The connection between the driving machine (turbine) and the driven machines (generators) is a hydrostatic transmission. This consists of a closed circuit consisting of pumps and motors, together with their respective connecting pipes through which a pressurised fluid flows.
The mechanical power (Torque x Speed) provided by these turbines is transformed into hydraulic power (Flow rate x Pressure) by the hydraulic pump located in the rotor head, and this is carried via rigid or flexible pipes to the point of use (hydraulic motor), which can be outside the structure of the turbine, operating any type of machine.
The hydraulic motor, driven by the energy obtained by the wind turbine, can be used:
- to drive any machine: A synchronous or asynchronous generator, a sunken well pump, a high-pressure pump for desalination, a centrifugal pump for irrigation or drainage, a compressor for oxygenating water, blowers, etc.
- as an auxiliary drive for motors, reducing their power consumption: electrical or thermal motors.
To supplement these motors, the shaft of the hydraulic motor is coupled to the shaft of the supplemented motor, with which it synchronises automatically, without altering its speed characteristics. In this way, it helps the other motor to supply the torque demanded by the process, with the corresponding energy saving (the ammeter will indicate a lower current consumption, or the regulator of the injection pump will reduce fuel flow). These are therefore mixed electrical-eolic or thermal-eolic systems.
