Wind Turbine and Substation Testing with Megger Test Equipment
When it comes to wind turbines Megger has solutions to cover the testing of pretty much every aspect of installation and maintenance. However there are some products that stand out, with key features ideally suited for testing on the wind farm. Let’s remember that the focus here is to keep turbines available and ready to generate, so two key areas of concern are ensuring all connections are good and reliable, and that everything is correctly grounded. This is particularly relevant to lightning protection. The last thing you need is a lightning damaged turbine.
Testing earth resistance both at the turbine and at the substation is highly important. You’ll need an earth tester which meets a number of requirements to ensure good accurate and reliable measurements. You’ll need to be able to cope with high test spike resistances, after all many turbines are in remote and rocky locations, you’ll need a tester that can cope with the electrical noise generated by turbines, and a good high resolution measurement, so you can see changes in the very low resistances you might encounter. All of these requirements are met by the Megger flagship earth tester, the DET2/3.
When ensuring all of those electrical connections in and out of the turbine are in good order, you need a low resistance ohmmeter, one that can work in all of those difficult to get to locations, with the testing capability to cope with all the different applications wind turbines encompass. The instrument will have various demands put upon it, from testing bus bar connections, winding resistance, lightning protection circuits, switch gear, relays, etc. So choosing the right instrument is critical… This is where the DLRO2 range comes in.
The DLRO2 is a small, lightweight, handheld instrument. It comes with a carry case that clips onto your belt for hands-free operation. Comes with both kelvin clip and kelvin probe test leads as standard, and is powered by rechargeable batteries with alkaline battery backup just in case. Measurements are auto ranging with the user simply selecting the maximum test current, up to 2A. There’s an innovative difference meter to make comparing measurements really easy, ideal of busbar joints. In addition the last three measurements can be held on the display, ideal for comparing three-phase windings or connections. Talking about testing windings, there’s an easy to use inductive measuring range that tests at 1A and automatically stops when the inductance is fully charged and the test is complete. One feature that stands out though is the long test lead mode, where the instrument configures itself to be able to work with potentially up to 200m long test leads, perfect for testing the wind turbine lightning protection from blade tip to the tower base ground connection.
For those working with particularly noisy turbines the DLRO2X is worth a look. As well as adding test results storage, with transfer to USB stick for field backup, the instrument has a unique high noise test mode. Utilising the patented Confidence MeterTM, the high noise range runs continuously to home in on the true resistance value while being effected by high electrical noise. Typically taking 5 to 10 seconds to make an accurate resistance measurement, where it would not normally be possible.
Talk to one Acutest’s technical team to help you choose the right product for you.
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