Wind Turbine

• A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy

from the wind, also called wind energy, into
mechanical energy; a process known as wind power.
• If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity,
the device may be called wind turbine
• Daytime air flow from sea to land
• Nighttime air flow from land to sea
Wind Energy – Present Scenario

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• India has a cumulative installed wind power capacity of 46.4 GW by May
2024 (4th largest in the world) after China, US and Germany
• The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) says that the world passed the 1 TW
mark for total installed wind power capacity.
• The GWEC expects the world to reach 2 TW before 2030, but they say that the
current rate of growth is not enough to meet the tripling target.
 WIND POWER - What is it?
• Wind is the air motion and it derives energy from solar radiation
• All renewable energy (except tidal and geothermal power),
ultimately comes from the sun
• The earth receives 1.74 x 1017 watts of power (per hour) from the sun
• About 1 or 2 percent of this energy is converted to wind energy
(which is about 50-100 times more than the energy converted to
biomass by all plants on earth
• Differential heating of the earth’s surface
and atmosphere induces vertical and horizontal
air currents that are affected by the earth’s
rotation and contours of the land  WIND.
~ e.g.: Land Sea Breeze Cycle
• Winds are influenced by the ground
surface at altitudes up to 100 meters.
• Wind is slowed by the surface
roughness and obstacles.
• When dealing with wind energy, we are
concerned with surface winds.
• A wind turbine obtains its power input
by converting the force of the wind into
a torque (turning force) acting on the
rotor blades.

https://youtu.be/qSWm_nprfqE
•The kinetic energy of a moving body is proportional to its
mass (or weight). The kinetic energy in the wind thus
depends on the density of the air, i.e. its mass per unit of
volume.
•In other words, the "heavier" the air, the more energy is
received by the turbine.
•at 15° Celsius air weighs about 1.225 kg per cubic meter, but
the density decreases slightly with increasing humidity.
•The amount of energy which the wind transfers to the rotor
depends on the density of the air, the rotor area, and the
wind speed.
 The rotor area determines how much energy a wind turbine is able to
harvest from the wind.
A typical 600 kW wind turbine has a rotor diameter of 43-44 meters, i.e. a
rotor area of some 1,500 square meters. Since the rotor area increases with
the square of the rotor diameter, a turbine which is twice as large will receive
22 = 2 x 2 = four times as much energy.

 To be considered a good location for

wind energy, an area needs to have
average annual wind speeds of at least 12
miles per hour.
 View of wind power station.
P  Power
ρ  Air Density (kg/m3)
P = 0.5 X ρ X A X V3
A  Blade Area -turbine (m2)
V  Wind velocity (m/s)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DILJJwsFl3w
A vertical axis Twisted
 TYPES of WINDMILL
• horizontal axis and vertical axis. The majority of wind turbines have a
horizontal axis:
• Horizontal-axis turbines are similar to propeller airplane engines. Horizontal-axis
turbines have blades like airplane propellers, and they commonly have three
blades.

sizes and weight.

regarding the wind access and direction
efficiency.
ecological impact.
maintenance .
 Wind Energy - Technology
• Major Components of Wind Turbine

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 How does a Wind Turbine Work?
•Anemometer: Measures the wind speed and transmits wind speed data to the controller.
•Blades: Most turbines have either two or three blades. Wind blowing over the blades causes the blades to
"lift" and rotate.
•Brake: A disc brake, which can be applied mechanically, electrically, or hydraulically to stop the rotor in
emergencies.
•Controller: The controller starts up the machine at wind speeds of about 8 to 16 miles per hour (mph) and
shuts off the machine at about 55 mph. Turbines do not operate at wind speeds above about 55 mph because
they might be damaged by the high winds.
•Gear box: Gears connect the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and increase the rotational speeds from
about 30 to 60 rotations per minute (rpm) to about 1000 to 1800 rpm, the rotational speed required by most
generators to produce electricity. The gear box is a costly (and heavy) part of the wind turbine and engineers
are exploring "direct-drive" generators that operate at lower rotational speeds and don't need gear boxes.
•Generator: Usually an off-the-shelf induction generator that produces 60-cycle AC electricity. High-speed
shaft: Drives the generator. Low-speed shaft: The rotor turns the low-speed shaft at about 30 to 60 rotations
per minute.
•Nacelle: The nacelle sits atop the tower and contains the gear box, low- and high-speed shafts, generator,
controller, and brake. Some nacelles are large enough for a helicopter to land on.
•Pitch: Blades are turned, or pitched, out of the wind to control the rotor speed and keep the rotor from
turning in winds that are too high or too low to produce electricity.
•Rotor: The blades and the hub together are called the rotor.
•Tower: Towers are made from tubular steel (shown here), concrete, or steel lattice. Because wind speed
increases with height, taller towers enable turbines to capture more energy and generate more electricity.
•Wind direction: This is an "upwind" turbine, so-called because it operates facing into the wind. Other
turbines are designed to run "downwind," facing away from the wind.
•Wind vane: Measures wind direction and communicates with the yaw drive to orient the turbine properly
with respect to the wind.
• wind turbine consists of two or three blades fitted to a
rotor. The rotor is connected to a main shaft that spins a
generator which produces electricity.
Wind Turbines: Number of Blades

 Most common design is the three-bladed turbine. The most important reason is
the stability of the turbine. A rotor with an odd number of rotor blades (and at least
three blades) can be considered to be similar to a disc when calculating the dynamic
properties of the machine.
 A rotor with an even number of blades will give stability problems for a machine
with a stiff structure. The reason is that at the very moment when the uppermost
blade bends backwards, because it gets the maximum power from the wind, the
lowermost blade passes into the wind shade in front of the tower.