e-POSTER: Continually Improving Reliability for Wind Turbine Converters/IGBTs
21 May 19
3:30 PM
-
3:55 PM
Tracks:
Performance and Reliability, Poster Presentations
Tens of thousands of wind turbines have been installed to date, which now need to be maintained. Many turbines are out of warranty and aging, which makes upkeep even more difficult and costly. It goes without saying that owners/operators have a desire to keep costs down. This has led to innovative ideas for not only keeping the turbines running, but to make them run longer without downtime and even increase the power they are able to achieve. One of the main problems brought to our attention is a large failure rate among wind turbine converters. SEMIKRON has achieved increased converter/IGBT reliability through our focus on product innovation in power electronics. We have gained a better understanding of power electronics over the past 10+ years since these turbines have been installed to drastically reduce failure rates. SEMIKRON has developed products specifically for the Non-ESS & ESS turbines, along with the ACS800 converter in the G8x turbines. This talk provides an overview of the current converter system, pitfalls due to aging technology, and how SEMIKRON has used new Power Module technology to increase converter reliability and reduce downtime. In fact, the new technology replaces existing baseplated IGBT modules with SEMIKRON’s SKIM© platform which is based upon baseplate-less and sintering technology. The combination of technologies improves thermal performance and extends the life of the semiconductors due to power cycling and demanding working environments.