Volcano Vista High School

Blowing in the Wind

An exploration into the efficiency of wind turbines

Scott J Nelson
CAD Engineering 2
Professor: Karn Gustafson
Due 11/9/16

Wind turbines have existed for thousands of years, harnessing the power of the
wind to perform actions that humans found repetitive. From pumping water out of the
ground to generating electricity cleanly wind turbines have been in the background of
human history for a long time. The first windmills were used mainly to pump water. They
were typically easy to make and when the wind was right they did their job well. In
todays world humanity is in need of more electricity and is running out of fossil fuels to
burn to obtain it. This has led to many forms of clean energy from solar to hydro to wind.
Wind is a result of the uneven heating of the earths atmosphere by the sun. Thus wind
power is a form of energy that will never conceivable run out. This has led to many
people looking to use wind energy to the upmost efficiency and wind mills have evolved
from primitive wooden structures to sleek futuristic high rising towers that can generate
enough electricity to power whole cities.
The first wind mills were usually only a few meters tall and had blades made of
flat plywood or steel sheeting. Today recent advancements into researching how better
to use wind energy has revealed that although effective, these towers dont tap nearly
as much power as they can. Engineers now know that taller towers create much more
power because wind speeds are much higher and more consistent the higher in the
atmosphere you go. Another advancement we have made is the discovery that flat wide
blades can actually be a detriment to the mills efficiency in high winds. Wind turbine
blades should be long and skinny, shaped somewhat like airplane wings. This allows the
blades to more efficiently harness the wind and turn quicker. Wide blades create a lot of
drag that works against power generation while long skinny blades reduce drag and
continue to turn in both slow and fast winds. Wind turbine blades also have a twist that

makes it easier for wind to push the blades and not just flow around them. These
specialized blades are more difficult to produce however and are consequently more
expensive than their simple flat counterparts. This is why small wind mills tend to use
flat blades as they are more economical, even if they dont generate nearly as much
power.
Ideally wind turbines should have 2-3 blades spaced evenly around the nose of
the mill. Normally these blades are made of either hollow fiberglass, light wood, or
aluminum. Occasionally the blades are also filled with plastic foam. The blades turn
clockwise around a rotor connected to a main shaft. This main shaft spins a generator
to create electricity. The speed at which the wind blows, and how well the blades catch
the wind, determines how fast the generator to output electricity. Tall wind turbines are
assisted in catching wind most effectively by being attached to a swivel. This swivel is
turned by a small electronic device called a controller that measures wind speed and
direction. This turns the windmill in the direction that the wind is blowing and gives it the
maximum chance of turning.
Blades themselves should have an airplane wing like shape to help them create
lift. This aids the blades in moving both up and down around their center point and helps
to push them back down again. The pitch of the blades is another thing that can be
adjusted to more efficiently collect energy. Research has shown that the pitch of the
blades should not exceed 20 degrees and after that point blades will begin to turn more
slowly. The pitch of a windmill is also occasionally called the angle of attack, as it is the
angle at which the blades slice through the air. Although wind mill blades need to turn to
create power it is important to make sure that they dont turn too quickly. If the blades

turn too quickly it is possible that they will overload their generators or at the very least
move too quickly to effectively spin the generator.
Currently there are 17,000 wind turbines in the United States owned by several
energy companies that produce 3.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. This amount of
power is enough to meet the energy needs of about 500,000 homes. The future of wind
energy will likely expand as less reliable sources of energy are depleted as will other
forms of renewable energy. Although currently renewable energy is rather new and
expensive, we can expect that in the coming years it will expand and eventually become
the main form of electricity generation.

Bibliography
By Far the Greatest Number of Blades, However, Are Formed from. "Wind Turbine." How
Wind Turbine Is Made. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.
"How Do Wind Turbines Work?" Department of Energy. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.
"Wind Turbine Blade Design, Flat Blades or Curved Blades." Alternative Energy Tutorials.
N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.