SGL Carbon

Graphite Brushes for Wind Turbines

SGL Carbon manufactures specialized graphite brushes for wind-turbine generators. The products serve as electrical contacts that transfer power and signals within turbines, both onshore and offshore. The company offers worldwide delivery from Europe and Spain, with customer service in several languages, including English and Spanish.

Products and Applications

The graphite-brush catalog covers several functions within a wind turbine:

• Grounding and power brushes for electricity generation.
• Grounding brushes that protect bearings from high-frequency currents.
• Lightning-protection brushes with more than 85% copper and a transfer capacity of 200 kA/350 µs.
• Signal-transmission brushes with voltage drops below 0.2 V.
• Brushes for blade-pitch control motors, with a service life of more than five years.
• Silver-graphite and copper-graphite brushes, along with specialized brushes for constant friction, constant voltage drop, and high-frequency applications.

SGL Carbon also manufactures custom designs and shapes to meet customer requirements.

Grades and Technical Characteristics

SGL Carbon offers a wide range of graphite grades, including RC27, RC42L, RC42H, RC53, RC54, RC67, RC73, RC87, RS70, RE54, RE55, RE75, RS65, and RE92. The grades are designed for different uses, from low to high current density (up to 24 A/cm²), including grounding, lightning protection, signal transmission, and DC blade-pitch motors. The materials are qualified for different climates, including salt air, icy conditions, and sandy environments, and for different wind-generator configurations. The company says its brushes are approved by most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the industry.

Performance Benefits

SGL Carbon cites high efficiency that can reduce maintenance costs, long service life, and proven performance with different types of slip rings. Its designs are intended to help prevent common problems such as uneven current distribution, voltage spikes, loss of contact, arcing, and ring wear.

Contact

For technical inquiries, email electrical-carbon@sglcarbon.com.