HDC Series helps improve environmental sustainability
Nowadays environmental sustainability is a trending topic that affects all aspects of our life with no
geographical distinction as it is about responsibly interacting with the planet to maintain natural
resources and avoid jeopardizing the ability for future generations to meet their needs.
The continuous development and improvement of
new green energy supplies is evidence of the positive
response to stabilizing the current or past (if we want
to be optimistic) disruptive relationship between
Earth's two most complex systems: humans and the
living world.
Among the sustainable and renewable energies, the
growing industrialization of wind energy is one of the
most important to provide better air quality with low
levels of resource waste by exploiting what the Earth
is offering naturally with no human intervention until
the transformation process.
Wind turbines are the key component of this natural but aided transformation of resources as they
convert the kinetic energy from wind into usable electrical energy.
The challenge
Harnessing wind power is the most mature way of generating power that is qualified for large-scale
developments and has commercial development prospects meaning it has been largely developed in
recent years.
Reliable operation, convenient maintenance and easy replacement of functional module systems are
all crucial for a wind power station.
In one such example, a China based manufacturer for onshore and offshore direct drive wind turbines
was struggling to find a reliable connector series to equip their turbines.
They needed resilient, stable, and flexible interconnect solutions they could incorporate into the
design of their wind turbines to satisfy a variety of application requirements with a single point of
supply and with a single source solution.
As well as being robust, versatile and compact, they needed connectors that were easy to assemble
and maintain, configurable for different applications and models, and could also help reducing the
parts to keep in stock.
The solution
HDC series of Heavy Duty Connectors was the ideal solution to provide reliable electrical connections
for wind power generation. The HM flexible and combined configurations and HE extendible 500V
configurations, as well as others were the selected configurations that were able to satisfy various
connections of weak and strong currents in different applications of wind power.
Based on a modular design, the HDC connectors were
able to satisfy the customer’s requirement offering a
stable and reliable electrical connection for different
parts of the wind turbines, such as the variable pitch
blades, the sliprings, the drive system and the power
system.
The customer was also impressed with the possibility of combining power and signal in one connector
reaching up to 200 Amps of current connection and of selecting various kinds of hoods and housings.
Easy maintenance and replacement of single modules, rapid surefooted installation, waterproof IP68
protection and the anti-corrosion characteristics of the metal shell, which are ideal for harsh outdoor
environments, were the other key features that made the different configurations of the HDC series
the selected solutions for these wind turbines.
Last but not least, the shorter lead time compared to the industry average and the competitive pricing
of the HDC connectors have generated the customer’s confidence to assign Smiths Interconnect this
important project that can help the environment with sustainable energy generation.
Components are just a small portion of the whole new emerging devices and applications that
contribute to a more environmentally friendly energy supply but they can help to avoid wasting
resources and offer the necessary durability that a modern power generator requires.
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