Energy production
In March 2016, the new OELCHECK-App was ready for its first test run. Availon, known for its flexible services, has been using the OELCHECK customer portal www.lab.report for years and was the ideal partner for the practice test. Two service teams started using the App, and it was not long before we received the first positive responses as well as suggestions for optimisation. These suggestions were quickly implemented and, since June 2016, the App has become the constant, everyday companion of all the Availon service technicians.
In Germany alone, 1,200 of the wind farms that Availon manages are equipped with a special QR-Code. The codes can be easily generated in a user account at www.lab.report. Printed on adhesive strips, the corresponding QR-Code was installed in the base of each tower as well as in the control cabinet in the wind turbine‘s nacelle. When a service technician inserts a new oil sample, he scans the QR-Code with his smartphone and selects the Appropriate system component. The App automatically recognises the system and components and performs all the subsequent steps. The technician just adds a few more details about the current sample and scans the barcode on the Sample Information Form. Finally, the App sends the data directly to OELCHECK.
More than half a year has passed since the App was first used, and the response from the Availon service technicians is still consistently positive.
The digital input of the Sample Information Form via the App eliminates illegibility, incorrect entry and even smeared notes which previously led to queries and errors. The OELCHECK-App makes the work of the field service technicians much easier.
They just fill in the Sample Information Form with their smartphone at the top of the wind turbine, which saves time. The technicians particularly Appreciate the automatic feedback they receive when the Sample Information Form has been received by OELCHECK.
For nearly 10 years, Availon has been monitoring wind turbines at home and abroad with OELCHECK lubricant analyses. The analyses are the first indication for condition-based maintenance, as they provide crucial information on the condition of the respective lubricants and the monitored components. Additional activities, such as oil changes, frequency measurements or, if necessary, endoscopies, can be conducted based on this information.
Lubricant samples are regularly taken at six-month intervals. The Availon service technicians use the all-inclusive analysis kits for wind turbines. Irrespective of the particular turbine component, this type of kit can be used in accordance with the specific requirements of the oils and lubricants to be monitored. This means that the technicians are prepared for any circumstances and have less to lug with them when climbing up to dizzying heights. With the all-inclusive analysis kits, you can take lubricant samples from the main gearbox, the hydraulics, the main bearings, the blade bearings and, if necessary, even from a yaw drive or pitch drive.
Availon relies on three crucial components from the OELCHECK performance portfolio for the monitoring of the wind turbines:
Always at the cutting edge of technology and digitalisation, the service technicians at Availon use every option offered to them by OELCHECK.
Availon offers maintenance and optimisation modules for wind turbines at the highest level of technical and professional capabilities for a high level of technical availability and high yields over the entire life cycle of a turbine. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Rheine (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany), Availon has additional subsidiaries and branches in Italy, Spain, Austria, Poland and the USA. With its inclusion in the Vestas family of companies in the spring of 2016, Availon has put itself at the top in the international wind service provider sector.
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