Figure 1.

Structure of a wind turbine

1. Rotor

a. Rotor and rotor blades

With the assistance of the blades, the rotor performs the conversion from wind energy into
mechanical rotary movement.

The three blades provide the most energy conversion while limiting noise and vibration. The
three blades provide more blade surface for converting wind energy into electrical energy than a
two-blade or single-blade wind turbine.

Our horizontal turbine has three blades, and their characteristics are very similar to that of
airplane wings. It is usually made of glass-fibre or carbon-fibre plastic. The rotor’s rotation
followed Bernoulli’s principle: the air passing through the lower side of the blade creates a push,
while the upper side’s produces a pull, which leads to the rotation of the rotor.

b. Hub

The hub is the centre of the rotor which holds and allows the blades to be rotated. The hub
conducts the energy from the blades to the generator. It is linked to the low-speed shaft,
converting the wind energy into rotational energy.

2. Pitch drive

Blades can be rotated to lessen the amount of life if the wind speeds is too large.

3. Nacelle

The nacelle is housing on top of the tower that holds all the electromechanical gear

4. Brake
Brakes are utilized to stop the rotors from rotating if the wind is too violent or the turbine is
under scheduled maintenance

5. Low-speed shaft

Connects to the rotor

6. Gear box

The gear box is located between the rotor and the generator. Because a generator must be
rotated at a speed corresponding to the frequency of the electric network (50 or 60 Hz in most
countries), the gearbox is accountable for magnifying the output energy of the rotor.

7. High-speed shaft

Connects to the generator

8. Generator

The generator is the component that converts the mechanical energy of the rotor, harnessed
from wind to electrical energy. A generator has the same structure as an electric motor.

9. Heat exchanger

Acts as a cooler for the generator

10. Controller

A computer system that can control and tweak the turbine

11. Anemometer

Measures wind speed and passes it along to the controller

12. Wind vane

Detects wind direction and sends it to the controller, which then alters the yaw of the rotor and
nacelle

13. Yaw drive

Keeps the rotor facing into the wind direction

14. Tower

The tower of the wind turbine is responsible for not only carrying the weight of the nacelle and
the blades but also taking in the vast static loads from the aptitude of the wind.

A tower contributes up to 20% of the costs of a turbine, which makes this a one of deciding
factor for the economic viability of the project.

High towers allow turbines to contact better with qualitied winds, and even minor growths in
wind velocity result in a leap in the amount of energy the turbine is able to generate. To put it
another way, the higher the tower, the cheaper and better energies we can obtain.
Nevertheless, increasing the height of the tower would enlarge the upfront cost. In reality, one
extra metre will cost you at least 15,000 USD. Thus, an optimal height for a wind tower must be
calculated individually to benefit both economic and efficiency aspect.
 Figure 2. Wind rose for Quang Ngai at 80 metres height

Figure 1 depicts a wind rose for Quang Ngai at the altitude of 80 metres. In this graph, the
dominant winds are mainly from the south-east direction. Turbines should be installed to access
the strongest prevailing winds. Also, the tower should be high enough for the bottom edge of
the turbine blades to be at least 30 feet above the tallest obstacle within 500 feet. Doing so
guarantees the turbine reaches steady, strong wind and lengthens the life of the turbine by
evading tense air turbulence. And in order to achieve that, we will need to take account into the
topography features of Quang Ngai.

Figure 3. Vietnam topography map

According to the topography map, our windfarm location is all plain area, whose landmass that
generally does not change much in elevation. As a result, a horizontal wind turbine model with
height of 90 metres is selected. The golden rule for a turbine tower is that the height of it is
slightly larger than the diameter of the circle its blades make while spinning. Rotor blades are of
the length of 37.5m.

Figure 4. Wind turbine model

Due to the large size of the turbine, the tower type of turbulent steel is considered. The towers
are conical shaped, with their radius growing towards the base to increase their strength and to
retain resources simultaneously. It is the most commonly used type for a wind turbine.

Figure 5. Wind turbine with turbulent steel tower

15. Foundation
 Figure 6. Soil map of the Mekong Delta (from www.cantho.cool.ne.jp, 2009b)

The figure describes the landscape features of the designated wind farm location. As
geographical condition plays an important role in building a foundation, the first step is generally
to measure the suitability for foundation type. It is clear that all the offshore and nearshore
areas in the Mekong delta area are of saline soil type.

Saline soils are created by different proportions and measures of salts which reach critical
conditions when concentrated in crusts of crystallized chloride that after dissolution produce
severe damages in structures and pavements.

Despite having high firmness and shear strength in natural conditions, saline soils transform
drastically when in contact with water. Furthermore, the salts could harm the structures as a
corrosive agent as well as when used as quarry material for concrete. Amongst the variety of
salts, sulphates are the most destructive.

Thus, the foundation techniques we chose for this project are the Patrick and Henderson
Foundation and a square pad-and-pier foundation. Two concentric corrugated metal pipes form
the inner and the outer of the foundation: between every two pipes, an anchor cage is
positioned and filled with concrete ensure that the concrete of the foundation always stays
compressed. This method provides a smaller material footprint and can be applied to poor soil
area.

Figure 7. Patrick and Henderson Foundation

The process of square pad and pier foundation is described as follow. Concrete is poured into a
circular shaped foundation pad which is hold by a steel cage. The radius and thickness of the pad
are relied on the total weight of the turbine and tower to prevent toppling. To the top size of the
foundation, supporting bolts are fixed into the concrete to connect to the turbulent tower. More
concretes are required for this technique, but this can be mounted in narrow ground.

Figure 8. Square pad and pier foundation

16. Operation

Figure 9. Wind turbine operation

 The wind blows towards the three rotor blades.

 Wind force that is the kinetic energy contained in moving air spins turbine's rotor blades.
 The rotor capturing some of the kinetic energy from the wind and turning the central drive
shaft that supports them. Despite the fast movement of outer edges of the rotor blades, the
central drive shaft they're associated with spins rather slowly.
 Inside the nacelle, the gearbox amplifies the drive shaft’s rotation speed to a speed that
could be used efficiently by the generator (1500rmp for 50Hz and 1800rpm for 60Hz).
 The generator, immediately behind the gearbox, transforms kinetic energy from the high-
speed shaft into electrical energy.
 Anemometers and wind vanes on the back of the nacelle provide measurements of the wind
speed and direction and pass it to the controller.
 Using these measurements, the entire top part of the turbine can be rotated by a yaw
motor, mounted between the nacelle and the tower, so it would meet the incoming wind at
 the best possible angle and gathers the most optimal amount of energy. Brakes are utilized
to stop the rotors from rotating if the wind is too violent or the turbine is under scheduled
maintenance
 The electric current produced by the generator as direct current is conducted through the
interior of the tower to the banks.
 In there, a converter transforms it into alternating current and a step-up transformer raises
the voltage about 50 times higher, so it can be transmitted efficiently a substation nearby
through underground cables.
 Current is sent to the substation through underground cables. At here the voltage is
increased again to feed it into the power grid and transport it to end consumers
 Wind continues blowing past the turbine, but with less speed and energy and more
disordered.
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