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Comment by Melinda Rice on February 18, 2013 at 8:50

Thank you to Andreas for inviting me to this fantastic addition to our groups here @ESE Wind & Solar! -MCR

Comment by Taylor Coleman on January 19, 2013 at 18:49

Lately, we at CC Jensen have been asked by a lot of people "what do I do when my gearbox oil samples come back too dirty?"
This is a very good question, namely because it is on many people's minds lately.
The first thing you should look at is HOW dirty your oil is. A particle count of ISO 18/16/13 is the industry standard, and if you are above that your oil analysis report will usually reflect it in your oil condition.
Look at your oil filter system. Are running only the OEM in-line, full flow filter? If so, simply putting a smaller micron-rated filter in it is not going to help. In fact this may hurt your system by simply by-passing the filter media altogether.

Look into adding an additional filter on a dedicated loop called an Off-Line filter. These are able to filter out much more dirt of smaller sizes due to the lower pressures and flow rates provided by the filter's own pump and motor. This makes for a much more effective filtration environment.

For more information feel free to PM me, email me at taylor@ccjensen.com, or just call me.

Taylor Coleman
CC Jensen Inc
505-506-1447,

Comment by Michael Jacobs on November 12, 2012 at 17:30

More on Ocean Currents with Michael- 

I spend a lot of time dealing with innovative ideas for grid-connected power supplies, so I appreciate the questions. I think the key obstacle is the scale of the challenges to field a series of prototypes. In effect, how much money does it take to learn what you need to know? My view is all the discussions about compatibility with the needs of the grid are secondary. Economics come before that, and fundamental demonstrations and costs to solve problems come ahead of economics. What are the reports from New York harbor and Puget Sound deployment efforts?

Comment by Michael Strathman on November 12, 2012 at 15:52

Thanks for the comments. So let me share a bit more. I am getting interested in ocean renewabls so I am learning. The energy sources wind, solar, wave, tides and currents all are different in reliablility and predictability. My initial observation is currents are most preditable and reliable. Tides are predictable but are not as widely available as currents. Having said that, it seems much more research effort has been applied to wind, solar, waves and tides. Why are ocean currents neglected?

Juergen and Michael mention the transmission problem to the grid. This does not seem to be an insurrmountable problem as we have cables criscrossing the oceans today. HVDC transmission can manage long distances, oil platforms have individual power generation and have begun connecting platforms together creating "grids". Bottom line is that issue seems solvable. Michael the hardware durability certainly is an issue but oil and gas developments have many years of hardware durability experience in an open ocean environment. Again a solvable challenge.

So as I scoured the literature I am puzzled the ocean current market seems to have much less attention. That may mean there is a logical reason and I am trying to understand it.

Thanks for sharing.

 

Mike

Comment by Michael Jacobs on November 11, 2012 at 14:00

Michael Stratham's emphasis on the predictability, and reliability, need to be understood further. In the power grid, as Juergen mentions, predictable schedules and output are welcomed. However, I am not certain how valuable they are in the business world in early days of a technology. For a new technology to begin to draw business interest is vey different. That community seeks technology with predictable hardware durability and the ability to actually produce energy in a variety of locations that could be deployed. A mechanical engineer has another perspective, and I suspect that when they try to meet the physical challenges of ocean currents, they find high costs. But I work on utility and business acceptance after enough engineering solution have been found. Michael, keep us posted, please.

Comment by Juergen F. Kalesse on November 11, 2012 at 12:00

I partly agree with the statement from Michael Stratmann on the reliabilty of renewables if it comes to wind and PV. On the other hand, to install off-shore hydrokinetic power stations leads into the same dilemma we're facing with off-shore wind installations. Transportation of power to the inner country, wherever. Might be a solution for island countries such as the U.K..

Comment by Michael Strathman on November 10, 2012 at 14:11

One of the main callenges of wind and solar renewables is reliability. Marine hydrokinetics (Ocean currents and tides) are a much more predictable source of renewable energy. A considerable amount of research and development of tidal power has ocurred but it seems very little has been done on ocean currents. I am doing some analysis of this space and am curious why the lack of attnetion to ocean currents. Any perspectives from the renewable experts here? 

Comment by Glenn Bultinck on August 21, 2012 at 15:12

Dear Andreas,

I found the following link Paper solar assisted cooling which provides information and key issues for renewable heat in Europe regarding solar assisted cooling. As I live in one of the hot countries of europe I'm figuring out myself a technical solution in order to eliminate in the future the conventional air-conditioning system. I believe this principle can also be combined with residential swimming pools to cool down solar panels temperatures for efficiency reasons. It would be nice if we could establish an operational network of specialists in the field from different countries and come up with a real technical solution. Take for example the mars curiosity project which was also funded by different countries all over the world. What do you think about it. can we discuss any further on this topic?

Regards, 

Glenn

Comment by Andreas Woell on August 17, 2012 at 14:04

Dear Antoine,

You are welcome to open a new discussion in our group.

To your questions: Yes I do have experiences concerning Solar Assisted Cooling.

Visit my homepage if you'd like to know more about me myself: www.woell-consulting.de

Comment by Stan Kalinin on August 17, 2012 at 8:07

What a great Idea - let's make this group a true place of professional discussions about the major topics within the Renewable Energy!