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Though there was lot of enthusiasm regarding using a windmill to create electricityearlier on, the interest
died out over a period of time as the windmill was found to be not as efficient as required to
generate electricity steadily. However, nowexperiments have shown that it is possible to generate
electricity efficiently using a windmill, and it is back in contention as a very viable alternative source of
energy.
Windmills have blades that rotate as the wind blows. These windmill blades are connected
to a drive shaft, which is then connected to an electric generator.
When winds enable the blades to rotate, the blades will also automatically turn the drive
shaft. This process will generate the electricity. Current is then sent through the wires
within the device. The energy that the windmill produces will then be distributed to a group
of houses or just a single house. Just one windmill can create 100 kilowatts while a series of
windmills can simultaneously produce more megawatts of energy.
What Is a Windmill
Basically, a windmill is an engine that makes use of the wind as its power source. It is
designed to gather wind energy and convert it into something that can be utilized. Its large,
sail-like blades function to catch the wind. The stronger the wind, the faster the rotation of
the blades.
Types of Windmills
How do windmills work will depend on the type of windmill. There are many types of
windmills and they are classified according to the direction in which their blades rotate.
• The horizontal axis turbine and the vertical axis turbines are the two most common
windmills used.
• The most traditional type of windmill is the horizontal turbine. It is actually similar to
the propeller of an airplane.
• On the other hand, a vertical turbine has blades which resemble an egg beater.
When it comes to windmills, size does matter. The amount of electricity generated will
depend on the size of the windmill. The larger the windmill, the stronger it is and the
greater capacity it has to produce electricity. A small windmill is enough to power one
household.
The term windmill may also refer to its original purpose. In Eastern Asia and Europe,
windmills were primarily used to grind grain, hence the word “mill.” As the blades would
rotate because of the wind, a shaft would then turn a heavy stone grinding wheel to crush
the grain to produce flour. Eventually, the windmill was revolutionized into engines for
pumping water and electricity.
Wind Turbines
Some windmills today are also referred as wind turbines and are situated in wind farms or
positioned off shore. Turbines generate approximately 40 percent of the earth’s total
electricity. Wind turbines also produce zero emissions and are renewable power sources.
However, they are not entirely self-sufficient. Some turbines are steered by steam, or use
fossil fuels or nuclear fission.
A wind turbine is a machine that coverts wind energy into electricity. The generators are connected to
battery charging circuits and finally to large utility grids. In windmills the wind passes through the airfoil
section of the blades and the lift produced generates a torque which is then transformed to electricity in
the generator. It is basically the conversion of the wind energy into the mechanical energy of the turbine
and then finally to electricity. As the output of the wind turbine is dependent on the availability of the winds
it is intermittent and undependable. They can however be used along with conventional generators in a
large grid and can reduce the loads of these generators when they are generating. The other option is to
use storage devices like batteries and then discharge the electricity uniformly.
The main parts of the windmills are as follows:
The working principle is that when the wind passes through the blades, the blades experience a lift due to
the aerodynamic airfoil shape. Due to the lift produced, the blades move and start rotating. The yaw unit
aligns it towards the incoming wind direction when the winds change. The rotation of the blades is
transmitted through the gear train and couplings to the generator that generates electricity. The electricity
is then transmitted through the wires to the storage batteries or directly to the grid.
Wind turbines are used to produce electricity. The machines that generate electricity are the most
conventional type with airfoil propeller employing two to three tapered blades. Electricity can be produced
by rotating an armature in between the poles of a strong magnet. The shaft of the armature of a generator
is connected to the wind turbine by a connecting rod. When the wind rotates the blades of the wind
turbine, the shaft rotates, and this in turn rotates the armature, thereby producing electricity.