WIND

ENERGY
Causes Of Wind
Wind is caused by differences in the
atmospheric pressure.

When a difference in atmospheric

pressure exists, air moves from the
higher to the lower pressure area,
resulting in winds of various speeds.

Globally, the two major driving

factors of large-scale wind patterns
are
• The differential heating between
the equator and the poles
(difference in absorption of
solar energy leading to
buoyancy forces)
• The rotation of the planet
(Coriolis effect ) .
The terms "wind energy" or "wind power"
describe the process by which the wind is used
to generate mechanical power or electricity.

Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the

wind into mechanical power.

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy

into a useful form of energy, such as using:
• wind turbines to make electricity
• Windmills for mechanical power,
• wind pumps for water pumping
 Wind Turbines
 A wind turbine is the opposite of a fan.

 Instead of using electricity to make wind,

like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make
electricity.

 The wind turns the blades, which spin a

shaft, which connects to a generator and
makes electricity.
Windmill
Design
A Windmill
captures wind
energy and then
uses a
generator to
convert it to
electrical
energy.

The design of a
windmill is an
integral part of
how efficient it
will be.
  When designing a windmill, one must decide on the
size of the turbine, and the size of the generator.

Types of wind
turbines
• Horizontal axis wind turbine

• Vertical axis wind turbine

Horizontal axis wind turbine
Horizontal-axis wind turbines have the main rotor shaft and electric
generator at the top of a tower, and must be pointed into the wind. Small
turbines are pointed by a simple wind vane, while large turbines generally use a
wind sensor coupled with a servomotor. Most have a gearbox, which turns the
slow rotation of the blades into a quicker rotation that is more suitable to drive
an electrical generator.
Any solid object produces a wake behind it, leading to fatigue failures, so the
turbine is usually positioned upwind of its supporting tower. Downwind
machines have been built, because they don't need an additional mechanism for
keeping them in line with the wind. In high winds, the blades can also be
allowed to bend which reduces their swept area and thus their wind resistance.
In upwind designs, turbine blades must be made stiff to prevent the blades from
being pushed into the tower by high winds. Additionally, the blades are placed a
considerable distance in front of the tower and are sometimes tilted forward
into the wind a small amount.
 Rotational speed
The blades rotate at 10 to 22 revolutions per minute. At
22 rotations per minute the tip speed exceeds 90 meters
per second (300 ft/s). Higher tip speeds means more
noise and blade erosion. A gear box is commonly used for
stepping up the speed of the generator, although designs
may also use direct drive of an annular generator. Some
models operate at constant speed, but more energy can
be collected by variable-speed turbines which use a
solidstate power converter to interface to the
transmission system. All turbines are equipped with
protective features to avoid damage at high wind speeds,
by feathering the blades into the wind which ceases their
rotation, supplemented by brakes.
Vertical
Axis
Wind
Turbine
VAWT
(an acronym, if you were
wondering)
It goes way back…

First built by

Professor
James
Blyth
In 1887
 2 Types (Majorly)

Drag Lift
Type Type
 Like horizontal axis wind turbine kinetic energy
Operation
of the wind is converted into the

rotation motion of the blades principle and

blades are attached to shaft and the shaft is
attached to the generator through the gear box. So
the rotation of blades result into the rotation of
generator which produce the electricity.
Design
(Generic)
 • Guide
Construction parts wire
• Hub
• Rotor
• Blades
• Shaft
• Brake
• Gear
• Generator
• Base
 Guide Wire/guy wire
Vertical axis wind turbine normally needs guide wire to keep the rotor
shaft in a fixed position and maximized possible mechanical vibration
 hub
• The hub is the centre of the rotor to which the rotor blades are
attached. Cast iron or cast steel is most often used. In VAWT there are
two hubs upper and lower because blades are attached at two points.
 Rotor
• The rotor is the heart of a wind turbine and consists of multiple
rotor blades attached to a hub.

• It is the turbine component responsible for collecting the energy

present in the wind and transforming this energy into mechanical
motion.

• As the overall diameter of the rotor design increases, the amount

of energy that the rotor can extract from the wind increases as
well.

• Therefore, turbines are often designed around a certain diameter

rotor and the predicted energy that can be drawn from the wind.

Rotor blades
• Rotor blades are a crucial and basic part of a wind turbine.
• They are mainly made of aluminum, fibber glass or carbon fiber because
they provide batter strength to weight ratio.
• Rotor blades take the energy out of the wind; they “capture” the wind and
convert its kinetic energy into the rotation of the hub.

2 types
(already discussed)

? ?
 Braking
• Braking of a small wind turbine can also be done by dumping
energy from the generator into a resistor bank, converting the
kinetic energy of the turbine rotation into heat.
• This method is useful if the kinetic load on the generator is
suddenly reduced or is too small to keep the turbine speed within
its allowed limit.
• Cyclically braking causes the blades to slow down, which increases
the stalling effect, reducing the efficiency of the blades.

gearbox
• The main function of the gear box is to take low rotational speed
from shaft and increase it to increase the rotational speed of the
generator.
• Among the types of gear stages are the planatary, helical, parallel
shaft, spure and worm types.
• Two or more gear types may be combined in multiple stages.
• They are made up of aluminium alloys, stainless steel and cost
iron

generator
• The conversion of rotational mechanical energy to electrical
energy is performed by generator.
• For large, commercial size horizontal-axis wind turbines, the
generator is mounted in a nacelle at the top of a tower, behind
the hub of the turbine rotor.
• Typical rotation speeds for wind generators are 5-20 rpm while a
directly connected machine will have an electrical speed between
750-3600 rpm. Therefore, a gearbox is inserted between the rotor
hub and the generator.
• This also reduces the generator cost and weight
 • Base of VAWT is usually the roof of building on which it is

installed. Base

Drag type
(Working)
lift type (Working)
 Advantages:
1. Wind power is cost-effective. The electricity from wind farms is sold at a fixed
price over a long period of time and its fuel is free, so it mitigates the price
uncertainty that fuel costs add to traditional sources of energy.
2. It creates jobs. The U.S. wind sector employed more than 100,000 workers in
2016, and wind turbine technician is one of the fastest-growing American
jobs of the decade.
3. It is a clean fuel source as it does not generate emissions that cause acid rain,
greenhouses gases and smog.
4. Wind is a domestic source of energy. The nation's wind supply is abundant
and inexhaustible. For example, wind now has the largest renewable
generation capacity of all renewables in the United States.
5. It's sustainable. 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.
6. Wind turbines can be built on existing farms or ranches. Therefore, it benefits
the economy in rural. Farmers and ranchers can continue to work the land
because the wind turbines use only a fraction of the land.

Disadvantages:
1. 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 10 years, the technology requires a higher initial
investment than fossil-fueled generators.
2. Good wind sites are often located in remote locations so a certain
amount of investment is required to provide transmission lines to cities.
3. Turbines might cause noise and aesthetic pollution.
4. Turbine blades could damage local wildlife. Birds have been killed by
flying into spinning turbine blades.
Comparison Between Wind Energy &
Other Renewable Sources:

Wind v/s Solar Energy:

• Unlike solar panels, wind turbines function throughout the day and at a cost which is
twice as less as that of solar power.
• Nearly all countries have windy areas however few countries have continually sunny
areas through.
v/s Biomass:
• Generation of energy using biomass involves burning which is a source of
greenhouse gases whereas harnessing energy from wind does not involve the same.
v/s Hydropower
• Harnessing hydropower involves construction of dams which also help In flood
control. Also, water flow is almost constant whereas wind tends to be unpredictable.
It is also to be considered that it is hard to spot a good location for a dam.
v/s Geothermal
• Geothermal energy is harnessed by drilling into the earth’s surface to obtain steam.
The sites are set up in areas near tectonic plates which aren’t many.

Developments:
1. A trend of an increase in the height of the tower has been seen the past few
decades because of the following factors: wind blows faster at higher altitudes,
wind shear is pronounced close to the surface . Therefore, wind speed is higher
and a turbine will produce more power than expected from the 1/7th power law:
doubling the altitude may increase wind speed by 20% to 60%.
2. Increase in the tower size and turbine capacity means that fewer number of
towers may be installed per project and thereby reduce land consumption and the
low frequency of rotation means less bird impact issues.
3. Increase in the number of rotor blades or in their speed does increase the
efficiency to a certain extent but beyond a certain point, instead of letting the
wind flow past the blades they tend to act as a wall.
4. As a result, the current research focuses on ensuring that the wind strikes the
blade at the right pitch angle. To achieve the same, researchers at the San Diego
State University of California are working on flexible blades inspired by insect
wings and are theoretically 35 % more efficient. Due to their flexibility, they are
able to direct the aerodynamic load in the direction of flight, thereby reducing the
damage due to drag.

Pioneering Countries In
The Field of Wind Energy:
1. China: Cumulative installed wind power capacity: 145,362 megawatts.
Percentage share of total wind power capacity of the world: 33.6%
2. The United States of America: Cumulative installed wind power capacity: 74,471
megawatts.
Percentage share of total wind power capacity of the world: 17.2%
3. Germany: Cumulative installed wind power capacity: 44,947
megawatts.Percentage share of total wind power capacity of the world: 10.4%
 4. India: Cumulative installed wind power capacity: 25,088 megawatts
Percentage share of total wind power capacity of the world: 5.8%
5. Spain: Cumulative installed wind power capacity: 23,025 megawatts.
Percentage share of total wind power capacity of the world: 5.3%
6. In addition to the above, Denmark with the 6th best energy security in the world
was the pioneer in this field in 1970s and today, a substantial share of the wind
turbines are manufactured by Danish companies. The government aspires to
meet 84 percent of its energy needs using wind energy by 2035.

THANK YOU
Made By:
BE(Chemical) with MBA III Year

Nikita Pathania CM15222 Pritha Sarkar CM15225 Prateek

Kumar CM15224 Nirwan Goyal CM15223