Wolkite University Energy Phy.

College of Natural and Computational Science

Department of Physics

Energy Physics
Phys 4624
By: Fikru Abiko (Ph.D)
E-mail: fikreabiko@gmail.com; fikru.abiko@aau.edu.et

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 Energy Phy.
Outline of the course
1. Introduction to energy resources
2. Global Energy Scenario
3. Ethiopian Energy Scenario
4. Energy, sustainability & the environment
5. Fossil Fuels: Nonrenewable energy
6. Introduction to Renewable Energy
7. Solar Energy and solar radiation:
8. Wind Energy
9. Nuclear energy:
10.Geothermal energy:
11. Tidal/wave/hydropower
12.Energy Storages
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 10. Wind Energy

Wind is the movement of air caused by pressure differences

within the atmosphere.
This pressure differences exert a force that causes air masses to move
from a region of high pressure to one of low pressure.
That movement of air is referred as wind.
Such pressure differences are caused primarily by uneven heating
effects of the sun on the Earth’s surface.
Thus, Wind energy is the other form of solar energy

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 Cont…

Wind power is the transformation of wind energy into more utilizable

forms, typically electricity using wind turbines.
The wind turbine captures the wind’s kinetic energy of air mass by a
rotor consisting of two or more blades which is mechanically coupled
to an electrical generator.
Most of the time the turbine is mounted on a tall tower to
enhance the energy capture.
The sites with steady high wind produce more energy over the year.

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 Cont…

❖ Among all factors affecting the wind generation, the uneven solar
radiation and Coriolis effect.
❖ The unevenness of the solar radiation can be attributed to four reasons
❖ First, the earth is a sphere revolving around the sun in the same plane
as its equator
❖ Second, the earth’s self-rotating axis has a tilt of about 23.5° with
respect to its ecliptic plane.
❖ Third, the earth’s surface is covered with different types of materials
such as vegetation, rock, sand, water, ice/snow, etc

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 Cont…
❖The fourth reason for uneven heating of solar radiation is due to the
earth’s topographic surface

❖Coriolis force :the earth’s self-rotation is another important factor to

affect wind direction and speed.

❖The Coriolis force, which is generated from the earth's self-rotation,

deflects the direction of atmospheric movements.

❖In the north atmosphere wind is deflected to the right and in the south
atmosphere to the left.

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 Cont…
❖The Coriolis force depends on the earth’s latitude; it is zero at the
equator and reaches maximum values at the poles.

❖The magnitude of Coriolis force depends on (1) the rotation of the

Earth, (2) the speed of the moving object, and (3) its latitudinal location.

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 Cont…
❖As estimated 1-3% energy from the sun converted into wind energy .

❖Let the solar intensity at the top of atmosphere =340W/𝑚2

❖Thus 7w/ 𝒎𝟐 goes into wind energy.

❖35% of wind energy is dissipated in the first kilometers above Earth’s

surface and available for turbine (2.45w/ 𝒎𝟐 ).

❖Over a period of one year, the wind energy

𝐸 = 𝐼𝑥𝐴𝑥𝑡=2.45w/ 𝑚2 x 5.1x 1014 𝑚2 x3.2 x 107 s=4x 1022 J
Which is 200times larger than our energy consumption on Earth estimated to be 2 x
1020 J

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 Wind power

❖Modern wind turbines owe more to aeronautical engineering than to

the wind mills used historically to grid grain.

❖Turbine blades are aerodynamically designed ,similar to aircraft’s

wind.

❖Wind energy providing a zero-emission source of electricity that is

rapidly becoming cost effective with fossils fuel.

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 Cont…

❖The magnitude of wind is energy extracted from wind is depends on

1. The detail characteristic of turbine

2. The wind speed

3. The swept area of the blade

❖There is a wide range of different of wind turbines, the most important

features are:
✓Roter axis position (horizontal or vertical)
✓Number of rotor (one,two, three or multiple blade rotor)

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 Cont…

❖Speed (high and low speed energy converter )

❖Number of ratio revolution (constant or variable)

✓Most turbines these day’s are three blade, horizontal axis,upwrd

machine

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 Wind Turbines

❖Wind turbines are mechanical devices specifically designed to convert

part of the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical energy.

❖ If the mechanical energy is directly used by machinery, such as

pumping water or grinding stones, the machine is called a wind mill

❖ If the mechanical energy is then converted to electricity, the

machine is called a wind generator.

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 Cont…

❖ Depending on the position of the rotor axis, wind turbines are

classified into
a. vertical-axis and
b. Horizontal-axis.
a. Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines
❖ The axis of rotation of horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) is
horizontal to the ground and almost parallel to the wind stream.

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 Cont…

• They can operate with the blades in front of the wind (up-wind) or
behind the wind (down-wind).

• They have one, two, three or a large number of blades and they cover
approximately 90% of the installed wind turbines around the world.

• Most of today’s commercial wind machines are three blades HAWTs

due to their aerodynamic stability.

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 Cont…

Advantage:-High efficiency

✓Ability to fuel by turning the rotor ( blades ) parallel to the wind

direction

✓Low cut in wind speed

✓Generally low cost to power output ratio

Disadvantages:-

✓Tail or yaw drive may be required; which adds complexity

✓Restricted servicing of generator and gear box

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 Cont…

b. Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT)

• The axis of rotation of (VAWT) is vertical to the ground and almost

perpendicular to the wind direction.

• The VAWT can receive wind from any direction. Hence complicated
yaw devices can be eliminated.

• Vertical axis machines have very good aerodynamic efficiency and

have low manufacture cost and simple control systems.

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 Cont…

• The generator and the gearbox of such systems can be housed at the
ground level, which makes the tower design simple and more
economical.

• Moreover the maintenance of these turbines can be done at the ground

level.

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 Cont…

Advantage:-

▪ You place the generator, gearbox etc. on the ground, and you may not
need a tower for the machine.

▪ You do not need a yaw mechanism to turn the rotor against the wind

Disadvantages:-

• Wind speeds are very low close to ground level, so although you may
save a tower, your wind speeds will be very low on the lower part of
your rotor

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 Cont…

• The overall efficiency of vertical axis machines is not impressive.

• The machine is not self-starting (e.g. a Darrieus machine will need a

"push" before it starts.

• This is only a minor inconvenience for a rid connected turbine,

however, since you may use the generator as a motor drawing current
from the grid to start the machine).

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 Wind Energy from the movement air

✓A turbine with area A swept by the blades, the amount of air passing
will be given by the volume of cylinder of wind ,width surface area of
its face A and v, the distance travelled by the wind in a second.
𝑚ሶ = 𝐴𝑣𝜌

Where 𝑚ሶ the rate change of mass of the wind, 𝐴 of the blade, 𝑣 the wind
speed, the ρ density of the air.
1
𝑘𝐸 = m𝑣 2
2

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 Cont…

❖Power contained in wind: Power contained in wind is given by the

kinetic energy of the flowing air mass per unit time. That is

1 1
ሶ 2 = 𝜌𝐴𝑣 3
𝑃0 = 𝑚𝑣
2 2

P = mechanical power in the moving air

ρ= air density, kg/ 𝑚3

A = area swept by the rotor blades, 𝑚2

V = velocity of the air, m/s

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 Cont…

❖Thus ,as energy depends on V cubes, doubling the wind speed will
mean 8 times as much energy obtained.

❖This is the power in the upstream wind.

❖It varies linearly with the density of the air sweeping the blades, and
with the cube of the wind speed.

❖All of the upstream wind power cannot be extracted by the blades, as

some power is left in the downstream air which continues to move with
reduced speed

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 Cont…

❖The loss determined the power coefficient typical about 60% of energy
in the wind converted in to blade movement .

❖Betz' Law stated that no wind turbine can convert more than 16/27
(59.3%) of the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical energy
turning a rotor.

❖For actual wind turbine ,the out put will bless than this ,as it will have
a rated capacity, which is maximum electrical output, and it will cut out
at very high wind speed to avoided damage.

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 Cont…

❖The speed at which the turbine first starts to rotate and generate power
is called the cut-in speed and is typically between 3 and 4 m/s second.

❖ From 12 to17 m/s, the power output reaches the limit that the
electrical generator is capable to the generat output is called the rated
output wind speed.

❖A braking system is employed to bring the rotor to a standstill.

❖This is called the cut-out speed and is usually around 25 meters per
second

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Cont…

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 Cont…

Change of wind speed with height is determined using.

𝑣 𝐻 𝛼
=
𝑣𝑜 𝐻𝑜

• Here,𝑣 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 wind speed (measured in m/s) at the new hub height
(H measured in meters). Ho and 𝑣𝑜 are the reference heights and
wind speed at the reference height, respectively. The power 𝛼 =
1
0.14( ), is wind shear stress or the friction coefficient dependent on
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the nature of the terrain where the wind speed measurement is taken.

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 Extraction of wind energy
❖ The actual power extracted by the rotor blades is the difference
between the upstream and the downstream wind power.

𝑃0 =1/2(𝜌𝐴1 𝑈0 )𝑈02 = 1/2(𝜌𝐴1 𝑈03 ) 1

where : 𝜌 the air density typically 1.2kg/𝑚3 , 𝑈0 is unperturbed wind at
speed, 𝑃0 is the power in the wind at speed 𝑈0
❖ 𝐴0 and 𝐴2 can be located experimentally for wind speed
determination.
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 Cont…

❖ Air density depends on height and meteorological condition .

P
ρair =
RT
❖ Thus, as P = pressure decreases due to weather or elevation so does
air density (linearly).
❖ Inversely as T = temperature decreases air density linearly increases)
(R = Universal Gas Constant = 8.3145 J/mol/K)

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 Cont…

❖ Wind speed generally increases with height, is affected by local

topography .
❖ Determine the magnitude of wind speed on the turbine
Step 1.To determine 𝑢1 ,the force or thrust force on the turbine is reduced
in momentum per unit time from air mass flow rate 𝑚ሶ
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑢
ሶ 0 − 𝑚𝑢
ሶ 2 2
➢ This force is applied by an assumed uniform air flow of speed 𝑢1 .
➢ The power extracted by the turbine is
𝑃 = 𝐹𝑢 = 𝑚(𝑢
ሶ 0 − 𝑢2 ) 𝑢1 3

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 Cont…

❖ The loss in energy per unit time by that air stream is the power
extracted from the wind
1
𝑃𝑤 = 𝑚ሶ (𝑢02 − 𝑢22 ) 4
2
By using eq.3 and 4

1
ሶ 0 − 𝑢2 ) 𝑢1 = 𝑚ሶ (𝑢02 − 𝑢22 )
𝑚(𝑢
2
1
𝑢1 = (𝑢0 + 𝑢2 ) 5
2
❖ which physically means the wind speed at the rotor is simply an
average of the upstream and downstream velocities.

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 Cont…

Step 2:Knowing , 𝑢1 , Calculate the power exerted from the wind .The
mass of the air flowing through the disc per unit time is given by

𝑚ሶ = 𝐴𝜌𝑢1 6

By using equation 3

𝑃𝑇 = 𝜌𝐴1 𝑢12 (𝑢0 − 𝑢2 ) 7

Now substitute 𝑢2 from eq.5

𝑃𝑇 = 𝜌𝐴1 𝑢12 (𝑢0 − (2𝑢1 − 𝑢0 ) )

𝑃𝑇 = 2𝜌𝐴1 𝑢12 (𝑢0 − 𝑢1 ) 8

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 Axial Induction Factor

❖ The interference factor a is the fractional wind speed decrease at the

turbine
✓ The Axial Induction Factor (a) is defined as the fractional decrease
in wind speed from state 0 to state 1
𝑢1 =(𝑢0 − 𝑎𝑢0 )

𝑢1 =𝑢0 (1 − 𝑎) 9
(𝑢0 −𝑢1 )
𝑎=
𝑢0
By using eq.5
(𝑢0 − 𝑢2 )
𝑎=
2𝑢0
❖ The other names for a is the induction or the perturbation factor

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 Cont…

❖ Usin eq.9 substitute 𝑢1 in eq.8

𝑃𝑇 = 2𝜌𝐴1 (1 − 𝑎) 2 𝑢02 (𝑢0 − 𝑢0 (1 − 𝑎))
𝑃𝑇 = 2𝜌𝐴1 (1 − 𝑎) 2 𝑎𝑢03
1
𝑃𝑇 = 𝜌𝐴1 𝑢03 [4𝑎(1 − 𝑎) 2 ] 10
2

Comparing this with equation 1

𝑃𝑇 =𝐶𝑝 𝑃0 11
Where 𝑃0 is the power in by unperturbed wind and 𝐶𝑝 is the fraction of
power extracted, the power coefficient .

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 Cont…

𝐶𝑝 = 4𝑎(1 − 𝑎) 2
𝐶𝑝 =𝑎3 − 2𝑎2 + 𝑎 12
❖ The maximum value of 𝐶𝑝 occurs in the model
𝑑𝑃𝑇
=0
𝑑𝑎

1 3 3 2
𝑑𝑃𝑇 𝑑 2𝜌𝐴1 𝑢0 [𝑎 −2𝑎 +𝑎]
=
𝑑𝑎 𝑑𝑎

A=1 or a=1/3
❖ Therefore 1/3 maximum power extracted

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 Cont…
16
𝐶𝑝𝑚𝑎𝑥 = =0.59
27
❖ Power Coefficient (𝐶𝑝 ) is a measure of wind turbine efficiency often
used by the wind power industry.

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 Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Power.

• Wind energy is renewable form of energy

• Wind energy is free, clean energy and does not require any fuel to
operate; only wind is required for rotation turbines for producing
electricity.

• It is friendly to environment and does not produce any green house

gasses, or carbon emissions. It does not contribute in global warming.

• Wind farm can be useful to provide electricity in rural areas, where

other type electricity forms are hard to reach.

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 Cont…

• It does not waste land, normally huge land is involved in developing

wind farm, and land beneath wind farm can be utilized for farming and
other productive work.

Disadvantages of Wind Power

❖Wind machines must be located where strong, dependable winds are

available most of the time.

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 Measurements of Wind

• Wind has two important characteristics – direction and speed.

• The wind vane, It indicates which way the wind is blowing from.

• It usually has fixed directional signs underneath for reference.

• An anemometer is an instrument used to track wind speed and

pressure.

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.

for your attention

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