Planetary gear units have been an important part of RENK’s product portfolio for many decades. RENK’s planetary gear units transmit outputs of more than 30 MW and torques of more than 4.5 million Nm.

PAR/PBR planetary gear units are primarily used in the drive trains of Kaplan turbines. Their compact construction, even at high transmissions, permits a narrow turbine train with generators of very small sizes. The axial forces resulting from the operation of the turbines are absorbed by an oil-filled tilting pad bearing in the gear unit and conducted into the base via the housing. The individual segments can be inspected and/or replaced without disassembling the gear unit.

All of the components are designed for permanent, wear-free operation with gearing of the highest quality and a correspondingly long service life. The use of the gear units enables the deployment of fast-running generators with a small air gap. Despite the unavoidable gear efficiencies, the efficiency of the power station is improved by approximately 1% through the use of gear units.