Wind Energy Collectors

Wind Energy
Wind is a form of solar energy. Winds are caused by the
uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the irregularities
of the earth's surface and rotation of the earth. Wind flow
patterns are modified by the earth's terrain, bodies of water,
and vegetative cover. This wind flow, or motion energy, when
"harvested" by modern wind turbines, can be used to
generate electricity. The machine which converts the kinetic
energy of the wind into mechanical / electrical energy is called
as wind turbine.

Wind Turbine
Wind turbines, like aircraft propeller blades, turn in the
moving air and power an electric generator that supplies an
electric current. Simply stated, a wind turbine is the opposite of
a fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind
turbines use wind to make electricity. The wind turns the
blades, which spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and
makes electricity.

Parts of wind turbine

The wind turbine consists of various parts and these are
described below,
The nacelle contains the key components of the wind
turbine, including the gearbox, and the electrical
generator.
The tower of the wind turbine carries the nacelle and the
rotor. Generally, it is an advantage to have a high tower,
since wind speeds increase farther away from the ground.
The rotor blades capture wind energy and transfer its
power to the rotor hub.
The generator converts the mechanical energy of the
rotating shaft to electrical energy
The gearbox increases the rotational speed of the shaft for
the generator.

Figure 1 Parts of wind turbine

Types of Wind turbine

There are mainly two types of wind turbine: Horizontal axis
wind turbine (HAWT) and Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT).
These are classified based on the axis of rotation in the rotor
shafts. A horizontal axis machine has its blades rotating on an
axis parallel to the ground. A vertical axis machine has its
blades rotating on an axis perpendicular to the ground. There
are a number of available designs for both and each type has
certain advantages and disadvantages. However, compared
with the horizontal axis type, very few vertical axis machines
are available commercially.

Figure 2 Types of wind turbine

Horizontal-Axis HAWT
Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) have the main rotor
shaft and electrical generator at the top of a tower, and must
be pointed into the wind.
Tower produces turbulence behind it, hence the turbine
must be fixed upwind of the flow
Downwind turbines are built because they eliminate the
need for a mechanism to keep the turbine in line with upwind
Turbines used in wind farms for commercial production of
electric power are usually three-bladed and pointed into the
wind by computer-controlled motors.
All turbines are equipped with protective features to avoid
damage at high wind speeds, by feathering the blades into the
wind which ceases their rotation, supplemented by brakes.

Vertical-Axis VAWT
Vertical-axis wind turbines (or VAWTs) have the main rotor
shaft arranged vertically.
One advantage of this arrangement is that the turbine
does not need to be pointed into the wind to be effective, which
is an advantage on a site where the wind direction is highly
variable.

It is also an advantage when the turbine is integrated into

a building because it is inherently less steerable.
The key disadvantages include
Relatively low rotational speed with the
consequential higher torque
Higher cost of the drive train, the inherently
lower power coefficient
High dynamic loading on the blade
Pulsating torque generated by some drive trains
Difficulty in modelling of wind flow and analysis
Darrieus wind turbine have good efficiency, but produce
large torque ripple and cyclical stress on the tower
Savonius wind turbines are drag-type devices with two (or
more) scoops that are used in anemometers, Flettner
vents (commonly seen on bus and van roofs), and in some
high-reliability low-efficiency power turbines. They are
always self-starting if there are at least three scoops.
Twisted Savonius is a modified savonius, with long helical
scoops to provide smooth torque. This is often used as a
rooftop windturbine and has even been adapted for ships
Giromill wind turbines are subtype of Darrieus turbine with
straight, as opposed to curved, blades. The cycloturbine
variety has variable pitch to reduce the torque pulsation
and is self-starting

Theory of Wind energy

The principles concerned with converting the potential
energy of fluids into useful power relies on three basic
fundamentals:
Conservation of mass
Conservation of momentum
Conservation of energy
Wind power depends on
Amount of air (Volume)
Speed of air (velocity)

 Mass of air (density)

The wind power is calculated by the following general
equation
Kinetic energy of the wind

1
KE= mv 2
2

Then the power per unit KE is given by

1
P= mv 2
2

The mass flow rate of the wind is

dm
=Av
dt

Thus the power is given by

1
3
P= Av
2

Betz Limit and Power Coefficient

Power Coefficient, Cp, is the ratio of power extracted by
P

T
the turbine to the total contained in the wind resource C p = P

Turbine power output is given by

1
3
PT = Av c p
2

Betz Limit is the maximal possible

Cp=

16
27

i.e. 59 %

efficiency is the best a conventional wind turbine can extract

power from the wind.

Figure 3 variation of betz limit vs v2/v1

Relationship between wind speed and rotor speed

The tip speed ratio is of vital importance in the design of
wind turbine generators. If the rotor of the wind turbine turns
too slowly, most of the wind will pass undisturbed through the
gap between the rotor blades. Conversely if the rotor turns
quickly the blurring blades will appear like a solid wall to the
wind. Therefore, wind turbines are designed with optimal tip
speed ratios to extract as much power out of the wind as
possible.
The optimum tip speed ratio depends on the number of
blades in the wind turbine rotor. The fewer the number of
blades. The faster the wind turbine rotor needs to turn to
extract maximum power from the wind. A two bladed rotor has
an optimum tip speed of around 6, a three bladed rotor around
5 and a four blade rotor around 3.

Figure 4 Tip speed ratio vs Cp

Wind Power Density

A quantitative measure of the wind energy available at
any location is called the Wind Power Density (WPD). It is a
calculation of the mean annual power available per square
meter of swept area of a turbine, and is tabulated for different
heights above ground. Calculation of wind power density
includes the effect of wind velocity and air density
Table 1 Wind power density for 10m and 50m
Wind
Power
Class*

10 m (33 ft)
Wind Power
Speed(b) m/s
2
Density (W/m )
(mph)

50 m (164 ft)
Wind Power
Speed(b) m/s
2
Density (W/m )
(mph)

0
100

0
4.4 (9.8)

0
200

0
5.6 (12.5)

150

5.1 (11.5)

300

6.4 (14.3)

200

5.6 (12.5)

400

7.0 (15.7)

250

6.0 (13.4)

500

7.5 (16.8)

300

6.4 (14.3)

600

8.0 (17.9)

400

7.0 (15.7)

800

8.8 (19.7)

1000

9.4 (21.1)

2000

11.9 (26.6)

2
3
4
5
6
7

The larger the WPD calculation, the higher it is rated by class.

Classes range from Class 1 (200 watts per square meter or less
at 50 m altitude) to Class 7 (800 to 2000 watts per square m).
Commercial wind farms generally are sited in Class 3 or higher
areas. Wind turbines are classified by the wind speed they are
designed for, from class I to class IV, with A or B referring to the
turbulence.

Table 2 Classification based on speed and turbulence

Class

Avg Wind Speed (m/s)

Turbulence

IA

10

18%

IB

10

16%

IIA

8.5

18%

IIB

8.5

16%

IIIA

7.5

18%

IIIB

7.5

16%

IVA

18%

IVB

16%