CENTA Delivers 58 Tonnes Couplings for LORC Nacelle Testing Facility

CENTA, a specialist for flexible couplings, delivered the 58 tonnes misalignment coupling for the LORC Nacelle Testing facility, where final installations and preparations for the commissioning tests are ongoing and on schedule.

The huge coupling has a nominal torque of 8.6 MNm, which makes it the largest coupling ever produced by the German company over its 40-year long history.

The coupling was delivered in parts, which are now being assembled in the testing hall on site. The CENTA coupling includes an overload unit for the nacelle tester. One important challenge for designers behind this record large coupling was to prepare it for a transmission torque of 8.6 resp. 11 MNm in combination with an overload unit for a release torque of 12.5 MNm and a release tolerance of only ±10%.

When free of load, the LORC Nacelle Testing facility’s highly dynamic motor is capable of generating the full operating torque within milliseconds in order to provide an optimum simulation of real-world wind conditions. This kind of loads demands reliable couplings.

LORC has two misalignment couplings: one smaller coupling of nominal 3.5 MNm will be used for testing of turbines of up to ~4 MW, and the larger misalignment coupling with a nominal value of 8.6 MNm will be used for the testing of turbines with a power output of 8 – 10 MW.