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228 Wind Power Systems

Solution
(a) The swept area is:
A = n(r)2 = IT(1° m)2 = 314 1112
The power for the first 12 hours is:
1
Pur = /2,4 p„v1 Cur
= 1/2(314 m2)(1.2 kg/m3)(10 m/s)3(0.3) = 56.5 kW
The energy, W, for this 12-hour period is:
W = Pt = (56.5 kW)(12 h) = 678 kWh

The power for the second 12 hours is:

Ptur = 1/2A p„v1
= 1/2(314 m2)(1.2 kg/m3)(5 m/s)3(0.3) = 7.06 kW
Notice that the power is 1/8 as much. The energy, W, for the second 12-hour period is:
W = Pt = (7.06 kW)(12 hr) = 84.8 kWh

The total energy for the 24-hour period is the sum:

678 kWh + 84.8 kWh = 763 kWh
(b) The average wind speed is 7.5 m/s. The power from this
speed is:
Pur = '/2A PoVI Cur
= 1/2(314 m2)(1.2 kg/m3)(7.5 m/s)3(0.3) = 23.8 kW

From this, the energy in 24 hours is:

W = Pt = (23.8 kW)(24 hr) = 572 kWh

(c) The total energy as calculated in part (a) is 33% larger than
in part (b), illustrating
that using the average wind speed leads to erroneous results. The reason is that the
average does not account for the cubic relation of wind speed and energy.

Testing Wind Turbines

When a wind turbine is designed, it must be tested to verify the amount of electrical power
it can produce at every given wind speed. Its cut-in and cut-out wind speed must also be
determined and verified so that it can be published in the turbine data sheets. Some com-
ponents of the wind turbine, such as the blades, rotor, gearbox, and generator, can be tested
separately in a laboratory. This type of testing allows the engineers and technicians to deter-
mine the efficiency of the individual components before they are used as a complete system.
A wind turbine generator can be tested by connecting it to a dynamometer or a load
bank, which allows the output power from the generator to be used. When the output load
is varied as in real conditions, the generator shows the efficiency it will have in converting
mechanical to electrical energy. The load on a dynamometer can be designed to run at a
specific constant value over a specific period of time, or it can increase and decrease its
load to show the effects of changing load conditions.

Finite-Element Analysis for Blade Design

The complex design of the turbine blade is calculated with computer programs that analyze
blade design and efficiency. A popular computer program uses a technique called finite-
element analysis (FEA), which employs complex mathematical algorithms to ensure its

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