Anemometer

Definition:

An anemometer is a device for measuring wind speed, and is a common weather station
instrument. The term is derived from the Greek word anemos, meaning wind. The first
known description of an anemometer was given by Leon Battista Alberti around 1450.[1]
They are also very easy to make as a project. Anemometers can be divided into two classes:
those that measure the wind's speed, and those that measure the wind's pressure; but as
there is a close connection between the pressure and the speed, an anemometer designed
for one will give information about both.

Abstract— Anemometer is a measuring device used to measure the wind speed of an area.
Before design or installing a wind turbine, it is important to determine the average wind
speed of that particular area throughout the year. But it is illogically to purchase
anemometer to measure the wind velocity for a year period. The purpose of this project is to
design and fabricate a small scale of anemometer which will able to give the wind velocity
with an acceptable range of uncertainty. The fabrication of the anemometer is developed
using design methodology and simulation to obtain the optimized design. The designed
anemometer has the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 3.23 % when compared
with Dwyer series 471 thermo-anemometer.

Anemometers can be divided into two classes which measure the wind speed, and measure
the wind pressure. Between wind speed and wind pressure, there is a close connection.
There are several type of anemometer used to measure the wind speed, eg: cup
anemometer [1-2], hot wire anemometer [3-4], thermal anemometer [5-6], sonic
anemometer [7-8] and etc. When narrowed the angle to low wind speed measurement,
there are few types of anemometer design is suitable to be used to obtain an accurate
result. The accuracy of an anemometer is independent of the anemometer design only but
also affected by other factors. The factors that can affect the accuracy of an anemometer
might be the electronic component used in the system, the height of the anemometer
placed while measurement is taken and also the environment conditions [9]. In Malaysia,
wind energy conversion is a serious consideration. The potential for wind energy generation
in Malaysia depends on the availability of the wind resource that varies with location.
Understanding the site-specific nature of wind is a crucial step in planning a wind energy
project. Detailed knowledge of wind on-site is needed to estimate the performance of a
wind energy project. The availability of wind resource varies at different location at Perlis. It
is necessary to first carry out a general assessment of the wind energy potential at Perlis
climate. This step is taken before installing wind turbine to decide a proper wind turbine to
be installed at the desired location in Perlis. In order to carry out general assessment to
study on wind speed at Perlis, an anemometer has to be designed and fabricated to measure
small scale of wind velocity with an acceptable range of uncertainty for short term usage.
This project only considers measuring the wind speed of the range of 2 m/s to 6 m/s at
permanent campus Ulu Pauh of University Malaysia Perlis. The design only consider of non-
continuous measurement. The error occurs for the low wind speed anemometer being set in
order not to exist 20% when compared with the pilot tube or available anemometer.
VI.CONCLUSIONS This paper success presented a development of low speed anemometer in
order to meet the demand of having a easy to fabricate and yet reasonable accuracy range
of anemometer for measuring wind speed velocity with range from 2 m/s to 6 m/s as an
initial step for analyze wind velocity before installing any wind turbine for renewable energy
generation in a small scale application like home-used.

V. ERROR DETERMINATION OF ANEMOMETER SYSTEM After fabrication of whole cup shape

anemometer, the system being tested and measure the wind velocity sample with the help
of wind tunnel which almost similar with the methodology used other researchers [12]. The
reading of wind speed measured by designed anemometer is then compared with the Dwyer
series 471 thermo-anemometer which available in Heat Transfer and Thermodynamics
Laboratory in School of Mechatronic Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis. The results from
both measuring equipments are shown in Table V. From Table V, the designed anemometer
not only able to be fabricate in any workshop but also within an acceptable accuracy ranges
with the operation environment of 2 m/s – 6 m/s which is 3.23 % for mean absolute
percentage error.

Working:
Wind Cups - Many weather sensors employ a three-cup configuration which spins on a
horizontal plane as wind passes through it. The horizontally-arranged three-cup design
works extremely well because it can measure wind speed no matter what direction the
wind it is coming from. Testing has shown over the decades that three-cup designs
generate a higher and more consistent amount of torque, and respond to wind gusts
more quickly than other cup configurations. In addition, aerodynamically-optimized cups
capture the maximum-possible amount of wind force on the open side, propelling the cup
forward, while the streamlined front of the cup slices through air as it goes through its
rotation. The wind cups also offer a dual bearing design to eliminate shaft flex and
wobble, which can compromise accuracy.
As the wind cups spin, they turn a small drive shaft with a magnet positioned at the
bottom end. The magnet passes over an electrical sensor called a reed switch. When
exposed to a magnetic field, two tiny metal reeds are joined together, completing an
electrical circuit. Each time the circuit is completed, an electrical impulse will be sent to a
digital processor. Based on the frequency of the impulse, the processor can calculate
a wind speed reading.
Propellers - The propeller design, such as used for portable handheld anemometers,
operates on a vertical plane, requiring the user to manually face the anemometer in the
direction the wind is coming from. As the propeller spins, it also causes a magnet
(located at the center of the propeller) to rotate. Nearby, a small magnetic field sensor
detects this rotation, passing on electrical impulses to the anemometer’s processor. The
frequency of the impulses is translated to a wind speed reading.
Working:

An anemometer is an instrument that measures wind speed and wind pressure.

Anemometers are important tools for meteorologists, who study weather patterns.
They are also important to the work of physicists, who study the way air moves.

The most common type of anemometer has three or four cups attached
to horizontal arms. The arms are attached to a vertical rod. As the wind blows, the
cups rotate, making the rod spin. The stronger the wind blows, the faster the rod
spins. The anemometer counts the number of rotations, or turns, which is used
to calculate wind speed. Because wind speeds are not consistent—there are gusts
and lulls—wind speed is usually averaged over a short period of time.

A similar type of anemometer counts the revolutions made by windmill-style blades.

The rod of windmill anemometers rotates horizontally.

Other anemometers calculate wind speed in different ways. A hot-wire

anemometer takes advantage of the fact that air cools a heated object when it flows
over it. (That is why a breeze feels refreshing on a hot day.) In a hot-wire
anemometer, an electrically heated, thin wire is placed in the wind. The amount of
power needed to keep the wire hot is used to calculate the wind speed. The higher
the wind speed, the more power is required to keep the wire at a
constant temperature.

Wind speed can also be determined by measuring air pressure. (Air pressure itself is
measured by an instrument called a barometer.) A tube anemometer uses air pressure
to determine the wind pressure, or speed. A tube anemometer measures the air
pressure inside a glass tube that is closed at one end. By comparing the air pressure
inside the tube to the air pressure outside the tube, wind speed can be calculated.

Other anemometers work by measuring the speed of sound waves or by

shining laser beams on tiny particles in the wind and measuring their effect.