In a coupling of giants recently, the 2.5-megawatt dynamometer at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory blasted 12.6 million inch pounds of torque at Samsung's 185,000-pound wind turbine drive train.

The King Kong of wind turbines battled the Godzilla of dynamometers to a draw.

It was the greatest amount of power ever measured at NREL's dynamometer lab, and the largest full-scale dynamometer test of a wind turbine drive train ever done in the United States.

Samsung officials wanted to learn how well their

They turned to NREL because its dynamometer can simulate worst-case wind conditions 24 hours a day. In a few months of testing, a manufacturer can learn whether its gear boxes, bearings and cog wheels will stand up to real-world conditions.

NREL's 2.5-megawatt dynamometer is outfitted with a powerful 3,550-horsepower electric motor coupled to a three-stage epicyclic gearbox. The motor can produce speeds up to 30 revolutions per minute, simulating everything from soft breezes to backbreaking gales.

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