Wind Power Fundamentals

Wind Power in History …

 Brief History – Early Systems
Harvesting wind power isn’t exactly a new
idea – sailing ships, wind-mills, wind-pumps

1st Wind Energy Systems

– Ancient Civilization in the Near East / Persia
– Vertical-Axis Wind-Mill: sails connected to a vertical
shaft connected to a grinding stone for milling

Wind in the Middle Ages

– Post Mill Introduced in Northern Europe
– Horizontal-Axis Wind-Mill: sails connected to a
horizontal shaft on a tower encasing gears and axles
for translating horizontal into rotational motion

Wind in 19th century US

– Wind-rose horizontal-axis water-pumping wind-mills
found throughout rural America
 Brief History - Rise of Wind Powered Electricity

1888: Charles Brush builds first large-size wind

electricity generation turbine (17 m diameter
wind rose configuration, 12 kW generator)

1890s: Lewis Electric Company of New York

sells generators to retro-fit onto existing wind
mills

1920s-1950s: Propeller-type 2 & 3-blade

horizontal-axis wind electricity conversion
systems (WECS)

1940s – 1960s: Rural Electrification in US and

Europe leads to decline in WECS use
 Brief History – Modern Era
Key attributes of this period:
• Scale increase
• Commercialization
• Competitiveness
• Grid integration

Catalyst for progress: OPEC Crisis (1970s)

• Economics
• Energy independence
• Environmental benefits

Turbine Standardization:
3-blade Upwind
Horizontal-Axis
on a monopole tower
 Origin of Wind
v
Wind – Atmospheric air in
motion

Energy source
Solar radiation differentially absorbed by
earth surface converted through
convective processes due to temperature v
differences to air motion

Spatial Scales
Planetary scale: global circulation
Synoptic scale: weather systems
Meso scale: local topographic or thermally
induced circulations
Micro scale: urban topography
Source for Graphic: NASA / GSFC
Fundamentals of Wind Power …
Wind Power Fundamentals …
 Efficiency in Extracting Wind Power
Betz Limit & Power Coefficient:
• Power Coefficient, Cp, is the ratio of power extracted by the turbine
to the total contained in the wind resource Cp = PT/PW
• Turbine power output
PT = ½ * ρ * A * v 3 * Cp

• The Betz Limit is the maximal possible Cp = 16/27

• 59% efficiency is the BEST a conventional wind turbine can do in
extracting power from the wind
 Power Curve of Wind Turbine
Capacity Factor (CF):
• The fraction of the year the turbine generator is operating at
rated (peak) power
Capacity Factor = Average Output / Peak Output ≈ 30%

• CF is based on both the characteristics of the turbine and the

site characteristics (typically 0.3 or above for a good site)

Power Curve of 1500 kW Turbine Wind Frequency Distribution

0.12

0.1

0.08

0.06

0.04

Nameplate 0.02

Capacity 0

18-19
10-11
11-12
12-13
13-14
14-15
15-16
16-17
17-18

19-20
9-10
7-8
<1
1-2
2-3
3-4
4-5
5-6
6-7

8-9 windspeed(m/s)
Lift and Drag Forces
Wind Power Technology …
 Wind Turbine Types
Horizontal-Axis – HAWT
• Single to many blades - 2, 3 most efficient
• Upwind, downwind facing
• Solidity / Aspect Ratio – speed and torque
• Shrouded / Ducted – Diffuser Augmented
Wind Turbine (DAWT)

Vertical-Axis – VAWT
• Darrieus / Egg-Beater (lift force driven)
• Savonius (drag force driven)

Photos courtesy of Steve Connors, MITEI

Wind Turbine Subsystems
In HAWT, the wind energy is extracted by means of a
horizontal rotor, upwind of the tower, with three blades that
can be pitched to control the rotational speed of a linked
shaft.
The three-bladed rotor proliferates and typically has a separate front
bearing, with low speed shaft connected to a gearbox that provides an
output speed suitable for the most popular four-pole or two-pole
generators.

In a VAWT, the shaft is mounted on a vertical axis,

perpendicular to the ground. VAWTs are always aligned with
the wind.
Comparative study of
HAWT and VAWT
Number of blades
• The single bladed design is the most structurally efficient for
the rotor blade
➢ However, Needs a counterweight to balance the rotor statically,
efficiency is reduced and complex dynamics is required for a blade
hinge to relieve loads.

• Aerodynamic efficiency increases with the increase of the

number of blades but diminishes return
➢ Increasing number of blades from one to two yields a 6% increase in
aerodynamic efficiency, while two to three yields only an additional
3% efficiency.

• The decisive factor in eliminating one and two bladed wind

turbine from the commercial market has been the visual
impact

• Three blades give a good design compromise:

➢ Not too much air disturbance for the following blade
➢ A reasonable amount of energy gathered from the airflow
 Power Control

Wind turbines are designed to extract maximum energy from wind

➢ wind turbine is not designed to consider the power output at strong wind

To avoid the damage to wind turbine during strong wind, Part of the
excess energy of the wind is has to be wasted

1. Pitch Control:
If the power output of the turbine is too high, the controlling system
sends the signal to the blade pitch mechanism that immediately turns
the rotor slightly out of wind. Conversely, whenever the wind force
becomes low, the rotor gets back to its original position
2. Stall Control:
Stall-regulated wind turbine has a speed & torque regulation built in
the aerodynamic design of the rotor. The moment the wind speed
becomes too high, turbulence is created on the side of the rotor blade
which is not facing the strong wind. The stall prevents the lifting force
of the rotor blade from acting on the rotor
Questions ?