Award-Winning Innovation Advances Renewable Energy

Achieving a net-zero future requires significant changes in how the world produces and consumes energy. Every step of every industrial process must be reimagined to do more with less and thereby create a more sustainable future — for communities and for business.

Sustainability is at the core of customer-centric Timken product innovation. The company’s R&D and innovation mindset saves energy and improves efficiency throughout the value chain, from manufacturing processes and materials to product performance and longevity. Timken technology leaders Doug Smith and Ryan Evans explain how the company’s award-winning engineering advances the field of renewable energy.

Market-driven innovation

Since 1899, Timken has been innovating for customers in ways that solve the world’s most urgent engineering challenges and build the future of industry. Its commitment to strength in research and development (R&D) began in the 1920s when engineers worked in prototype and test labs embedded within the company’s manufacturing operations. Today, more than 140 Timken scientists, researchers and engineers use world-class laboratories to conduct award-winning, customer-driven R&D across a wide range of disciplines, from theoretical science to practical product testing.

It’s all about creating value to the world. For Timken, that happens at the intersection of opportunity and capability.

“Our technical solutions are driven by market trends that set new demands for mechanical power transmission and industrial motion,” said Doug Smith, vice president of technology. “In renewable energy, we design for applications that haven’t existed until very recently. Each iteration must be more efficient and sustainable than the last. We apply what we know and what we learn to make the biggest impact possible for customers and the environment.”

“Our technical solutions are driven by market trends that set new demands for mechanical power transmission and industrial motion.”

Doug Smith
Vice President, Technology

That impact is getting noticed. Timken has been recognized as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies 2024 by Fast Company and one of America’s Most Innovative Companies in 2024 and 2023 by Fortune. Both awards prioritize product and process innovation that make real-world contributions to society. Timken earned both awards by demonstrating how its R&D expertise elevates efficiency and sustainability.

Product and process advancements for wind

Perched atop a wind turbine’s tower is a nacelle that contains components that help the blades turn continuously in the wind and generate clean electrical power. One of the most important is the mainshaft bearing, which bears the tremendous thrust and load of the turning blades and rotor.

As turbines have grown larger, bearings have, too. This presents significant challenges for designing efficient and long-wearing bearings that, at up to four meters (13 feet) in diameter, are among the largest ever made.

Timken engineers developed a solution that employs two ultra-large bearings, separated by some distance along the mainshaft, to effectively share the load. In addition to improving a turbine’s operational efficiency, the solution is designed to support that turbine for its entire service life. Reducing the need for replacement bearings also reduces the need for materials and energy to manufacture them.

According to Ryan Evans, director of R&D for the company’s bearing portfolio, the product design is only one element of making wind energy more sustainable. Timken innovated a more sustainable heat treatment process for ultra-large bore bearings that uses electricity and is only “on” while the bearing’s raceways are being hardened. This prevents the need to maintain hot furnaces 24/7 and only treats the critical surfaces of the parts as appropriate. This process innovation uses far less energy and drastically reduces emissions compared to heat treatment that uses traditional hydrocarbon burning furnaces.

“We have vast knowledge in metallurgy, materials and manufacturing processes, yet we’re always stretching and exploring parts of those disciplines that we don’t understand today,” Evans said. “Those are the discoveries that help us address big-picture issues like preserving the environment through clever and energy efficient manufacturing.”

Timken also developed a custom steel alloy – called TMS-25 – to ensure the components can withstand the demands of both bearing production and wind-turbine operation. The alloy is sourced from recycled steel where possible for additional sustainability gains.

Industrial motion innovation for solar

On the solar front, Timken has emerged as a leader in precision motion control solutions for advanced tracker systems that point toward the sun all day, every day, to capture the energy for conversion to electricity.

Timken subsidiary Cone Drive innovates high-precision drives that equip many of the world’s largest utility-scale solar power plants in the U.S., United Arab Emirates, South Africa and China.

The company’s drives experts most recently customized solutions for the second-largest photovoltaic (PV) solar tracking system project in Australia. Cone Drive engineers worked with the project’s solar tracker manufacturer to develop multi-point slewing drives that can stand up to excessive vibration caused by high winds.

This is particularly crucial for the solar farm which is currently being constructed in an extremely windy mountain region in New South Wales. The slewing drives expertly manage shear, bending and torsional stresses caused by wind, preventing structural damage and premature equipment failure.

“Sustainability was a theme for Timken R&D before it became such a societal priority, and it will continue to be,” Evans said. “We are a mature company with mature technical capabilities, and that strong footing gives us a solid base from which to tackle new challenges. As a global technology leader, our innovation investments today will help our customers and world succeed tomorrow.”

From harnessing the power of the ocean to the electrification of vehicles and aircraft, Timken leads in designing sustainable bearing and industrial motion solutions that help preserve the world’s natural resources.

Last Updated: 2024/08/24

Published: 2024/07/18