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Augsburg, 18 March 2003. The world’s largest wind wheel hub, with a weight of 56 tons and a diameter of four metres, has now been manufactured in Augsburg. The order had come from Pfleiderer Wind Energy GmbH, Neumarkt, and was executed in the foundry of the large-bore engine manufacturer MAN B&W Diesel AG. The oversized product will carry the three blades of a wind power plant in Bremerhaven at a height of more than 100 metres. Being a prototype for future offshore applications, the plant has a capacity of 5 Megawatt - enough to supply an average small town with electricity.

Pfleiderer Wind Energy offshore wind power plants are designed in multibrid technologyâ: The integrated construction comprises rotor bearing, gearbox and generator in one casing. Compared to a design with a separate installation of the above-mentioned components on a platform, multibrid technology is extremely compact and has, therefore, a comparatively light weight. An example: The tower head mass of previously known machinery exceeds 500 tons, whereas plants built with the multibrid concept are about half this weight.

"We are very proud that we were entrusted with the casting of this gigantic hub. This proves the high quality and precision of our casting products” says Rolf Vinck, General Department Manager of MAN B&W Diesel AG’s foundry. The company produces approximately 200 wind wheel hubs per year, usually weighing 13 tons and having a diameter of three metres. At the moment, one wind wheel hub leaves the Augsburg foundry per day.

For more than 100 years, the foundry has been one of the most important facilities of the MAN B&W Diesel Group. In addition to casts for Diesel engines as well as printing presses and highly stressed wind wheel hub castings, the Augsburg location also produces complicated gearbox casings, large gas compressor casings and machine tool beds for machining centres. High-quality cast iron varieties are used as material for products within a weight range of over 100 tons per piece. Having sold 25,000 tons of products, MAN B&W’s Augsburg foundry is one of the three largest hand-moulding foundries in Germany.

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