EE6801 - Electric Energy Generation, Utilization and Conservation

Wind Energy Unit - 5

Staff-in-charge: Dr.K.RAJKUMAR

Q. 1
With the help of block diagram, describe the functions of various components of a WECS.
(10) (Apr/May 2017)
Describe the various components of a WECS and the power generated from WECS. (16)
(Nov/Dec 2018)
Describe the functions of various blocks of a WECS with the help of block diagram. (16)
(Nov/Dec 2017)

Answer:
Wind energy, extracted by blades, rotates the shaft which, by using the gear and coupling

Figure 1: Basic block diagram of WECS.

mechanism, operates the generator housed inside a nacelle. The main components of WECS
are shown in block diagram given in Figure 1.
1. Aeroturbine: It converts the wind energy available in the wind to the rotational
mechanical energy. For proper operation of horizontal axis wind machines, pitch and
yaw controls help the aeroturbine for effective energy extraction. A mechanical interface
consisting of a step up gear and a suitable coupling transmits the harvested mechanical
energy to the electrical generator. The output of the generator is connected to the load
or utility grid. The aeroturbine is embodied with wind turbine rotor, wind mill head,
transmission and control, and supporting structure.
2. Rotors: Rotors are mainly of two types: (i) Horizontal axis rotor, and (ii) Vertical
axis rotor. One advantage of vertical axis machines is that they operate in all wind
directions and thus need no yaw adjustment. The rotor is only one of the impor-
tant components. For an effective utilization, all the components need to be properly
designed and matched with the rest of the components.
3. Blades: Wind turbine blades need to be lightweight and possess adequate strength
and hence require to be fabricated with aircraft industry techniques. The blades are
made of glass fibre reinforced polyster with a suitable structural geometrical shape to
create lift as the air flows over them.
4. Nacelle: It houses the generator, the gear box hydraulic system and the yawing mech-
anism. Nacelle is placed at the top of the tower and is linked with the rotor.
5. Power transmission system: Mechanical power generated by rotor blades is trans-
mitted to the generator through a two-stage gear box. From the gear box, the trans-
mission shaft rotates the generator with a built-in friction clutch. The gear box is
provided to increase the generator speed to 1500 rpm.

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 6. Generator: Generally the large wind turbine generators (WTGs), used with grid-
connected systems, have induction generators. They use reactive power from grids and
feed the generated power to boost the grid supply. Medium capacity WTGs use syn-
chronous generators installed to electrify villages, and provide industrial power supply
to remote places. Small capacity WTGs use permanent magnet dc generators which
supply power to microwave stations and illuminating lighthouses.
7. Yaw control: Yawing is done by two yawing motors, which mesh with a big-toothed
wheel mounted on top of the tower. Yaw control continuously tracks and keeps the
rotor axis in the wind direction. During high speed wind, i.e., more than the cut-out
speed, the machine is stopped by turning the rotor axis at right angles to the wind
direction.
8. Brakes: Braking of wind energy generators(WEGs) is done by full feathering. An
emergency STOP activates the hydraulic disc brakes fitted to the high-speed shaft of
the gear box.
9. Controllers: WEGs are monitored and controlled by a microprocessor-based con-
trol unit. A controller monitors the parameters in the nacelle besides controlling the
operation of the pitch system. Variations in the blade position are performed by a
hydraulic system, which also delivers pressure to the brake system. The various section
of controller for diffent functions are,
(a) Orientation of the rotor in to the wind (azimuth of yaw)
(b) Start-up and cut-in of the equipment
(c) Power control of the rotor by varying the pitch of the blades
(d) Generator output monitoring - status, data computation and storage
(e) Shutdown and cut-out owing to malfunction or very high winds
(f) Protection of generator, the utility accepting the power and the prime mover
(g) Auxiliary and/or emergency power, and
(h) Maintenance mode.
The main components of control section are,
(a) Sensor : Mechanical, electrical or pneumatic.
(b) Decision elements : Relays, logic modules, analog circuits, a microprocessor, a
fluidics, mechanical units etc.,
(c) Actuators : Hydraulic, electric, or pneumatic.
10. Tower: Modern wind turbine generators are installed on tubular towers. Large tur-
bines use lattice towers designed to withstand gravity loads and wind loads. The height
of the tower is decided for obtaining the designed value of wind speed and dimensions
of the rotor (the higher the turbine capacity the larger the rotor). Four types of towers
used in WECS are, (i) the reinforced concrete tower, (ii) the pole tower, (iii) the built
up shell-tube tower, and (iv) the truss tower.

Q. 2
Give some important factors that are considered for site selection of WECS. (6) (Apr/-
May 2017)

Answer:
The main considerations for selecting a site for wind generator are as follows:
1. High annual mean wind speed: A basic requirement for a successful use of a
windmill or farm is an adequate supply of wind and good wind speeds. The wind
power is proportional to the cubic power of the wind speed. For better utilization of
WECS, the annual wind speed may be from 6 to 30 m/s.

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 2. No onstruction: There should not be any high structure to obstruct wind for a
distance of 3 km to the windmill.
3. Open plain: The site should be the open plain such as open sea shoreline where
strong winds prevail.
4. Height or Altitude of the site: The wind speed increases with height, which can
be obtained when the wind mill is located on a hill or a ridge with gentle slope.
5. Near lake or ocean: Differential heating of water and land generates wind of
sufficient speeds.
6. Topography: Topography such as mountain gap helps to channelize and speed up
winds.
7. Favourable land cost: It helps in restriction or reducing the cost of project.
8. Neareness to load centre: It reduces the cost of trasmission of the generated power.
9. Nearness to road or rail link: It helps in installation of windmill.
10. Availability of wind rose: It helps in designing of windmill as wind data of the site
can be determined.

Q. 3
Derive the expression for power developed due to wind. (6)

Answer:
The wind has kinetic energy on account of its motion. This kinetic energy can be given by
the following equation:
1
KE = P0 = × ṁV02 (1)
2
where, ṁ is the mass of air passing through an area A per unit time and V0 is the speed of
free wind.
The mass of wind can be given as,
ṁ = ρAV0 (2)
where, ρ is the density of air. From equations (1) and (2), we have
1
P0 = (ρAV0 )V02 (3)
2
1
= ρAV03 (4)
2
P0 1 3
or, = ρV (5)
A 2 0
The above relation indicates that the power available in wind per unit area is proportional
to the cubic power of its speed.
Maximum theoretical efficiency ηmax (also called the power coefficient Cp ) is the ratio of
maximum output power to total power available in the wind, i.e.,
Pmax
Power Cofficient, Cp = = 0.593 (6)
Ptotal
The factor 0.593 is known as the Bitz limit (after the name of the engineer who first derived
this relationship).

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 Q. 4
With the help of neat diagrams explain in detail about the construction and the working
principle of different vertical axis wind turbines. (16) (Apr/May 2017)
Explain the construction and operation of VAWT with its advantages and disadvantages.
(16) (Apr/May 2018)
Explain the construction and operation of VAWT with its advantages and disadvantages.
(16) (Nov/Dec 2017)

Answer:
Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) has the axis of rotation of its rotor perpendicular to the
wind stream. Vertical axis wind turbine is advantageous as,
ˆ It accepts wind from any direction, thereby eliminating the necessity if any yae control
system, and
ˆ it can have its gearbox and generator system (nacelle) at the groind level, thereby
eliminating the necessity of mounting the heavy nacelle (with gear box and generator)
at the top of the tower.
These features of VAWT also help in the simpler design and installation of the wind trubine,
the easier inspection and maintenance of the wind turbine and reducing the overall cost of
the wind turbine.
A VAWT (Darrieus) with all its components is shown in Figure 2. The components and
subsystems include tower blades and support structure.

Figure 2: Vertical axis wind turbine

Tower (Rotor Shaft):

The tower consists of a hallow vertical shaft which can rotate about its vertical axis
between its bearings at top and bottom. It is provided with a support structure at the
bottom and at the upper end, it is supported by guy ropes. The height of the tower is about
100 m.
Blades:
The wind turbine has two or three blades which are thin and curve shaped similar to
an eggbeater. The blades which are curved such a way that minimum bending stresses are
produced on rotation due to the centrifugal forces. The blades are designed in such a way
that they offer aerofoil type cross section to wind stream. The height of blade is kept 94 m,
diameter about 65 m and chord length about 2.4 m.

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Support Structure:
It is provided with blades, gearbox and generator to support the weight of the tower.
Various types of VAWT:
The VAWTs can have various types of rotors which include Cup type rotor, Savonious
rotor, Darrieus rotor, Musgrove rotor and Evans rotor as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Various rotors of VAWT, (a) Cup type rotor, (b) Savonius rotor, (c) Darrieus rotor, (d)
Masgrove (H-shaped) rotor, (e) Evans rotor (gryromill).

The simplest of all rotors is cup type rotor, which consists of three or four cup type
structures attached symmetrically to a vertical shaft. It works on the principle that drag
force on a large concave surface is more than that on a convex surface of the cup when wind
stream strikes these surfaces, and so the rotor consisting of cuos starts rotating. However
such rotors cannot extract enough energy from winds and therefore are not used for power
generation. These devices are mainly used for wind speed measuring instruments such as
the cup anemometer.
The Savonius rotor (S-rotor) is fromed with two half cylinders attached to a vertical
axis, but facing in opposite directions. S-rotor can produce high starting torque at low wind
speed. It has also low effieiceny of convertions of wind energy. As it can extract power ever
from low-speed winds, it can operate and deliver power throughout the day. Hence, such
rotor is used for applications where low power is required, such as water pumping.
Darries rotor consists of two or three curved blades attached to a rotor shaft similar to
an eggbeater. It has good power coefficient and is used for large power generation. It also
has large tip speed ratio, thereby developing large bending stresses in the blades due to
centrifugal forces formed. The main drawback of this rotor is that it is not self starting due
to lower starting torque developed by it. It has to be run generally by using its electrical
generation as motor. The blades also have fixed pitch which cannot be changed. This results
in unmanageable output at high wind speeds.
Masgrove (H-Shaped) rotor has fixed pitch on blades attached to rotor shaft, but the
blades are foldable to control power. The Evans rotor has blades which are hinged on a
vertical rotor shaft and the blade pitch is varied cyclically during rotation to regulate the
power output. It is a self starting rotor.
Advantages of VAWT:
1. Easy maintenance for ground mounted generator and gearbox

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 2. Receive wind from any direction (no yaw control required), and
3. Simple blade design and low cost of fabrication.
Disadvantages of VAWT:
1. Not self starting, thus, require generator to run in motor mode at start
2. Lower efficiency (the blades lose energy as they turn out of the wind),
3. Difficulty in controlling blade over-speed, and
4. Oscillatory component in the aerodynamic torque is high.

Q. 5
Illustrate the basic theory of wind turbine blade aerodynamics. (16) (Nov/Dec 2018)

Answer:
Aerodynamics deals with the movement of solid bodies through the air. In wind turbines,
aerodynamics provides a method to explain the relative motion between airfoil and air.
Airfoil is the cross-section of the wind turbine blade. When the wind passes over the surface
of the rotor blade, it automatically passes over the longer or upper side of the blade, creating
a low pressure area above the airfoil as shown in Figure 4(a).
The pressure difference between the top and the bottom surfaces results in a force called
the aerodynamic lift that causes the airfoil to rise. As the blades can only move in a plane
with the hub as their centre, the lift force causes rotation about the hub [Figure 4 (b)]. The
turbine thus extracts energy from the wind stream by converting the wind’s linear kinetic
energy into rotational motion. In addition to the lift force, a drag force perpendicular to
the lift force also acts on the blade which impedes rotor rotation. The prime objective in
wind turbine design is the desired lift-to-drag ratio of the blade (airfoil structure). The basic
principles of lift and drag forces are also explained here later.

Figure 4: (a) Aerodynamic lift force on blade cross-section of wind turbine, and (b) the basic
operating principle of wind turbine aerodynamic lift.

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 When air flows over solid bodies, several physical phenomena are noticed such as drag
force acting on objects like trees and electric towers, the lift force developed by airplane
wings, the lift force experienced by dust particles in a wind storm and the blade motion
developed by a turbine. Either the fluid moves over a stationary body or a body moves
through a standstill fluid; aerodynamically both activities are the same. The approach is to
study the relative motion between the fluid and the body.
a. Drag:
It is the resistance which a body experiences when a fluid moves over it. Flood wa-
ter washes away animals, vehicles and buildings. Wind storm and hurricane knocks down
transmission towers, trees, sweeps away catamaran and ships. These are a few undesirable
examples of drag forces. The force that a flowing fluid exerts on a body in the direction of
flow is called ‘drag force’. Drag may bring an undesirable effect of friction, such as burning
of space vehicles on entering into the earth’s atmosphere. Reduction of drag is the basic
engineering approach, associated with the reduction in fuel consumption in automobiles, air-
craft and submarines. However, in certain engineering activities the drag produces a useful
effect. A meteor from outer space burns due to friction with the earth’s atmosphere, saving
the inhabitants on earth from catastrophic impact. Friction acts to help us as a ‘life saver’
in brakes of automobiles. Similarly, the drag force is useful in safe landing with a parachute.

Figure 5: Relative magnitudes of lift and drag forces on a blunt object and a streamlined airfoil.

b. Lift:
When a body is immersed in a standstill fluid, only the normal pressure force is exerted
on it. A flowing fluid in addition exerts tangential shear forces on the surface. Both these
forces have two components, one is drag in the flow direction, the other is perpendicular to
the fluid flow called ‘lift’. It causes the body to move in the upward direction. The relative
magnitudes of drag and lift forces depend completely on the shape of the object. Streamlined
objects experience a smaller drag force than that experienced by blunt objects. Generation
of lift always creates a certain amount of drag force. Airfoils of a wind turbine are especially
shaped to produce lift force on coming in contact with the moving air. It is achieved by
fabricating the top surface of the airfoil as curved and the bottom surface nearly flat. Air
flowing over the airfoil travels a longer distance to reach the tipend of airfoil, in contrast
to air flowing under the foil (Figure 5). It creates a pressure difference that generates an
upward force which tends to lift the airfoil causing rotation of the wind turbine rotor. Good
airfoils can have lift 30 times greater than drag.
c. Pitch:
The blades of a rotor are curved so that they can deflect the wind to create lift. The
created lift force causes the rotor to rotate. To generate the maximum amount of lift, the

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blades are to be set at an appropriate angle to the wind direction, which is called pitch. The
tips of the blades move faster than other points near the axis. Hence, pitch angle (γ) varies
along the length of the blade. The pitch angle large all the way along the blade, it has to
be twisted. For rotor rotating fast as in two or three bladed windmills, the blades are to be
given smaller pitch. Certain rotors are provided a mechanism to control the pitch depending
upon the wind conditions. The effect of blade pitch on performance coefficient and tip speed
ratio characteristic is as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Effect of pitch angle on performance coefficient.

d. Solidity:
It is defined as the ratio of the projected area of the rotor blades on the rotor plane to the
swept area of the rotor. The greater the solidity of a rotor due to the presence of multiple
blades, the slower it needs to intercept the wind with the help of rotation. The wind mills
with low solidity such as two or three bladed rotors have to run rapidly to intercept the wind
and to avoid any loss of wind energy through the large gaps existing between the blades.
e. Tip speed ratio (λ):
Faster rotating wind mills have tip speed ratios of more than 1, while slower rotating
windmills have tip speed ratios of less than 1. Rotors rotating with the help of drag force
have lesser tip speed ratios (tip speed is less than wind speeds). Each rotor has a certain
optimum tip speed ratio at which it can give maximum output.

Q. 6
With the help of neat diagrams explain in detail about the construction and the working
principle of horizontal axis wind turbines. Also list out the advantages and disadvantages
of the same.

Answer:
The constructional details of a three bladed, horizontal axis wind turbine are shown in Figure
7. The components or main subsystems include turbine blades, hub, nacelle, yaw control
mechanism, generator and tower.
a. Turbine blades:
Turbine blades have aerofoil type cross section to extract energy from wind. These
blades are made of high density materials such as wood, glass fibre and epoxy composites.
The blades are twisted from tip to root to maintain pitch angle. Most of wind turbines
have two or three blades similar to the propeller of an old aeroplane, but blades of a wind
turbine rotates very slowly compared to that of an aeroplane. A two bladed rotor give much
smoother power output compared to three bladed rotors. A three bladed rotor generates little
more power output (more than 5%), but additional blade incorporation adds to substatial
additional weight to the wind mill (about 50% extra). A two bladed rotor is also simpler to
be constructed and erected on the ground.

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 Figure 7: Wind turbine (a) Side view of the wind turbine, (b) Front view of the wind turbine.

b. Hub:
The central solid portion of a rotor is called hub. It helps in the attachment of all blades
and the incorporation of pitch anlge control mechanism.
c. Nacelle:
The rotor is attached to nacelle which is mounted at the top of a tower. It houses gear box,
generator, controls, and brakes. Te purpose of gearbox is to regulate the output rotation
from the rotor with the speed of the generator. Electromagnetic brakes are provided for
automatic application of brakes if the wind speed exceeds the designed speed.
d. Yaw Control System:
The yaw control system is provided to adjust the nacelle around the vertical axis so that
rotor blades are always facing the wind stream. In small wind turbine, a tail vane is used as
passive yaw control.
e. Tower:
Tower is provided to support nacelle and rotor. The tower height should be sufficient so
that enough wind speed can be intercepted by the rotor. For medium and large sized wind
turbines, the tower is slightly taller than the rorot diameter, while in small sized wind mills,
the tower is much larger than the rotor diameter. There should not be any obstruction in
the way of windstream in its approach to the rotor. Tower can be made of materials such as
steel or concrete.
f. Electrical systems:
The wind turbines are provided with induction generators to convert mechanical energy
into electrical energy. Induction generation has brushless and rugged construction. It is also
available at economical cost.
Advantages of HAWT:
1. Higher efficiency
2. Ability to turn the blades, and
3. Lower cost-to-power ratio
Disadvantages of HAWT:
1. Generator and gearbox should be mounted on a tower, thus restricting servicing, and
2. More complex design required due to the need for yaw or tail drive.

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 Q. 7
Explain how the wind energy is extracted in wind turbines.

Answer:
Wind turbines extract energy from wind stream by converting the kinetic energy of the
wind to rotational motion required to operate an electric generator. By virtue of the kinetic
energy, the velocity of the flowing wind decreases. It is assumed that the mass of air which
passes through rotor is only affected and remains separate from the air which does not pass
through the rotor. Accordingly, a circular boundary surface is drawn showing the affected
air mass and this boundary is extended upstream as well as downstream as detailed in Figure
8 (a).

Figure 8: (a) Representation of wind flow through turbine, (b) Change in wind speed in traversing
the turbine rotor, (c) Change in pressure in traversing the turbine rotor.

As the free wind (stream) interacts with the turbine rotor, the wind transfers part of
its energy into the rotor and the speed of the wind decreases to a minimum leaving a trail
of disturbed wind called wake [Figure 8 (b)]. The variation in velocity is considered to be
smooth from far upstream to far downstream. However, the fall in static wind pressure is
sharp as depicted in Figure 8 (c).

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 Wind flow is considered incompressible and hence the air stream flow diverges as it passes
through the turbine. Also the mass flow rate of wind is assumed constant at far upstream,
at the rotor and at far downstream. To compute the mathematical relationships, suppose:
Pa - Atmospheric wind pressure
P0 - Pressure on upstream of wind turbine
P1 - Pressure on downstream of wind turbine
Va - Atmospheric wind velocity
V0 - Velocity of wind upstream of wind turbine
Vd - Velocity of wind downstream of wind turbine before the wind front reforms and regains
the atmospheric level
V - Velocity of wind at blades
A - Area of blades
ṁ - Mass flow rate of wind
ρ - Air density
The kinetic energy of wind stream passing through the turbine rotor is,
1
KE = ṁV 2 (7)
2
and ṁ = ρAV (8)
1
Hence, KE = ρAV 3 (9)
2
The force on the disc of the rotor can be expressed as,
F = (P0 − P1 )A (10)
Force on the rotor can be expressed as change of momentum per unit time from upstream
to downstream winds, i.e
F = ṁ(V0 − V1 ) (11)
Applying the Bernaulli’s equation to upstream and downstream sides,
1 1
P + ρV02 = P0 + ρV 2 (12)
2 2
1 2 1 2
P1 + ρV = P + ρV1 (13)
2 2
Solving Eqs. (12) and (13), we get
1
P0 − P1 = ρ(V02 − V12 ) (14)
2
Equating Eqns. (10) and (11), we get
(P0 − P1 )A = ṁ(V02 − V12 ) = ρAV (V0 − V1 ) (15)
Solving Eqs. (14) and (15), we get
1
ρ(V02 − V12 ) = ρAV (V0 − V1 ) (16)
2
V0 + V1
or, V = (17)
2
In a wind turbine system “Steady Flow Work”, W , is equal to the difference in kinetic energy
between upstream and downstream of the turbine for unit massflow, ṁ= 1. Therefore,
W = (KE)0 − (KE)1 (18)
1
= ρ(V02 − V12 ) (19)
2

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The power output P of wind turbine is the rate of work done, using the mass flow rate
equation.
!
V02 − V12
P = ṁ (20)
2
!
V02 − V12
= ρAV (21)
2
Substituting V from Eqn. (17),
! !
V0 + V1 V02 − V12
P = ρA (22)
2 2
1
= ρA(V0 + V1 )(V02 − V12 ) (23)
4
For maximum turbine output P , differentiate Eqn. (23) with respect to V1 and equate to
zero to obtain
dP
= 3V12 + 2V0 V1 − V02 = 0 (24)
dV1
The above quadratic equation has two solutions, i.e.,
1
V1 = V0 (25)
3
and V1 = V0 (26)
For power generation, V1 < V0 , so we can take V1 = 31 V0 . Therefore,
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Pmax = ρAV03 (27)
27 !
16 1
= ρAV03 (28)
27 2
!
1
= 0.593 ρAV03 (29)
2

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The total power in wind stream is, Ptotal = ρAV03 (30)
2
Therefore, Pmax = 0.593Ptotal (31)
Maximum theoretical efficiency ηmax (also called the power coefficient Cp ) is the ratio of
maximum output power to total power available in the wind, i.e.,
Pmax
Power Cofficient, Cp = = 0.593 (32)
Ptotal
The factor 0.593 is known as the Bitz limit (after the name of the engineer who first derived
this relationship).

You are really capable to win in all your attempts !

All the very best my dear students.
With warm regards,
Dr.K.RAJKUMAR

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