10.

1 Wind Energy
Wind is air circulation in the terrestrial atmosphere as a consequence of irregular
warming by the sun. A wind energy system converts 45% of the kinetic energy of the
wind into electricity. Optimum energy yield is typically obtained by designing the
system such that maximum power is reached at a wind speed about 50% higher than
the yearly average speed.

10.2 Types of Wind Energy Conversion Systems:

10.2.1 Drag Machines

Drag machines are machines where power results from lift (perpendicular to the
relative velocity) and drag (in the direction of the speed of the wind. A simple
example of a drag machine is the cup anemometer; the principle is that the cup whose
concave side is facing the wind is subjected to a greater force than the cup that faces
the wind with its convex side. Drag machines have three major disadvantages:
Average blade speed cannot exceed the wind speed, which results in low rotational
speeds, and their efficiency is low.
10.2 Types of Wind Energy Conversion Systems
The power coefficient of a modern lift-based wind energy conversion system amounts
to about 0.45, for a drag machine this is much lower, due to large forces contrary to
the sense of rotation and thus dissipating energy. Drag machines are only rarely
applied and only for low-power applications. The term solidity means the ratio of the
blade surface to the through-flow area.

10.2.2 High-Speed Horizontal-Axis Turbines

The most common type is an axial turbine with force generation by lift. Wind velocity
at the place of a rotor blade (v) is reduced compared to the free wind velocity (v0).
The wind velocity also deviates somewhat from the original direction (not rendered in
Fig. 10.2). With such machines, blade speed may be much higher than wind speed.

Figure 10.3 represents a front view of a three-blade horizontal-axis wind turbine for
electricity generation. It is one of the biggest machines existing nowadays
(manufacturer Enercon). The rated power is 7.58 MW for locations with a high
average wind speed (10 m/s at hub height).

Most turbines have three rotor blades. At present (2014), machines of the\r 3 MW
order are standard. There is a strong tendency to even larger power. A three-blade
machine turns more steadily than a two-blade one. When arranged in a square matrix,
a wind turbine occupies a 25D2 ground area.
Technical Aspects of Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines for Electricity
Generation
The blades are rigidly fixed to the hub, but have a high bending flexibility. The rotor
shaft is borne in a nacelle housing the gearbox (if present) and the\r generator.
Rotational speed depends on the turbine size and is about 25 rpm with a 1000 kW
turbine and about 18rpm with a 2500 kW turbine. A nacelle is a section of a turbine
with blade pitch control, where sudden changes of wind direction are not reacted to
immediately. Blade torsion typically amounts to about 10°, as the angle of attack is
already very high at the hub.

Because of the lower blade speed near the hub (see velocity triangle in Fig. 10.2), the
relative velocity is lower as well. Pitch control and active stall control are the most
common methods of stopping wind turbines from turning at a fixed rotational speed.
Pitch control involves positioning the rotor blades so that they are aligned with the
wind direction. With stall control, the rotor is stopped in stormy weather by means of
a mechanical brake on the fast shaft of the gearbox. This brake also serves as a
parking brake, i.e. to keep the rotor in standstill with very low wind speeds.
10.2.4 Low-Speed Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines
For pumping, often a type as sketched in Fig. 10.5 is used, which has a working
principle similar to that of the previously discussed type, but the solidity is much
larger. Turbines of this type are applied in locations where electric power supply is
difficult, such as meadows and fields. The rotor is kept in the wind by a vane and may
be turned partially out of the wind at high wind speed .

10.2.5 Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines

Figure 10.6 represents a type with straight prismatic blades and a vertical shaft. A
horizontal section is shown, with one blade in four positions. In the upwind and Fig.
10.6 Vertical-axis wind turbine with straight blades (VAWT)
10.2 Types of Wind Energy Conversion Systems
Vertical-axis wind turbines have as\r\main advantages that they are principally
insensitive to wind direction and that the load may be coupled at ground level. A
major disadvantage is that the turbine is not self-starting when the blade position is
fixed. At least three rotor blades are required to achieve a constant torque. The
centrifugal force causes large bending moments in vertical-axis turbines with straight
blades. The fluctuating lift with vertical-axis wind turbines impairs the efficiency
compared. to that of horizontal-axis turbines, as there is drag, even with low lift.
VAWTs typically run much slower than HAWTs and cannot be limited in power by
simple means. Machines with adjustable blade slope have been proposed, but these
are mechanically vulnerable and only applied for small power.
10.3 Wind Turbine Performance Analysis

10.3.1 Momentum Analysis (Single Streamtube Analysis)

Figure 10.8 sketches the flow through the\r turbine. The simplest flow model
represents the rotor of a horizontal-axis wind turbine as a. uniform distribution of flow
parameters just upstream and just downstream. A streamtube though the rotor
is.considered with flow parameters which only change in the direction perpendicular.
to the disc, so that the flow is rendered one-dimensionally.

10.3 Wind Turbine Performance Analysis

10.3.2 Multiple Streamtube Analysis

Analysis of a wind turbine may be refined by considering a series of streamtubes with
an infinitesimal thickness and by writing the\r momentum and work relations for each
streamtube. At the position of the rotor disc, the axial velocity is represented by (1−
a)v0. There is no tangential velocity component for the rotor at any point in its
rotation. The pressure variation in the streamtube may be assumed symmetrical.
10.3.3 Blade Element Analysis
Figure 10.11 represents the velocity triangle at the rotor, where the tangential
interference factor is b. The axial and. tangential components of the resulting force
exerted by the.\r blade elements may be expressed as functions of lift,

drag. and flow angle ϕ. Knowledge of the.interference factors enables determination

of the power.with a given rotor geometry, i.e. chord c and pitch angle θ.

Figure 10.12 represents the result of the optimisation of a HAWT at lT = 6.45 (shaft
power). The figure also shows the performance of a Darrieus rotor and a Savonius.
There are similar analysis techniques, based on multiple streamtubes, for vertical-axis
wind turbines.
10.4 Adaptation to a Wind Regime
Figure 10.14 sketches a histogram with 1 m/s velocity classes, which is typical for the
wind at 50 m height at a location on the West European seashores. The shape of the
wind energy distribution is completely different from the shape\r of the wind velocity
distribution, since the cubic power of the velocity has a strong impact.

10.4 Adaptation to a Wind Regime 367

Figure 10.15 shows the variation of the power coefficient and the power of a 4.5 MW
turbine as an example. In Fig. 10.14, this velocity is\r determined by balancing the
yield against the cost. Within the 3–6 m/s wind speed range, the turbine turns at the
minimum generator speed (generator speed) and the speed ratio is optimal within the
6 – 10.5m/s range.