Wind Turbines Fiber Optic Technology That Saves Bats

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eks Engel FOS GmbH & Co.KG

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Bats use the nocturnal thermals around wind turbines to save energy. While this sounds beneficial, it can be deadly for the small and endangered animals. The Middle Franconian company Fleximaus has therefore developed an intelligent shutdown system for wind turbines, using switches and media converters from the Wenden-based fiber optic specialist eks Engel.

Fleximaus GmbH from Schillingsfürst in Middle Franconia has developed an intelligent shutdown mechanism that calculates the probability of nearby bats based on environmental parameters such as outside temperature, wind speed, or rain intensity, and shuts the system down as a precaution. Once the danger is cleared, an integrated optimization system quickly restarts the rotors. To produce electricity efficiently, the reliable and fail-safe fiber optic technology from EKS Engel is required.

Compact Media Converter

The control system for the Fleximaus solution is located at the so-called grid connection point, where the wind farm is linked to the public power grid. The control system is connected via optical fibers to the wind farm server, which supplies the system with relevant environmental data. Additionally, dedicated environmental sensors are connected to the system. These sensors are usually positioned at a height of three to four meters, but sometimes also in the nacelle. Due to the limited space available, Fleximaus uses the compact unmanaged media converter EL-100-XS from EKS Engel, which converts the electrical signals from the sensors into optical signals for the optical fibers. The device impresses with its slim design, allowing the necessary cables to be connected from the side. The media converter for 10/100 Mbps works with plastic, HCS, multimode, or single-mode optical fibers. Additional features like auto-negotiation, MDI/MDI-X, and an extended temperature range provide further flexibility.

Switches Ensure Reliability in Operation

For internal communication, Fleximaus uses the unmanaged switches EL-100-4 and AMG350 from EKS Engel, along with the managed switch EL-1000-4GM. The EL-100-4 series switches are only three centimeters wide and offer either eight twisted pair ports (10/100 BASE-TX) or versions with additional optical configurations (100 BASE-FX). With interfaces for single-mode, multimode, and FCS fibers, as well as POF optical fibers, distances of up to 19 miles can be bridged, making large installations no problem for the switches. The AMG350 unmanaged switch is also housed in a compact DIN-rail or wall-mountable enclosure and ensures high operational reliability with two redundant power inputs and a fault alarm relay.

The 8- and 10-port switches of the EL-1000-4GM series, which are also only 1 inch wide, support Profinet and are already prepared for Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN). With the managed Gigabit switches, transmission distances of up to 62 miles are possible. The temperature range of –40 °F to 158 °F and the IP20 protection class ensure high robustness even in outdoor environments. Thanks to a self-explanatory user interface, it can be programmed without any special prior knowledge. During operation, the switch displays the status of the ports, device temperature, voltage, and the condition of the fiber optic links.

Bat Protection With High Energy Yield

With switches and media converters from EKS Engel, Fleximaus gets a reliable solution for bat protection in wind turbines. Fiber optic technology ensures the animals are protected while maintaining the highest possible energy yield.

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