July/August 2010
Vol. 1 No. 4
publishing affiliate of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International®
Your guide to adopting green manufacturing practices
Contents
Features
20 Sage Supplier Special Section
Gearmaking Q & A (sidebar to Anatomy of a wind turbine)
What are the top 5 challenges you face when making gears and gearboxes
for wind turbines? N.K. Chinnusamy, president of Excel Gear, Roscoe, Ill.,
describes the challenges as working large, achieving exacting material
composition, minimizing distortion and cracking, modifying the tooling,
and building for durability.
On the cover: N.K. Chinnusamy, president of Excel Gear, Roscoe, Ill., stands by the
massive gear his company makes for wind turbine nacelles. Cover photography by Bob
Cholke for Green Manufacturer.
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22 Sage Supplier Special Section (continued)
Cover Story: Anatomy of a wind turbine
There can be as many as 8,000 components in a utility-scale wind turbine—give or take a few hundred, but, hey, who’s counting? Considering
the growth of wind energy, these components represent a considerable
opportunity for manufacturing metal fabrications, machined parts, castings, forgings, electronics components, as well as heat treating, painting,
and grinding operations. Take a look inside the brains of the turbine—the
nacelle—to view a breakdown of its components.
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28 Powering your plant with stationary hydrogen fuel cells Stationary fuel cells could be a reliable power source for manufacturing
plants, depending on available funding, grid parity, and application. Is your
facility a good candidate?
327 ways to manage energy consumption for higher profitability
Discover 7 opportunities to wag the tail, instead of letting the tail wag you.
Looking at energy as a production input changes the way manufacturers
view energy entirely.
38Following LEED’s lead for building materials Find the USGBC’s LEED “recycled content” requirement a little difficult to
decipher? Here’s a little help in decoding it.
58Under Cover: House wins, manufacturers win
A new motor drive saves energy by matching consumption to load in
constant-speed motor applications, effectively providing cruise control for
variable-load motors used in conveyors, elevators, shredders—including
an escalator in a famous Las Vegas casino.
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