Wind Energy

PM
08.12.2020
 Overview

• Introduction
• History of Wind Power
• Wind Physics Basics
• Wind Power Fundamentals
• Technology Overview
 SOLAR ENERGY
Capital
Resource INCOMING
RESOURCE

CO2 + H2O
PHTOSYNTHESIS

WINDS VEGETATION SOLAR

RADIATION
VELOCITY

CHEMICAL ENERGY
THERMAL WAVE
WIND ENERGY CLOUDS
FOSSILIZATION

OCEAN
RAINS

THERMAL
ENERGY

HYDRO ENERGY COAL

FOSSIL FUEL PETROLEUM
NATURAL GAS
 Wind – Atmospheric air in motion

• Wind energy is created when the atmosphere is heated

unevenly by the Sun, some patches of air become
warmer than others. These warm patches of air rise,
other air rushes in to replace them – thus, wind blows.
 Introduction to Wind

• Wind is caused by the energy radiated to the Earth by the Sun

• Nuclear reactions take place inside the sun’s core, where the
temperature is 1 x 107 K
• This produces 4 x 1026 joules of electromagnetic radiation
every second that is radiated into space
• Some of it reaches the earth
• The radiation from the sun heats the Earth's surface
• Heating process creates temperature differences between the
land, water and air.
Wind Energy is the Fastest Growing Energy Source in the World!!
 Why Is Wind Energy So Popular?

• Wind is a clean/free energy source.

• Wind energy can be produced free from foreign
participation.
• Wind Farms are relatively cheap to build because of
government incentives.
 Why Wind Energy?

• Clean, zero emissions

- NOx, SO2, CO, CO2
- Air quality, water quality
- Climate change
• Reduce fossil fuel dependence
- Energy independence
- Domestic energy—national security
• Renewable
- No fuel-price volatility
What Makes Wind
 Process of Wind Creation
• Wind “current of air”
• Hot air rises, it expands, becomes less dense, and is then replaced by
denser, cooler air
• Heated air rises from equator
• Moves north and south in the upper levels of the atmosphere
• Circulates above cooler air
• At roughly 30° latitude Coriolis-Effect stops air.
• The Coriolis-Effect “ the tendency for any moving body on or above the
earth's surface to drift sideways from its course because of the earth's
rotation
• Northern Hemisphere deflection right
• Southern Hemisphere it is to the left
Global Wind Patterns
 Evolution of Wind Turbines
• Wind is a clean, safe, renewable form of energy.
• Although the use of wind power in sailing vessels appeared in
antiquity, the widespread use of wind power for grinding grain and
pumping water was delayed until
– the 7th century in Persia,
– the 12th century in England
– the 15th century in Holland.
• 17th century, Leibniz proposed using windmills and waterwheels
together to pump water from mines in the Harz Mountains.
• Dutch settlers brought Dutch mills to America in the 18th century.
• Wind turbines were used in Denmark in 1890 to generate electric
power.
• Early in the 20th century American farms began to use wind
turbines to drive electricity generators for charging storage
batteries.
 History of Wind Power

• Wind power evolved from the use of simple, light devices

driven by aerodynamic forces to heavier drag devices and
finally to light, more efficient lifts.
• The sailboat is the earliest known use of wind power.
• The first windmills were made to automate the tasks of grain
grinding and water pumping in Persia 500-900AD
 Wind as Electricity

• The first use of a windmill to generate electricity was in Cleveland, Ohio in

1888 by Charles F. Brush.
• In 1891, Dane Poul la Cour made the first aerodynamically (low solidity,
four bladed) designed system.
• By 1920, the la Cour system replaced all previous sail and fan systems.
 Development of Wind Technology

-During the 1920’s modified propellers were used to drive direct current
generators.
-Bulk Power Wind Energy was first made in Russia in 1931 (100kw Balaclava
Wind Generator).
-The largest bulk wind energy producer was the Smith-Putnam Machine
(Installed in Vermont, 1941)
 History of Wind Energy

5000 BC 500-900 AD 1300 AD 1850s Late 1880s

Sailboats used on First windmills First horizontal- Daniel Halladay and Thomas O. Perry
the Nile indicate developed in axis John Burnham build conducted 5,000
the power of wind Persia windmills in Halladay Windmill; wind experiments;
Europe start US Wind starts Aermotor
Engine Company Company

1888 Early 1900s 1941 1979

Charles F. Brush Windmills in CA In VT, Grandpa’s First wind turbine
used windmill to pumped saltwater Knob turbine rated over 1 MW
generate electricity to evaporate ponds supplies power to began operating
in Cleveland, OH town during WWII

1985 1993 2004 2013

CA wind capacity US Wind Power developed Electricity from Wind power provided
exceeded 1,000 MW first commercial variable-speed wind generation over 17% of renewable
wind turbine costs 3 to 4.5 cents energy used in US
per kWh
 Introduction

• A wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the

kinetic energy of wind into mechanical energy.
• If the mechanical energy is used directly by machinery, such as
a pump or grinding stones, the machine is usually called a
windmill.
• If the mechanical energy is instead converted to electricity, the
machine is called a wind generator, wind turbine, wind power
unit (WPU), wind energy converter (WEC), or aero generator.

• Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT)

• Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT)
 Wind Power

• Wind power is a measure of the energy available in the wind.

It is a function of the cube (third power) of the wind speed. If
the wind speed is doubled, power in the wind increases by a
factor of eight . This relationship means that small differences
in wind speed lead to large differences in power.
Wind Power
 Wind Turbine

• A wind turbine extracts energy from moving air by

slowing the wind down, and transferring this energy
into a spinning shaft, which usually turns a generator
to produce electricity. The power in the wind that’s
available for harvest depends on both the wind speed
and the area that’s swept by the turbine blades.
 Modern Wind Turbines
Turbines can be categorized into two classes based on the
orientation of the rotor.
 Wind Turbines

• “Rotary engine in which the kinetic energy of a moving fluid is

converted into mechanical energy by causing a bladed rotor to
rotate”
• Opposite of a fan
– Turbine blades spin from the wind and make energy,
instead of using energy to make wind
– Wind rotates the turbine blades
• Spins a shaft connected to a generator
• The spinning of the shaft in the generator makes
electricity
 Wind Turbines

• Wind turbines, like windmills, are mounted on a tower to

capture the most wind energy
• wind speed varies by height
• The Hub heights of modern wind turbines, which produce 600
to 1,500 kW of electricity, are usually 40 to 80 meters above
ground
 Vertical Axis Turbines

• Although vertical axis wind

turbines have existed for
centuries, they are not as
common as their horizontal
counterparts. The main
reason for this is that they
do not take advantage of
the higher wind speeds at
higher elevations above the
ground as well as horizontal
axis turbines.
 Vertical-Axis Turbines
• Advantages • Disadvantages

o Omni-directional o Rotors generally near ground

- accepts wind from any where wind is poorer
direction o Centrifugal force stresses
o Components can be blades
mounted at ground level o Poor self-starting capabilities
- ease of service o Requires support at top of
- lighter weight towers turbine rotor
o Can theoretically use less o Requires entire rotor to be
materials to capture the removed to replace bearings
same amount of wind o Overall poor performance and
reliability
 Horizontal Axis Turbine
• This is the most common wind
turbine design. In addition to
being parallel to the ground, the
axis of blade rotation is parallel to
the wind flow. Some machines are
designed to operate in an upwind
mode, with the blades upwind of
the tower. In this case, a tail vane
is usually used to keep the blades
facing into the wind. Other
designs operate in a downwind
mode so that the wind passes the
tower before striking the blades.
 Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines

Small (<10 kW) Intermediate(10-250 kW)

oVillage Power
oHomes
oHybrid Systems
oFarms
oDistributed Power
oRemote Applications
(e.g., water pumping,
Telecom sites, ice
making)

Large (250 kW-2+ MW)

oCentral Station Wind Farms
oDistributed Power
oSchools
Parts
• Rotor- The hub and the blades
together are referred to as the
rotor. Wind turns the blades which
turn the drive shaft.
• Shaft- Two different shafts turn the
generator. One is used for low
speeds while another is used in
high speeds.
• Gear Box- Gears connect the high
and low speed shafts and increase
the rotational speeds from about
10-60 rotations per minute to
about 1200-1800 rpm, the
rotational speed required by most
generators to produce power.
• Generator- The generator is what converts the turning motion
of a wind turbine's blades into electricity. Inside this
component, coils of wire are rotated in a magnetic field to
produce electricity. Different generator designs produce
either alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC), and they
are available in a large range of output power ratings. The
generator's rating, or size, is dependent on the length of the
wind turbine's blades because more energy is captured by
longer blades.

• Controller- Turns the blades on at 8-16 mph and shuts them

down around 65 to prevent any high wind damage.

• Tower- Tall tubular metal shaft. The taller the tower, the more
power produced.
 Large Wind Turbines

• Common Utility-Scale Turbines

o 328’ base to blade

o Each blade is 112’
o 200 tons total
o Foundation 20’ deep
o Rated at 1.5-2 megawatts
o Supply about 500 homes
Wind Turbine Components
How a Wind Turbine Operates
Wind Farms
Wind Farms
 Location

Best sites:
•Hilltops
•Open plains
•Mountain passes
•Coasts
•Offshore

•It is best to build a wind farm where wind speed and direction has been studied
for 1-3 years
•Strong and steady winds are needed to produce reliable electricity
•The site should not be prone to bad weathers, hurricanes etc.
Turbulent wind is bad wind
Why do windmills need to be high in the sky??
 Wind Varies Annually
Average annual wind speeds may vary as much as 25% from
year to year

Wind Varies Seasonally

Wind Varies Daily
• Wind varies daily not only because of weather but because
of convective heating
• Winds typically strongest in mid-late afternoon
• Convective heating is less of an influence in winter, when
storms dominate wind patterns
Scale of Wind Turbines
 Modern Small Wind Turbines:
High Tech, High Reliability, Low Maintenance

• Technically Advanced
• Only 2-3 Moving Parts
• Very Low Maintenance 50
10 kW kW
Requirements
• Proven: On-Grid

400 W
900 W
Offshore Wind Farms
 Wildlife & Wind Power
•When siting a wind farm, developers must consider any possible wildlife
impacts.

•Though this was not the case in early wind farm development (1980’s), today
all proposed wind farms must undergo a strict environmental impact
assessment.
Residential Wind Systems and Net Metering
Pros of Wind Power
• Wind power Units are
quickly constructed.
• Wind generators are
much smaller in size
compared other types
electrical generators.
• Small size allows wind
power to be very
versatile.
• Wind power is a great
compliment to a
house with a
preexisting
photovoltaic system.
• Serves as a great
backup system.
• Wind power gives off
no harmful emissions
into the environment.
• It is a renewable resource.
• The more time spent researching makes each new wind
turbine more efficient.
• Mass production of wind turbines drives down costs.
 Downfalls To Wind Energy

• Aesthetics – “Not in my back yard.”

• Inefficient and unreliable
• Hazard to bird migration
 What about the birds?

• Wind Turbines kill very few

birds compared to other
human activities
• Estimates are ~1-2 bird
deaths per turbine per year
• Global warming is the single
biggest threat to wildlife
today
• A recent study in Nature
found that more than 1/3 of
species worldwide will be
extinct by 2050 if global
warming trends continue
Impacts of Wind Power:
Noise

• Modern turbines are

relatively quiet
• Noise can be mitigated
with setback distance
– Utility scale wind turbines
should be far away from
residences
Thank you!