Renewable Energy Sources

Dr. Dillip Kumar Mohanty

BASIC CONCEPTS
of
WIND ENERGY

2
Introduction

• Wind is essentially the air in motion.

• Wind energy is the kinetic energy associated with movement of
large masses of air.
• The wind energy available at any instant is proportional to the
cubic power of the wind speed.
• Air motion or wind results from uneven heating of atmosphere
by the sun, creating temperature, density and pressure
differences.
• It is estimated that 1% of all solar radiation falling on the face
of the earth is converted into kinetic energy of the atmosphere.
• Thus wind energy is an indirect form of solar energy.
R

• In contrast to solar radiation, wind energy can be available

continuously throughout 24-hour day for much longer periods.
• It is a clean, cheap, and eco-friendly renewable source.
• Wind energy is harnessed as mechanical energy with the help
of wind mill or turbine.
• The mechanical energy obtained can either be used to operate
farm appliances, water pumping, or converted to electric power.
• A generator coupled to wind turbine is known as aero-
generator.
• The global potential in winds for large-scale grid-connected
power generation has been estimated as 12,300 TWh/year
Origin of winds

• The origin of winds may be traced basically to uneven heating

of earth surface due to sun.
• This leads to circulation of widespread winds on global basis,
producing planetary winds or may have a limited influence in a
smaller area to cause local winds.
• The winds can be classifies as
• Global winds
• Local winds
Global (or Planetary) Winds

• Primary force for global winds is developed due to differential

heating of earth at equator and Polar Regions.
• In the tropical regions more heating takes place whereas in the
Polar Regions less heating takes place.
• The earth’s atmosphere has to circulate to transport heat from
tropics towards the poles.
• The air in contact with ocean water is colder than the air in
plain area due to which wind generated from ocean areas move
towards the plain areas.
• Ocean currents are responsible for about 30 % of global heat
transfer.
• On a global scale, these atmospheric currents work as an
immense energy transfer medium.
• Secondly, spinning of earth about its axis produces Coriolis
force, which is responsible for deviation of air currents towards
west.
• Between 30°N and 30°S, heated air at the equator rises and is
replaced by cooler air coming from north and south.
• This is known as Hadley circulation.
• Due to Coriolis force these winds deviate towards west.
• These air currents are also known as trade winds because of
their use in sailing ships for trades in the past.
• Between 30°N (/S) and 70°N (/S) western winds are found
which form a wavelike circulation, transferring cold air
southward and warm air northward known as Rossby
circulation
Local Winds

• Local winds are generated due to uneven heating on land

surface and water bodies due to solar radiation.
• During the day time, solar energy is readily converted to
sensible thermal energy on the land surface and thus quickly
increases its temperature.
• On water bodies, it is partly consumed in evaporating water and
only partly absorbed to cause an increase in temperature.
• The land mass thus becomes hotter than water, which causes
differential heating of air above them.
• As a result, cool and heavier air blow from water towards land.
• At night, the direction of wind is reversed as the land cools
more rapidly than the water. This is mechanism of shore breeze.
Factors Affecting Distribution of Wind Energy on Earth
Surface

• On planetary level, great mountain massifs influence the

circulation of air currents.
• Surface roughness or friction affects the air circulation or
nature of wind.
• Hills, trees, buildings and similar obstructions impair
streamline airflow.
• Turbulence results and the wind velocity in a horizontal
direction get markedly reduced.
• Frictional effect is less on smooth area (sea) than in rough
urban area due to which wind speed is quite high at seashore.
• Wind speed also increases while passing through narrow
mountain gaps where it gets channeled.
NATURE OF WINDS

• The behavior and structure of the wind depends on the general

climate of the region, the physical geometry of the locality, the
surface condition of the terrain around the site and various
other factors.
• Rapid fluctuations in the wind velocity over a wide range of
frequencies and amplitudes, due to turbulence caused by
mechanical mixing of lower layers of atmosphere by surface
roughness are commonly known as gusts.
• The Beaufort scale is a wind speed classification which gives a
description of the effect of the wind.
• Description of wind based on Beaufort scale
Meterological Data of Wind Speed

• All countries have national meteorological services that provide

data regarding wind speed and direction.
• Wind speed is measured by anemometer and wind direction is
measured by wind vane attached to a direction indicator.
• The oldest and simplest anemometer is a swinging plate hung
vertically and hinged along its top edge.
• Wind speed is indicated by the angle of deflection of the plate
with respect to vertical.
• The Cup type anemometer consists of three or four cups
mounted symmetrically about a vertical axis and the speed of
rotation indicates wind speed.
• Wind speed can also be recorded by measuring the wind
pressure on a flat plate.
R

• Hot wire anemometer measures the wind speed by recording

cooling effect of the wind on hot wire. The heat is produced by
passing an electric current through the wire.
• An anemometer can also be based on sonic effect. Sound
travels through still air at a known speed. However, if the air is
moving, the speed decreases or increases accordingly.
• The other techniques include the laser anemometer, the
ultrasonic anemometer and the SODAR Doppler anemometer.
R

• Wind speed increases with height.

• Wind speed fluctuates with time
• The turbulence is spread over a broad range of frequencies

Wind speed recording at three different heights

Wind rose

• According to World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

recommendation, wind speed measurement should be made at
an effective height of 10 m above the ground.
• The mean wind speed is based on different averaging periods
from 10 min to 1 h.
• The wind rose is an elegant method of describing average wind
speed, duration and direction on a single graph.
• It depicts the compass bearing from which the wind comes (all
16 directions) along with average wind speed and duration in a
year.
• The lengths of bars represent the percentage of duration.
R
Wind Speed Variation with Height

• The wind speed is almost zero at earth’s surface and it increases

with increase in height from ground.
• The rate of change of wind speed with height is known as wind
shear.
• The slowly moving lower layers tend to retard the layers above
them resulting change in mean wind speed with height.
• As the shear force decreases with height, the wind speed
increases.
• At a certain height, the shear force becomes zero and wind
speed does not change with time. This height is called gradient
height.
• The gradient height is generally 2000 m above the ground.
R

• Above the gradient height, the wind speed is uniform and not
affected by ground conditions. The atmosphere with uniform
wind speed is known as free atmosphere.
• The air layer from ground to the gradient height is known as
planetary boundary layer.
• The air layer from the height of local obstruction to a height of
about 100m is called the surface layer.
• In the surface layer the variation of shear stress can be
neglected
• The air layer existing between surface layer and gradient height
( 100 to 2000m) is called Ekman layer.
R

z0 is the roughness height of surface

d is the zero plane displacement
R

• In the surface layer, the variation mean wind speed with height
can be given as

where, V is characteristic speed, d is zero plane displacement, its

magnitude is a little less than the height of local obstructions, zo is
roughness length, (zo + d) is the height of local obstructions.
WIND TURBINE SITE SELECTION

• The power available in wind increases rapidly with wind

speed.
• Therefore main consideration for locating a wind power
generation plant is the availability of strong and persistent
wind.
• No tall obstructions for some distance (about 3 km) in the
upwind direction (i.e. the direction of incoming wind) and
lower roughness in the same direction.
• A wide and open view, i.e. open plain, open shoreline or
offshore locations.
• Top of smooth well-rounded hill with gentle slopes (about 1:3
or less) on a flat plain.
• An island in a lake or the sea
R

• A narrow, mountain gap through which wind is channeled.

• The site should be reasonably close to power grid
• The soil conditions must be such that building of foundations of
the turbines and transport of road construction material loaded
on heavy trucks must be feasible
• If there are already wind turbines in the area, their production
results are an excellent guide to local wind conditions.
Power in a Wind Stream

• The mass flow rate of air with density ρ and velocity uo

through an area A is given as ρAuo.
• The Power (Po) available in wind is equal to kinetic energy rate
associated with the mass of moving air.

• This indicates that power available in wind is proportional to

the cube of wind speed.
R

• The air density (ρ) varies in direct proportion with air pressure
and inverse proportion with temperature as.

• For standard atmospheric air

ρ = 1.226 kg/m3 .
Wind Turbine Aerodynamics

• The various forces acting over the rotor blade can be estimated
considering the following factors.
Rotor
• The wind turbine transforms the K.E. of wind into rotational
motion of the rotor.
• The rotor has a number of aerofoil shaped blades attached to a
hub.
• The wind moving over the blade surface generates requisite
force to turn the rotor and consequently extracts energy from
the wind stream.
R

Chord
• It is the width of the blade or distance from one edge (fore) of
the blade to the other.
R

Different velocities:
Wind Velocity (uo)
• It is the velocity of free air in the neighbourhood of wind
turbine where there are no disturbances due to rotation of
turbine.
Incident Wind Velocity (u1)
• It is the velocity at which the wind strikes the blade or the
velocity of air passing through the rotor.
• Incident wind velocity is always slightly less than the free
stream wind velocity.
R

Blade Linear Velocity (v)

• It is the tangential or the linear circumferential velocity of the
blade element due to rotation of blade.
• If ω is the angular velocity of blade and R is the length of
blade, then v = ω × R .
Relative Wind Velocity (vr)
• It is the velocity of air relative to the moving blade element.
• It is the vector sum of incident wind velocity (u1) and the blade
linear velocity (v).
R

Angle of Attack or Angle of Incidence (α)

• It is the angle between center line of the aerofoil blade element
and relative wind velocity (vr).
• The airflow remains attached to the aerofoil for small angle of
attack and is separated for large angle of attack.
Blade Setting Angle or Pitch Angle (γ)
• It is Angle between center line of the aerofoil blade and
direction of linear motion of the blade element.
• Also it is the angle between relative wind velocity vr and
normal to the plane of blade.
• The output of a turbine is greatly influenced by blade pitch
angle.
Force acting on the aerofoil blade

• When an aerofoil is placed in uniform airflow, two forces act

on the aerofoil body.
• The two forces are pressure force normal to the body surface
and tangential force along the body surface.
• The pressure force and the shear force can be combined to the
total force of the wind.
• The component of the total force along the direction of airflow
is known as Drag force.
• The frag force always opposes the relative velocity between the
body and air.
• It is given as,
• CD is drag coefficient and A is the projected area of aerofoil
perpendicular to airflow direction.
R

• The component of total force in the direction perpendicular to

airflow is called the Lift Force.
• This force tries to lift the body.
• The lift force is given by

where CL is the coefficient of Lift.

• The component of total force along the direction of blade axis
is called the Axial Force.
• It does not contribute to the rotation of blade but contributes to
the waste energy which can not be extracted from wind energy.
• The axial force should be as low as possible.
R

• The axial force is given by

• The component of the total force acting tangential to its circular

path of rotation is known as Tangential Force.
• It should be as high as possible since it contributes mainly to
the energy extracted from wind energy.
• The tangential force is given by
R

Solidity
• Solidity is defined as the ratio of the projected area of the rotor
blades on the rotor plane to the swept area of the rotor.
• Thus solidity = nC/πD, where n is the number of blades, C is
average breadth of a blade and D is the diameter of the rotor.
• High solidity rotors use drag force for rotation and hence the
rotors run slower.
• Low solidity rotors use lift force for rotation and hance turn
faster.
R

Tip Speed Ratio

It is defined as the ratio of the speed of the tip of rotor blade to
the speed of on-coming air.
The speed ratio is defined as

For every wind speed, there exists an optimum turbine tip speed
which produces maximum output.
Power Extraction from Wind

• Wind turbine is used to harness useful mechanical power from

wind.
• A smooth laminar flow with no perturbations is considered for
a horizontal axis wind turbine.
• The rotor may be considered as an actuator disk across which
pressure reduces as energy is extracted.
• As mass flow rate of air must be same everywhere within the
stream tube, the speed must decrease as air expands.
• The stream tube model is also known as Betz model of
expanding air stream tube.
R

Betz model of expanding air stream tube

R

• The stream tube area of constant air mass is Ao upstream, which

expands to A1 while passing through rotor and become A2
downstream.
• The wind speed is uo upstream, which reduces to u1 while
passing through the rotor and becomes u2 downstream.
• The air mass flow rate remains same throughout the stream
tube.

• The force or thrust exerted on the rotor blade (F) is equal to the
reduction in momentum per unit time from the air mass.
R

• The force is exerted at a uniform rate when air moves over the
rotor blade with uniform velocity u1.
• The power extracted is equal to the work done by the air stream
in moving a distance of u1 against the force F.
• Hence, the power extracted by the turbine is

• The power extracted from wind is also equal to loss in K.E. per
unit time.
• Thus
R

As the energy extracted is equal to the loss in KE,

Thus substituting for u1, the turbine power becomes

R

The mass flow rate of air is given as

Hence, the turbine power becomes

An interference factor (a) is defined as fractional wind speed

decrease at the turbine.
R

hence,

( a is also known as induction or perturbation factor)

R

The power extracted by turbine is

The wind power is given as

R

Hence the extracted turbine power can be given as,

where, CP is the fraction of available power in the wind that can

be extracted and is known as power coefficient.
CP = 4a(1 – a)2
The power coefficient Cp indicates the fraction of wind power
which can be extracted by the wind turbine.
R
Maximum output power of a Turbine

The output power of a wind turbine is given as

As the output power depends on outlet velocity u2, for maximum

power output

Consequently,
R

Substituting for the turbine power,

Thus the output power of a wind turbine can not be more than
59.3% of the wind power.
This is known as the Betz criterion.
Axial Thrust on Turbine

• The Betz model of expanding air-stream tube forms the basis of

wind energy aerodynamics.

• The Bernoulli’s equation can be applied for upstream and

downstream of the Betz model.
R

• Assuming zo = z2, the static pressure difference across the

turbine may be written as:

• Maximum value of static pressure difference occurs when u2

approaches zero which will be the situation for a solid disk.
• Thus

• The maximum thrust on the disk is

R

• On a horizontal machine, this thrust acts along the turbine axis

and therefore known as axial thrust FA.
• This axial thrust must be equal to loss of momentum of the air
stream when wind turbine is extracting power.
• Hence,

• The mass flow rate of air is

R

Substituting for u2,

FA = CF (FA)max
where CF = 4a(1 – a) = Co-efficient of axial thrust.
• Maximum axial thrust occurs when CF =1,
• This is achieved when a = 0.5 equivalent to u2 = 0.
• Maximum power extraction by the Betz criterion occurs when
a = 1/3, corresponding to CF = 8/9.
Torque Developed by the Turbine

• Maximum conceivable torque on an ideal turbine rotor would

occur if maximum circumferential force acts at the tip of the
blade.
• The maximum torque exerted on the turbine rotor at the tip of
blade having radius R is given as

• The maximum wind energy is

• Hence,
R

• Considering tip speed ratio

• For a wind turbine producing torque T less than Tmax,

where CT is the torque coefficient.

• For a wind turbine producing power PT,
R

• Both CT and CP are functions of tip speed ratio (λ).

• As per Betz criterion, maximum value of CP can be 0.593,
therefore

• Thus, the wind turbines with higher speeds have low value of
CT max or low starting torque.
Tip Speed Ratio for Maximum Power Output

• As per Betz criterion, a turbine can theoretically extract a

maximum of 59.3% of the available power in wind.
• For constant wind speed the power extraction by a turbine will
decrease if:
 the blades are so close together, or rotating so rapidly that a blade
moves into the turbulence created by a preceding blade
 the blades are so far apart or rotating so slowly that much of the
air passes through the cross section of the device without
interacting with the blades
• Thus for a particular wind speed there exists an optimum
turbine speed to produce maximum output.
• To obtain optimum efficiency, the rotational frequency of the
turbine should match to the corresponding wind speed.
R

• For ‘n’ bladed turbine rotating at angular velocity of ω, the time

taken by a blade to move into the position previously occupied
by the preceding blade (tb) is given as

• A disturbance at the turbine disk created by a blade into which

the following blade moves will last for some time.
• The time for the disturbed wind moving past that position and
normal air stream becoming re-established (tw ) is given by

(d = the length of the wind strongly perturbed by rotating blades)

R

• Maximum power extraction occurs when tw = tb at the blade

tips, where the blades sweep maximum incremental area.

• As rω/u0 is the tip speed ratio at optimum power extraction (λ0)

• For all practical observations, d ≈ (½) r

• So,
R

• For a two bladed turbine, maximum power extraction (CP)max

occurs at λo ≈ 2π and that for four bladed turbine at λo ≈ π.
Wind Turbines

• Wind turbines are broadly classified into two categories.

• When the axis of rotation is parallel to the air stream i.e.
horizontal, the turbine is said to be a Horizontal Axis Wind
Turbine (HAWT).
• When it is perpendicular to the air stream i.e. vertical, it is said
to be a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT).
• Typical features of HAWT estimated at wind speed of 12 m/s
and CP = 30%.
Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT)
Wind Turbines

Turbine Blades
• The turbine blades are made of aerofoil cross-section to extract
energy from moving wind.
• Turbine blades are made of high-density wood or glass fiber
and epoxy composites.
• The blades are slightly twisted from the outer tip to the root to
reduce the tendency to stall.
• The blades are subjected to centrifugal force and fatigue due to
continuous vibrations.
• Besides there are many extraneous forces arising from wind
turbulence, gust, gravitational forces and directional changes in
the wind.
Wind Turbines

• The diameter of a typical, MW range, modern rotor may be of

the order of 100 m.
• Modern wind turbines have two or three blades. Two/three
blade rotor HAWT are also known as propeller type wind
turbines.
• Compared to two-blade design, the three-blade machine has
smoother power output and balanced gyroscopic force.
• The blades may be cross-linked for greater rigidity.
• Adding third blade increases the power output by about 5%
only, while the weight and cost of rotor increases by 50 %.
• The two-blade rotor is also simpler to erect, since it can be
assembled on ground and lifted to the shaft
Wind Turbines

Hub
• The central solid portion of the rotor wheel is known as hub.
• All blades are attached to the hub.
• Mechanism for pitch angle control is also provided inside the
hub.
Wind Turbines

Nacelle
• The rotor is attached to nacelle, mounted at the top of a tower.
• It contains rotor brakes, gearbox, generator and electrical
switchgear and control.
• Brakes are used to stop the rotor when power generation is not
desired.
• Gearbox steps up the shaft rpm to suit the generator.
• Protection and control functions are provided by switchgear
and control block.
• The generated electrical power is conducted to ground
terminals through a cable.
Wind Turbines

Yaw Control Mechanism

• The mechanism to adjust the nacelle around vertical axis to
keep it facing the wind is provided at the base of nacelle.
Tower
• Tower supports nacelle and rotor.
• For medium and large sized turbines, the tower is slightly taller
than the rotor diameter.
• In case of small sized turbine, the tower is much larger than the
rotor diameter as the air is erratic at lower heights.
• Both steel and concrete towers are being used.
• The construction can be either tubular or lattice type
Wind Turbines

Wind Turbine Rotors

• The rotor of a HAWT can be single blade, two blade, three
blade, chalk multiblade, multibladed and dutch-type rotors.
• The single blade, two blade, three blade, chalk multibladed
rotors are relatively high speed turbines.
• These types of rotors are suitable for power generation.
• HAWTs are commonly produced with 2 or 3 bladed rotors.
• A single bladed rotor with balancing counterweight is simple in
construction, less costly but quite noisy during operation.
• The multi-bladed and dutch type rotors are used where low
speeds are required.
• Due to high solidity, these rotors operate even with slow winds.
Wind Turbines
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT)

• It can accept wind from any direction, eliminating the need of

yaw control.
• The gearbox, generator etc. are located at the ground, thus
eliminating the heavy nacelle at the top of the tower.
• This simplifies the design and installation of the whole
structure, including tower.
• The inspection and maintenance also gets easier and
• It also reduces the overall cost.
• The main components include Tower or Rotor Shaft, Blades
and Support Structure.
Wind Turbines
Wind Turbines

• The tower is a hollow vertical rotor shaft, which rotates freely

about vertical axis between top and bottom bearings.
• It is installed above a support structure.
• In the absence of any load at the top, a very strong tower is not
required, which greatly simplifies its design.
• The upper part of the tower is supported by guy ropes.
• The height of the tower of a large turbine is around 100 m.
• It has two or three thin curved blades in a form that minimizes
the bending stress caused by centrifugal forces.
• This blade profile is called ‘Troposkien’ profile.
Wind Turbines

• The blades have airfoil cross-section with constant chord

length.
• The pitch of the blades cannot be changed.
• The diameter of the rotor is slightly less than the tower height.
• Support structure is provided at the ground to support the
weight of the rotor.
• Gearbox, generator, brakes, electrical switchgear and controls
are housed within this structure.
Difference Between HAWT and VAWT
Environmental AspectsWind Turbines

Emission
• There is no pollution or emission of green house gases like CO2
during wind turbine operation.
• The CO2 emission during manufacturing and installation of
wind turbine is very low.
Bird’s Life
• The rotating rotor blades pose a threat to bird’s life.
• A large number of birds are killed every year when they fly into
fast rotating blades.
Visual Impact
• Wind turbines with high towers are visible over a wide area and
disturbs natural beauty of the site.
Wind Turbines

Noise
• The rotating blades create noise of very high noise level due to
blade movement and churning of air.
• That’s why the wind turbines are located away from inhabited
areas.
Interference to Telecommunication
• Wind turbines with high towers interfere with the microwave
signals for TV and telecommunication.
Safety
• The rotating blades may cause harm if they break or get
damaged during heavy wind conditions.
Wind Turbines