WIND ENERGY

Contents
• Origin of Winds
• Nature of Winds
• Siting of Wind Turbine
• Applications of Wind Power
• Wind Turbine Aerodynamics
• Types and their construction
• Wind Energy Conversion System
• Wind-Diesel Hybrid system
• System Integration
• Storage
• Environmental Aspects
• Wind Energy Program in India
 ORIGIN OF WIND
• Global (or Planetary Winds)
– Differential heating of earth at equatorial and Polar regions,
Spinning of earth axis
– Hadley circulation (Coriolis Force) and Rossby circulation
• Local Winds
– Differential heating of land and water due to solar radiation
– Differential heating of sloped on the hillsides
• Factors affecting the Distribution
– Mountain masses
– Surface roughness or friction
– Downdraught and precipitation
– Narrow mountain gaps
 NATURE OF WINDS
• It depends on climate and physical geometry of the region,
surface condition, etc,.
• Gusts – rapid fluctuations due to turbulence caused by
mechanical mixing of lower layers of atmosphere.
• Based on the wind-speed (Beaufort Scale), it can be calm,
light, moderate, fresh, strong, gale, strong gale and hurricane.
 Wind Data
• Anemometer (wind speed) and Wind vane (Direction
indicator)
– Oldest anemometer
– Cup anemometer
– Wind speed by pressure on flat plate
– Hot-wire anemometer
– Sonic effect anemometer
• Wind speed increases with height
• Wind speed is fluctuating with time
• Turbulence is spread over a broad range of frequencies
(Measured above 10 m always)
 Sample Measurement of Wind data
• Wind rose
(usually measure above 10 m)
Accuracy based on application
 Variation of Wind Speed
• Height
– Wind Shear
– Gradient height ( above 2000 m)
– Planetary boundary
• Surface Layer
(up to 100m)
• Ekman Layer

• Time
– 5 m/s to 25 m/s
– Continuity of supply for over 70 to 80 percent of the time
 WIND TURBINE SITING

• Factors to be considered:
– No obstruction in upwind direction for 3 km
– Wide and open view
– Hill slopes
– Island in lake or sea
– Mountain gap
– Near to power grip
– Ease of Installation location
– Earlier results of existing comparison
 Application of Wind Turbine
• Mechanical:
– Wind pumps
– Heating
– Sea Transport
• Off-Grid Electrical Power Source
– Machine with low power (W to 1 kW)
– More powerful turbines (50 kW)
– Intermediate power range (100 to 250 kW)
– Aero-generators at the hill
• Grid Connected Electrical Power Source
– Wind farms (kW to few MW)
…..
 WIND TURBINE TYPES
• There are two major types of wind turbine based on the axis of
rotation:
– Horizontal (when it is parallel to the air stream)
– Vertical (when it is perpendicular to the air stream)
• The features of HAWT estimated at wind speed of 12 m/s and
Cp = 30 % is shown below
…..
 HAWT Components
• The main components are of
– Turbine Blades
– Hub
– nacelle
– Yaw Control Mechanism
– Tower
• Turbine Blades
– Wood / Glass Fiber / Epoxy
– Perturbations
– Twisted blades to prevent stall
– 100 m size of rotor for MW range
– Propeller – type (two/three blade rotor – but rpm is less as
that of propeller)
…..
 Hub and Nacelle
• Hub
– Central portion connecting the rotor wheel with blades
connected to it and provide pitch angle control.
• Nacelle
– Housing - Contains attachment to rotor, rotor brakes, gear
box, generator and Electrical switch gear & control.
– Generated electrical power is conducted to ground terminal
via cable.
 Yaw Control and Tower
• Yaw Control Mechanism:
– Moving the nacelle towards the direction of wind flow for
maximum output
• Tower
– Length is slightly higher than rotor diameter for medium
and large sized turbines but it much larger for small sized
turbines.
– Tubular or lattice with concrete or steel tower.
– Careful design is based upon frequency.
 Types of Rotors in HAWT
• Depends upon:
– Number of blades
– Wind Speed
– Nature of Application
• High Speed Rotors
– Single Blade (Low-power Applications)
– Two or Three Blade (Large HAWTs)
– Sailwing Rotor
– Chalk Multiblade rotor
• Low Speed Rotors (Water Lifting Application)
– Americal Multibladed Rotor
– Dutch-type Rotor
…..
 Teetering of Rotor
• Applicable in case of One or Two Blades
• Axial Force on blade at upper position due to increase in wind
with height is compensated through teetering of rotor.
• It makes the rotor to lean backwards to accommodate the extra
force by providing see-saw motion.
• Loads on Rotor Blade at the root is reduced by 40%
• It is not needed for a Three or more blade rotors.
 Upwind and Downwind Machines
• Upwind
– Rotor in front of Tower to the wind direction
– High Power Rating Machine
– Eliminates Tower Shadow with Low noise, Low Blade Fatigue
and Smoother Power Output.
• Downwind
– Rotor at the back of Tower to the wind direction
– Low Power Rating (Free Yaw system) and Blades deflect away
from the tower
– Drawback - Wind Shadow and Rotor Harmonics
 Yaw Control System
• Adjusting the rotor along the vertical axis to face the wind.
• It could be of Yaw Active and Yaw Fixed.
• Passive (Tail vane) and Active (power steering)
 Pitch Control System
• To control the rotor blade from its root connected to the hub.
• Hydraulic Jack is provided for pitch control for Optimal
Performance.
• 20% length of the blade is provided for pitch control and
remaining part of blade is fixed closer to the root in modern
systems.
 VAWT
• It has the following advantages:
– Eliminates need of Yaw control
– Simple in design and ease of installation
– Inspection and maintenance is less, thus reducing the
overall cost.
• The main components are of:
– Tower (or Rotor Shaft)
– Blades
– Support Structure (provided at the ground to support
weight)
• Gearbox, Generator, brakes, Electrical switchgear and
controls
…..
 Tower and Blades
• Tower or Rotor Shaft
– Hollow vertical Shaft with top and bottom bearings
– A very strong tower is not required
– Height of the tower is about 100m for large turbine
• Blades
– Two or three thin curved blades
– Troposkien Profile
(Reduces Bending stress caused by Centrifugal)
– Diameter of Rotor is less than tower.
– Eg. Darrieus type has a height of 94 m with
diameter of 65 m and chord of 2.4 m.
 Types of Rotor in VAWT
• Cup-type rotor
– Three or Four cup motors attached symmetrically to vertical shaft.
– Drag on Concave in more than the Convex
– Cannot be used as a power source but as a measuring device
• Savanious rotor
– Two half cylinders in opposite directions
– Low speed and efficiency with High Starting Torque
– Pumping and Low power Applications
• Musgrove rotor
– H-shaped rotor where the blades have fixed pitch hinged to a
horizontal cross arm.
– Produces controlled power output
• Evans rotor
– Also called gryomill, with straight blades along the horizontal axis
fixed to vertical
– Pitch can be varied to regulate the power output.
 …..
• Darrieus rotor
– Its power output is high than that of S-rotor
– Not self Starting and can also cause Fatigue due to aerodynamic
and Centrifugal force
– Pitch cannot be varied and hence the output power cannot be
controlled for increasing rotor frequency with wind speed.
– Output is always limited from its maximum possible value.
…..
 Lift and Drag Type Machines
• Ratio of 30:1 for lift and drag force respectively.
• Power extraction is of 3:1 for a same area of Lift and Drag
respectively.
Characteristics of Rotors
Comparison
 …..
• Advantage of VAWT
– No yaw control mechanism
– Less costly with gearing and generators at the ground level
• Disadvantage of VAWT:
– Fatigue from natural resonances
– Unwanted power periodicities
– Requires Guy rope which retards offshore site location
– Noisier
– Wind speed depends on height and hence HAWT captures more
power than VAWT for same height
– Research has to be done in a larger way for VAWT
 Speed control Strategy

• It can be classified as:

– No speed Control at all
– Yaw and tilt control
– Pitch Control
– Stall control
 Wind Turbine Operation
• Low Speed Region (zero to Cut-in speed)
– Operation is not efficient
• Maximum Power-coefficient Region
– Rotor speed varied with wind speed to provide constant tip-
speed ratio, defining the Maximum Power Coefficient
– Pitch control is used to reach the maximum power output point
for turbine
• Furling Speed Region (Cut-out Speed and above)
– Beyond a certain limit above 25 m/s, the rotor is shut down and
power generation is stopped to protect blades
…..
 …..
• Constant Power Region
– During wind speed above 12 m/s, the rotor speed is limited for a
upper value based on the design of system components.
– Here, Power coefficient is lower than CPMAX.
– Pitch regulated to maintain constant speed.
– Stall regulated for constant pitch systems with twisted and thick
blade for automatic speed control.
– Stall regulation can be controlled to about 25 m diameter of rotor
alone.
 Wind Energy Conversion Systems
• It converts wind to electrical energy.
• Could be of Grid connected or Autonomous
• Gears, Generator (DC or Synchronous or Induction), Interface,
Control system and Grid
 Wind Energy Storage
• Intermittency
• Compressor instead of Generator
• Mechanology (wind energy storage systems)
 Environmental Aspects
• Indirect Energy Use and Emissions
• Bird Life
• Noise
• Visual Impact
• Telecommunication Interference
• Safety
• Effects on Ecosystems
 Wind Energy Program in India
• 1983 – 1984
• 45,000 MW for 1 % land availability in potential areas
• 216 sites with wind-energy densities of 200 W/m2 at 6.93 m/s
at height above 50 m.
• A wind diesel hybrid system in West Bengal
 Wind – Diesel Hybrid System
• Continuous Diesel Unit Operation
• Intermittent Diesel Unit Operation
 Text Book
• B.H.Khan, ‘Non Conventional Energy Resource’ – The
McGraw – Hill Second edition
QUESTIONS