Renewable Energy

Tutorial 1

1. Discuss different Conventional Energy Sources and their relative merits and demerits in
the present context of the world.
Fossil fuels
● Coal - End product of natural process of decomposition of vegetable matters buried
in swamps and out of contact with O2 for thousands of years. A wide variety of solid
fuels: Peat, Lignite, bituminous coal & anthracite. The most abundant and burned
fossil fuel. Fastest growing fossil fuel and its large reserves would make it a popular
candidate to meet the energy demand of the global community. Main contributor to
pollution.
● Oil - Estimated that there may be 58 ZJ of oil reserves on Earth. Estimates vary from
a low of 8ZJ, consisting of currently proven and recoverable reserves to a maximum
of 110ZJ, consisting of available, but not necessarily recoverable reserves, and
including optimistic estimates for unconventional sources such as oil sands and oil
shale.
● Natural gas - A mixture of various compounds of C and H2 and small quantities of
non-Hc existing in the gaseous phase, or in solution with oil in natural underground
reservoirs. Widely available fossil fuel with estimated 850 000km^3 in recoverable
reserves and at least that much mores using enhanced methods to release shale gas.
Improvements in technology and wide exploration led to a major increase in
recoverable natural gas reserves as shale fracking methods were developed. At
present usage rates, natural gas could supply most of the world’s energy needs for
between 100and 250 years, depending on increase in consumption over time.
● Water-power - developed by allowing water to fall under the force of gravity. It is
used almost exclusively for electrical power generation and currently provides about
16 percent of the world’s production of electricity. In fact, the generation of water-
power on a large scale became possible only around the beginning of the twentieth
century with the development of electrical power and transmission. Prior to that,
water-power plants were of small capacities, usually less than 100kW. A renewable
source of energy and it does not contribute to global warming. However, many
environmental and social concerns are now being raised whenever large dams are to
be constructed for generating hydroelectric power. Issues on biological species are
threatened with destruction and that this destruction would be harmful to the
ecosystem.
● Nuclear Power - developed by fission reactions in nuclear reactors. Used exclusively
for the generation of electricity. Presently, the reactors in operation are mostly
pressurized water reactors (PWR) or pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWR) which
use only the uranium isotope U235. it does not cause any global warming unlike
fossil fuels. However, fears regarding the hazards and associated accidents which

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 might occur, and the disposal of radioactive waste have slowed down the growth
rate considerably.

2. What is the difference between Energy Resources and Energy Reserves? How can we
extend the reach of Energy Reserves to solve our present energy problems?

Energy resources are estimated portion of the total quantity of energy that is known to exist
or even anticipated to exist that may eventually be successfully exploited and used
irrespective of technical or economic viability at present

Reserves are an estimated portion of the demonstrated resources that is proved to exist
and that can be successfully exploited/recovered economically with the application of
extraction technology available currently or in the foreseeable future. Reserves include only
recoverable energy.

The current energy problems can be solved by several ways: more investigations and survey
can be carried out to find new fields, development of new technologies can help to discover
new fields or even improve the current available methods, policies such as energy
conservation plan to set same level of energy productions.

3. A) How long the present energy reserves are going to serve the world? Write down the
equation to estimate the energy reserve life of commercial sources of energy taking coal
into account. Interpret each term of the equation and discuss them.

B) Take typical values of the parameters and find the life- time of coal reserves of present
world. Apply the equation in cases of oil and gas reserves in the context of Brunei
Darussalam.

As of 2016, Worldometers reported that Brunei Darussalam holds 1,100,000,000 barrels of

proven oil reserves, which account for 0.1% of the world’s total oil reserves. Brunei has 9.20
trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven gas reserves as 2017. Brune produces approximately
127,000 barrels of oil per day (bbl/day) and 243,000 barrels of oil equivalent of nature gas
per day.

The growth rate is obtained from Brunei GDP, in which the growth rate was 3.87% in 2019,
0.05% in 2018, 1.33% in 2017, -2.48% in 2016 and -0.39% in 2015. With this, the average can
be taken form the following years which stands at 2.38%. The duration for which the
reserves will last can then be estimated using the equation in question 3.

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 For oil reserves:

For natural gas :

4. Describe the evolution of energy sources apprehended by mankind.

- At first energy came in the form of food from plants and animals.
- Then came fire energy from wood for cooking and keeping man warm
- Energy for cultivation started by domesticating and training animals
- Energy obtained by harnessing wind for sailing ships and driving windmills
- Energy from the force of falling water then came to turn water wheels
- All these contributions so far are only from renewable sources of energy.
- Then in 1700, came industrial revolution with the discovery of steam engine
requiring new source of energy (coal in large quantities)
- After that IC engine was invented in 1870 using oil and natural gas extensively
- These are fossil fuel sources of energy which is non-renewable in nature
- This made energy portable and flexible.
- this flexibility was enhanced by the discovery of electricity developing central power
plant using fossil fuels and waterpower.
- Then came nuclear energy after the second world war.

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Tutorial 2

1. Explain the concept of crude oil proven reserves. What is meant by P90? What are the
unconventional oil sources? Name and describe them.

Proven reserves are those reserves claimed to have a reasonable certainty (normally at least
90% confidence) of being recoverable under existing economic and political conditions, with
existing technology. Industry specialists refer to this as ‘P90’ that is having a 90% certainty
of being produced. Proven reserves are also known in the industry as ‘1P’.

The unconventional oil sources are oil sands and tool sands
1. Oil sands - oil sands, tar sands, crude bitumen or more technically bituminous sands,
are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. Oil sands are either loose sands or
partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand,
clay, and water, soaked with a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum
technically referred to as bitumen. Natural bitumen deposits are reported in many
countries in particular are found in abundance in Canada. Other large reserves are
located in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Venezuela. The estimated worldwide deposits of
oil are more than 2 trillion barrels; the estimates include deposits that have not been
discovered.
2. Oil shale - is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a
solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can
be produced. It is a substitute for conventional crude oil, however, extracting shale
oil from oil shale is more costly than the production of conventional crude oil both
financially and in terms of its environmental impact. Deposits of oil shale occur
around the world, including major deposits in the United States. A 2016 estimate of
global deposits set the total world resources of oil shale equivalent of 6.05 trillion
barrels (962 billion cubic metres) of oil in place.

Q2. Analyze world’s production rate of natural gas as a source of commercial conventional
energy.

The world’s rate of production of natural gas has been increasing more or less continuously
at a rate of 4% per year. It was estimated by many investigators to be 360,000 billion m3.
The duration of the resources will last be depending upon the category of gas. The
associated gas will be last for approximately the same time as crude oil. However, the
presence of non-gas should help the peak in the production of natural gas may occur around
2025, about 10 years after the peak in oil production.

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Q3. Evaluate hydroelectric power as a potential renewable source of energy. How is this
different from other conventional commercial energy sources? Mention its merits and
demerits.

Hydroelectricity or hydroelectric power is electricity produced from hydropower. In 2015,

hydropower generated 16.6% of the world’s total electricity and 70% of all renewable
electricity. It was expected to increase by about 3% each year for the next 25 years.

Hydropower is produces in 150 countries, with the Asia pacific region generating 33% of
global hydropower in 2013. China is the largest hydroelectricity 16.9% of domestic
electricity use. The cost of hydroelectricity is relatively low, making it a competitive source
of renewable electricity. The hydropower consumes no water, unlike coal or gas plants. The
typical cost of electricity from hydropower larger than 10MW is 3 to 5 US cents per kWh.

With a dam and reservoir, it is also a flexible source of electricity, since the amount
produced by the station can be varied up or down very rapidly to adapt to changing energy
demands. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct
waste. It generally has a considerably lower output level of greenhouse gases than fossil fuel
powered energy plants. It is a clean source of present commercial energy. It does not
contribute to global warming. Large dams have adverse effects on biological species causing
ecological issues. Social issues with the construction of dams on people residing there.

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Q4. Compare and contrast between wind power and tidal power in terms of availability,
source of origin and extraction.

Wind power - the use of wind to provide mechanical power through wind turbines to turn
electric generators for electrical power. It is a popular sustainable, renewable source of
power that has a much smaller impact on the environment compared to burning fossil fuels.
It supplies about 5% of worldwide electrical generation, with global installed wind power
capacity of about 600GW. Winds are caused by the heating of the atmosphere by the sun,
the rotation of the Earth, and the Earth's surface irregularities. For as long as the sun shines
and the wind blows, the energy produced can be harnessed to send power across the grid.

Tidal energy - tides are generated primarily by the gravitational attraction between the
earth and the moon acting upon the oceans of the earth. They arise twice a day. In mid-
ocean, the tidal range is only a metre or less, but in some coastal estuaries, it is much
greater. This is due to the amplification of the tidal wave as it moves up the narrowing
channel of the estuary. In a tidal power station, a barrage with sluice gates is built across an
estuary. At the water level rises twice a day, it is allowed to flow in through the sluice gates.
At high tide, the gates are closed so that the water is impounded in a basin behind the
barrage. Thus, as the tide ebbs and the water level in the open sea falls, a head of water is
created between the water in the basin and the water outside. This head is used to obtain
work by making the trapped water flow through water turbines. The water turbines are
connected to electrical generators so that electrical power is obtained.

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Tutorial 3

1. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of solar energy as a potential source of energy for
present day utilization.

Advantages of solar energy as a source of energy:

- Very big size sources of energy
- Free & available sources of energy in adequate quantities in almost all parts of the
world
- Unlike fossil fuels, environmentally clean

Solar energy as a source of energy

- Solar energy is a very large and inexhaustible source of energy.
- The power from the sun intercepted by the earth is approximately 1.8 x 10 11 MW.
- This is many thousands of times larger than the present consumption rate on the
earth of all commercial sources.
- Solar energy could supply all the present and future energy needs of the world on a
continuing basis.

Problems of solar energy uses

- A dilute source of energy:
1. Energy density hardly exceeds 1 kW/m^2
2. Total radiation over a day is at best 7Kwh/m^2
3. Requires large collector area
4. Require more space, more materials rendering excessive costs
- Variation of availability with time
1. Because of day-night cycle
2. Because of seasonal variation
3. Compelling the necessity of storage for periods when it is not shining
4. Making the system complicated and costly

Advantages: Disadvantages:
- Renewable clean energy sources - Economic, cost
- Reduce electricity bills - Weather dependent
- Diverse applications - Solar energy storage is expensive
- Low maintenance cost - Less density; uses a lot of space
- Technology development - Associated with pollution (to a lesser
extent)

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2. Discuss how solar radiation is measured. Explain the following terms: latitude,
declination, hour angle, zenith angle, altitude, pyranometer.

Most radiation is measured for horizontal surfaces. A typical daily record of the global and
diffuse flux measure on a clear day presents a fairly smooth variation with maximum
occurring around noon on a clear day. An irregular variation with many peaks and valley
may be obtained on a cloudy day.
The diffuse radiation cannot be predicted to a reasonable accuracy. Thus the following
options can be considered:
1. Make measurements over a period of time at the location in question where the
solar equipment is to be installed.
2. Use measurement available for some other location where the climate is known to
be reasonably similar to the location under consideration.
3. Use empirical predictive equations which link the values of solar radiation with other
meteorological parameters whose values are known for the location under
consideration.

Latitude - the angular distance of a place north or south of the earth's equator.
Declination - one of the two angles that locate a point on the celestial sphere in the
equatorial coordinate system, the other being hour angle.
Hour angle - the angular distance on the celestial sphere measured westward along the
celestial equator from the meridian to the hour circle passing through a point
Zenith angle - the angle between the sun's rays and the vertical. It is closely related to the
solar altitude angle
Altitude - the height above sea level of a location
Pyranometer - a type of actinometer used for measuring solar irradiance on a planar surface
and it is designed to measure the solar radiation flux density (W/m2) from the hemisphere
above within a wavelength range 0.3 μm to 3 μm.

4. Explain the four significant dates and its designated names, in which the sun position
changes with season.

- The vernal (spring) equinox occurs on the 21st March and autumnal equinox occurs
on the 21st September in the northern hemisphere
- Summer solstice is on the 21st June sand winter solstice is on the 21st December in
the northern hemisphere (these dates are reversed for the southern hemisphere)
- At the equinox, the day length is the same i.e. 12 hours at all locations on earth.
- The day length increases from the vernal equinox until the summer solstice (longest
day of the year on the June 21st at the northern hemisphere) and then reduces until
it is again 12 hours at the autumnal equinox.

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5. On what day of the year is the solar noon sun at the 45◦N location the highest?
Calculate the altitude angle of the noon sun at this time and location.

6. What is the day length at this location for the day on which this occurs?

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Tutorial 4

Q1. It is proposed to set up a solar chimney power plant in KB with a chimney height of
300m. Calculate the maximum possible conversion efficiency obtainable with the
chimney. Also estimate the efficiency of the plant as a whole and the daily electrical
output in a typical summer month in kWh, if the solar collection area of the greenhouse is
50,000m2.
Given:

Assume that:

daily electrical output=solar radiation × A c × noverall

kWh
¿ 5.48 2 × 50000 m2 ×0.0009576=262 kwh
m

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Q2. Estimate the temperature rise of the water in a 200-litre capacity thermosiphon solar
water-heating system during a typical day of operation.
Also estimate the electricity saved because of that and corresponding reduction in the
monthly electricity bill.

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Q3. Make suitable assumptions and estimate the collector area required for a 50 MWe
line-focusing solar thermal power plant producing electricity for 7 hours daily.

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Tutorial 5

1. Explain the concept of solar cooling with the help of a neat schematic diagram.

- Ammonia vapor leaves the evaporator and enters the absorber, where it dissolves
and reacts with water to form NH3 H20.
- This is an exothermic reaction where heat is released during this process. The
amount of NH3 that can be dissolved in H20 is inversely proportional to the
temperature.
- Therefore, it is necessary to cool the absorber to maintain its temperature as low as
possible, hence, to maximize the amount of NH3 dissolved in water.
- The liquid NH3 + H20 solution, which is rich in NH3, is then pumped to the generator.
- Heat is transferred to the solution from a source solar collector to vaporize some of
the solution.
- The vapor, which is rich in NH3, passes through a rectifier, which separates the water
and returns it to the generator.
- The high pressure pure NH3 vapor then continues its journey through the rest of the
cycle.
- The hot NH3 +H20 solution, which is weak in NH3, then passes through a
regenerator, where it transfers some heat to the rich solution leaving the pum and it
throttled to the absorber pressure.

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2. What do you mean by solar cell? How does a solar cell work for electricity generation?
Describe the principle with a neat sketch.

A solar cell is a sandwich of n-type silicon (blue) and p-type silicon (red). It generates
electricity by using sunlight to make electrons hop across the junction between the different
flavors of silicon:
1. When sunlight shines on the cell, photons (light particles) bombard the upper
surface.
2. The photons (yellow blobs) carry their energy down through the cell.
3. The photons give up their energy to electrons (green blobs) in the lower, p-type
layer.
4. The electrons use this energy to jump across the barrier into the upper, n-type layer
and escape out into the circuit.
5. Flowing around the circuit, the electrons make the lamp light up.

3. How does a solar PV system work? Give a schematic sketch of the system and describe
the same.

- PV cell is composed of a thin wafer consisting of an ultra-thin layer phosphorus-

doped (N-type) silicon on top of a thicker layer of boron-doped (P-type) silicon.
- An electrical field is created near the top surface of the cell where these two
materials are in contact called the P-N junction.

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 - When sunlight strikes the surface of a PV cell, this electrical field provides
momentum and direction to light-stimulated electrons, resulting in a flow of current
when the solar cell is connected to an electrical load.
- PV systems are like any other electrical power generating systems, just that the
equipment used is different than that used for conventional electromechanical
generating systems.
- However, the principle of operation and interfacing with other electrical system
remain the same and are guided by well-established body of electrical codes and
standards.
- Although a PV array produces power when exposed to sunlight, a number of other
components are required to properly conduct, control, convert, distribute, and store
the energy produced by the array.

4. Compare and contrast between different types of PV power systems.

Photovoltaic power systems are generally classified according to their functional and
operational requirements, their component configurations, and how the equipment is
connected to other power sources and electrical loads.

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The two principal classifications are:
1. grid -connected or utility-interactive systems
2. Stand alone systems
Photovoltaic systems can be designed to provide DC or AC power service, and can operate
interconnected with other energy sources and energy storage.
Grid-connected PV systems are designed to operate in parallel with and interconnected with
the electric utility grid. The primary component is PV inverter or power conditioning unit
(PCU). it converts the DC power produced by the PV array into AC power consistent with the
voltage and power quality requirements of the utility grid, and automatically stops supplying
power to the grid when the utility grid is not energized.
A bi-directional interface is made between the system AC output circuits and the electric
utility network, typically at an on-site distribution panel or service entrance. This allows the
AC power produced by the PV system to either supply on-site electrical loads, or to back-
feed the grid when the PV system output is greater than the on-site load demand. At night
and during other periods when the electrical loads are greater than the PV system output,
the balance of power required by the loads is received from the electric utility. This safety
feature is required in all grid-connected PV systems, and ensures that the PV system will not
continue to operate and feed-back into the utility grid when the grid is down for service or
repair.

Stand-alone PV systems are designed to operate independent of the electric utility grid and
are generally designed and sized to supply certain DC or AC electrical loads. These types of
systems may be powered by a PV array only, or may use wind, an engine-generator or utility
power as an auxiliary power source in what is called a PV hybrid system. The simplest type
of stand alone PV system is a direct-coupled system, where the DC output of a PV module or
array is directly connected to DC load

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In many stand-alone PV systems, batteries are used for energy storage.

Stand-alone PV systems are designed to operate independent of the electric utility grid and
are generally designed and sized to supply certain DC or AC electrical loads. These types of
systems may be powered by a PV array only, or may use wind, an engine-generator or utility
power as an auxiliary power sources in what is called a PV hybrid system

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5. A photovoltaic system for supplying drinking water is to be installed in a village in
Temburong district. The water is to be pumped from a bore well, from a depth of 60 m.
The solar cells are made from single crystal silicon and the array consists of 24 modules
having the specifications as follows:
Cell size 12.5 cm x 12.5 cm, number of cells 36, conversion efficiency 12.5%. The inverter
efficiency is 88% and the pump-motor set efficiency is 48%.
Calculate the water discharge rate at noon when the global radiation incident normally on
the cells is 900 W/m2.

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Tutorial 6

1. Explain the concept of wind power generation.

The use of wind to provide mechanical power through wind turbines to turn electric
generators for electrical power. It is a popular sustainable, renewable source of power that
has a much smaller impact on the environment compared to burning fossil fuels. Wind
energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion. Total wind energy flowing through an imaginary
surface with area A during the time t is:

The wind power incident on A (equal to the rotor area of a wind turbine) is:

- Wind power in an open-air stream is thus proportional to the third power of the
wind speed
- The available power increases eightfold when the wind speed doubles
- Wind turbines for grid electric power, therefore, need to be especially efficient at
greater wind speeds

2. Put forward the advantages and challenges of wind power utilization.

Advantages:
- Wind power is cost effective in many regions.
- In others, wind power needs to compete with other energy sources, but global R&D
efforts are working on solutions to reduce the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of
both onshore and offshore wind power.
- Another advantage to wind power is that it is a domestic source of energy,
harnessing a limitless local resource.
- Some viable locations for wind farms, however, are located in remote areas that
would present challenges in construction and electricity transmission logistics.
- Technology breakthroughs such as two-piece blades and modular construction are
helping overcome such challenges.

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 - An additional benefit of wind power is it is a sustainable source of energy, as wind
turbine operation does not directly emit any CO2 or greenhouse gases-helping
countries meeting their emission reduction targets and combating climate change.
- Wind energy is plentiful, readily available, and capturing its power does not deplete
valuable natural resources.
- In fact, an environmental benefit to wind power is its ability to counter the
detrimental effects of climate change.
- The global wind energy outlook projects that by 2030 wind energy will offset 2.5
billion tons of carbon per year.

Challenges:
- Wind power must still compete with conventional generation sources on a cost
basis.
- Even though the cost of wind power has decreased dramatically in the past several
decades, wind projects must be able to compete economically with the lowest-cost
source of electricity, and some locations may not be windy enough to be cost
competitive.
- Good land-based wind sites are often located in remote locations, far from cities
where the electricity is needed.
- Transmission lines must be built to bring the electricity from the wind farm to the
city.
- However, building just a few already-proposed transmission lines could significantly
reduce the costs of expanding wind energy.
- Wind resource development might not be the most profitable use of the land.
- Land suitable for wind turbine installation must compete with alternative uses for
the land, which might be more highly valued than electricity generation.
- Turbines might cause noise and aesthetic pollution.
- Although wind power plants have relatively little impact on the environment
compared to conventional power plants, concern exists over the noise produced by
the turbine blades and visual impacts to the landscape.
- Wind plants can impact local wildlife.
- Birds have been killed by flying into spinning turbine blades.
- Most of these problems have been resolved or greatly reduced through technology
development or by properly siting wind plants.
- Bats have also been killed by turbine blades, and research is ongoing to develop and
improve solutions to reduce the impact of wind turbines on these species.
- Like all energy sources, wind projects can alter the habitat on which they are built,
which may alter the suitability of that habitat for certain species.

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3. Describe the principle of operation of HAWT with a neat sketch, label the major
components and mention their respective functions.

- When the wind blows the turbine’s blades spin clockwise, capturing energy. This
triggers the main shaft of the wind turbine, connected to a gearbox within the
nacelle, to spin. The gearbox sends that wind energy to the generator, converting it
to electricity. Electricity then travels to a transformer, where voltage levels are
adjusted to match the grid.
Blades
- Lifts and rotates when wind is blown over them, causing the rotor to spin.
- Most turbines have their two or three blades.
Brake
- Stop the rotor mechanically, electrically or hydraulically in emergencies.
Controller
- Starts up the machine at wind speeds of about 8 to 16 miles per hour (mph) and
shuts off the machine at about 55 mph. Turbines do not operate at wind speeds
above 55 mph because they may be damaged by the high winds.
Gearbox
- Connects the low-speed shaft to high-speed shaft and increases the rotational
speeds from about 30-60 rotations per minute (rpm) to about 1000- 1800 rpm.
- This is the rotational speed required by most generators to produce electricity.
- The gearbox is a costly and heavy part of the wind turbine and engineers are
exploring “direct-drive” generator that operate at lower rotational speeds and don’t
need gearboxes.
Generator
- Produces 60-cycles AC electricity; it is usually a standard induction generator.
High-speed shaft
- Drive the generator.

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Low-speed shaft
- Turns the low speed shaft at about 30-60 rpm/
Nacelle
- Sits at the top of the tower and contains the gear box, low- and high-speed shafts,
generator, controller and brake.
Pitch
- Turns blades out of the wind to control the rotor speed, and to keep the rotor from
turning in winds that are too high or too low to produce electricity.
Rotor
- Blades and hub together form the rotor.
Tower
- Made from tubular steel, concrete or steel lattice.
- Support the structure of turbine.
Wind vane/ anemometer
- Measures wind direction and communicates with the yaw drive to orient the turbine
properly with respect to the wind.
Yaw drive
- Orient upwind turbines to keep them facing when the direction changes
Yaw motor
- Powers the yaw drive.

4. Compare and contrast between VAWT and HAWT.

Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) working principle:

- HAWT is a wind turbine in which the main rotor shaft is pointed in the direction of
the wind to extract power.

- The rotor receives energy from the wind and produces a torque on a low-speed
shaft.

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 - The low-speed shaft transfers the energy to a gearbox, high-speed shaft, and
generator, which are enclosed in the nacelle protection. The wind turns the rotating
assembly at a leisurely 10 to 20 rpm typically.
- The low-speed shaft connects to the gearbox, which has a set of gears that increase
the output speed of the shaft to approximately 1800 rpm for an output frequency of
60Hz. The shaft from the gearbox is called the hgh speed shaft
- The high speed shaft is then connected to the generator, which converts the
rotational motion to AC voltage.
- This speed is critical if it is used to turn the generator directly because the frequency
of the AC from the generator is related directly to the rate at which it is turned.
- Direct drive wind turbines do not have a gearbox and they usually have a DC
generator rather than an AC generator
- Pitch is the rotational angle of the blades on a wind turbine
- Yaw is the direction the wind turbine blades and nacelle are facing

HAWT disadvantages
- Massive tower construction is required to support the heavy blades, gearbox and
generator
- Components of a horizontal axis wind turbine being lifted into position
- Their height makes them obtrusively visible across large areas, disrupting the
appearance of the landscape and sometimes creating local opposition.
- Downwind variants suffer from fatigue and structural failure caused by turbulence
when a blade passes through the tower’s wind shadow.
- HAWTs require an additional yaw control mechanism to turn the blades toward the
wind
- HAWTs generally require a braking or yawing device in high winds to stop the turbine
from spinning and destroying itself.

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT)

- Vertical axis turbines are rotating according to the vertical axis which is
perpendicular to the earth.
- Even though the horizontal axis turbine got higher efficiency; these turbines are
unable to rotate in wind flow in any direction, but this vertical axis wind turbine is
capable of rotating at any wind speed in any direction.
- There is no yaw controlling required in this turbine.
- However, due to several limitations, these types of wind turbines are not used much
for commercial types of applications widely.
- These vertical axis wind turbines are also mainly classified as the Darrieus Wind
Turbine and Savonius Wind Turbine.
- There are several other types of wind turbines designs used for small scaled
applications.

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 - VAWTs have the main rotor shaft arranged vertically.
- The main advantage of this arrangement is that the wind turbine does not need to
be pointed into the wind.
- This is an advantage on sites where the wind direction is highly variable or has
turbulent winds.
- With a vertical axis, the generator and other primary components can be placed near
the ground, so the tower does not need to support it, also makes maintenance
easier.
- The main drawback of a VAWT generally create drag when rotating into the wind.

5. Name the prominent VAWTs and explain the principle of operation.

The Darrieus type wind turbine:

- It is a type of VAWT used to generate electricity from the energy carried in the wind.
- The turbine consists of a number of curved aerofoil blades mounted on a vertical
rotating shaft or framework.
- The curvature of the blades allows the blade to be stressed only in tension at high
rotational speeds.
- There are several closely related wind turbines that use straight blades.
- This design of wind turbine was patented by georges jean marie darrieus, a french
aeronautical engineer, filing the patent was october 1, 1926.
- There are major difficulties in protecting the darrieus turbine from extreme wind
conditions and in making it self-starting.

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The sovanius wind turbine:
- One of the simplest wind turbine. It is a drag type device, consisting of two or three
scoops.
- On the rotor from above, a two scoops machine would like an “s” shape in cross
section.
- Because of the curvature, the scoops experience less drag when moving against the
wind than when moving with the wind.
- The differential drag causes the savonius turbine to spin.
- Because of the drag type devices, the turbine extract much less wind power than
other similarly sized lift type turbines.
- Sovanius rotor may near the ground, if it has a small mount without an extended
post, making the overal energy extraction less effective due to lower wind speeds at
lower height.

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6. A wind turbine is rotating at 15 rpm under steady winds flowing through the turbine at
a rate of 42,000 kg/s. The tip velocity of the turbine blade is measured to be 250km/h. If
180 kW power is produced by the turbine, determine: (i) the average velocity of the air
and (ii) the conversion efficiency of the turbine. Take the density of air to be 1.31 kg/m3.

cut in speed = 3.5m/s (if less than, no energy generation)

cut out speed = 25m/s (if more than, damage the turbine)

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