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Physics HL Internal Assessment

On the efficiency of wind turbines and incoming wind speed

Research Question: How does the efficiency of wind turbine depend on the velocity of the

wind?”

February 8th, 2019

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Table of Contents

Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 3

Background Theory ........................................................................................................... 4

Experimental Challenges .................................................................................................... 7

Raw and Processed Data: ................................................................................................. 10

Discussion ....................................................................................................................... 12

Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 13

Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 14

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Introduction

“The capacity of renewable energy has overtaken that of fossil fuels in the UK for the first

time… the capacity of wind, solar, biomass and hydropower reached 41.9 gigawatts”1

Headline grabbing news such as that reported in the Guardian above is clearly cause for

celebrations, and shows the significant contribution that wind power is starting to make in the

power generation portfolio of European economies. However, it might be argued that the real

potential in wind power lies in its possible contributions to developing countries, were the

ability to construct local turbines providing regional power can replace the vast costs

associated with centralized power generation plants which is also contribute significantly to

the carbon emission of the country.

A Consideration of the efficiency of wind turbines is becoming more and more relevant. The

research question addressed in this IA “How does the efficiency of wind turbine depend on

the velocity of the wind?”

A wind turbine extracts kinetic energy from an incoming air mass and converts it to electrical

energy through the rotation of rotor blades. The power generated by a wind turbine depends

on the velocity of the incoming air as well as other parameters such as air density and the

rotor blade radius. For a given number of rotor blades and fixed radius, the power increases

with wind speed. This can be problematic. In the UK, wind turbines have to be shutdown at

high wind speeds to avoid power overload in the coil windings. Although the power increases

continually with wind speed, it is not necessarily true that the efficiency of the turbine

increases in such a manner. In this paper, a theoretical argument will be made to suggest that

1 Vaughan, Adam. “UK Renewable Energy Capacity Surpasses Fossil Fuels for First Time.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 6 Nov.
2018, www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/06/uk-renewable-energy-capacity-surpasses-fossil-fuels-for-first-time.
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there exists an optimum wind speed for which the efficiency reaches its maximum value, and

that this efficiency cannot exceed a particular level. It will be argued that this relationship

exists independently of the design features of the turbine. A methodology will be developed

to measure the efficiency of a model turbine for varying wind speeds. The results will be

compared with the theoretical predictions.

Background Theory

Before considering the efficiency of the turbine, it is necessary the factors affecting the

output power. Figure 1 below, shows a turbine of radius r, with an incoming air velocity of v.

Draw Figure 1 here

If we assume that the turbine is 100% efficient, then the output power is equal to the kinetic

energy of the air mass arriving every second. In one second, a cylinder of air moves through

the blades as shown in figure 1. The cross-section area of the cylinder is that swept out by the

rotation of blades, and its length, by definition is the velocity of the air. The mass passing

through the air turbine every second is found by multiplying the volume of the cylinder by

the density of the air.

Δ"
= %& ! '( [1]
Δ#

The kinetic energy arriving every second is given by:

1 Δ" !
-. = ' [2]
2 Δ#

Substituting equation [1] into [2], gives a power output of:

1
012.& 13#03# = %& ! ' " ( [3]
2
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Equation 3 is interesting. It predicts that the power output is linearly dependent on the density

of the air. This agrees with intuition. Less intuitive is the prediction that it depends on the

square of the radius of the blades. For this IA, the most interesting prediction is that the

power produced under ideal situations depends cubically on the wind velocity. This explains

why there is a cut off speed and why on the windiest days, the UK’s turbines generators do

not function

Equation [3] suggests that the power output increases continually with wind speed. Whereas

this true, this is not necessarily the case that the efficiency of the wind turbine does the same.

To see why this is the case, we need to explore the means by which the turbine removes the

kinetic energy from the incoming wind. It is easy to see that a turbine cannot be 100%

efficient. For if this was the case, the incoming air would be brought to a rest on the leeward

side of the turbine. If this were the case, it would be impossible for further air to go through

the turbine.

Figure 2. The nature of the airflow approaching a fixed radius wind turbine
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The air that approaches the turbine can be treated in two different sections. The air

immediately in front of the blades is turbulent air, as shown in figure 2. Behind this turbulent

air, there is an infinite region of laminar flow. Turbulent air is inefficient in transferring its

kinetic energy to the rotational energy of the blades. Whereas laminar flow achieves greater

levels of energy transfer. To see the significance of this, we can consider two extremes. In the

first case, the blades are rotating slowly. In this situation, there is enough time for the

turbulent air to pass through the rotating blades, allowing laminar flow to commence. In this

respect, the efficiency is improved. However, at the same low speeds, a large amount of

laminar mass will pass through the blades without striking, which has adverse consequences

for the efficiency. There is good news and bad news. Now consider the other extreme, in

which the blades rotate at very high angular frequencies. The advantage of this, is that a large

amount of the moving air makes contact with the blades. The disadvantage, with the high

rotational frequencies, there is not enough time for the turbulent air to pass through the

blades. As a result, laminar through the turbine does not occur. Once again, there is good

news and bad news. The above argument suggests that there should exist an optimum

rotational frequency for which the efficiency is maximum. An important parameter of any

turbine, is the Tip Speed Ratio (TSR), 5. This is defined as the ratio of the linear velocity of

the tip of the rotor blade to the velocity of the incoming air.
'#$%
5= [4]
6&$'

The TSR is constant for a given turbine. It is important for the purposes of this argument,

since an optimum rotational frequency translates directly into an optimum wind speed (by

equation [4]). The value of this optimum wind speed will depend on the parameters of the

turbine being tested. Betz showed that no wind turbine can be more efficient than 59.3%, but

he could not predict the speed at which speed this occurs. Figure 3 below, shows Betz’s

prediction of how the effiecny of an ideal turbine should vary with wind speed.
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Figure 3. The graph showing the theoretical efficiency of a wind turbine

The graph shows the presences of a cut in speed. This could be understood since internal

friction of any turbine infer that a certain wind speed is required rotation. The graph also

shows a cut-out speed discussed earlier. There is a peak efficiency of 59.3% which occurs at

an unspecified wind speed. The graph is positively skewed, that is the gradient to the left of

the optimum wind speed, has a greater magnitude than that to the right. These features will be

investigated by practical measurement and comparisons with the theoretical predictions

made.

Experimental Challenges

In order to investigate the relationship between the efficiency and the wind speed it is

required to establish a methodological approach to the situation. Firstly, we encounter the

problem of testing our theory on an industrial turbine. To circumnavigate the issue, a 3-

propeller model turbine was used. The prop shaft of the turbine is connected to a 6 v d.c
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electrical generator. One significant experimental challenge was in creating a uniform wind

speed across the radius of the blades. Initially, a domestic fan was used as a source of moving

air to propel the turbine. However, it suffered from major flaws. Most notably, by using an

airspeed meter to investigate the airspeed across the diameter of the fan, it was discovered

that velocity profile of the fan was not constant. Towards the center of the fan, the airspeed

was zero, while moving the meter across the diameter increased the airspeed. This was a

major concern as the turbine will no longer be receiving a linear constant velocity gradient

across the lengths of the propeller. Consequently, the velocity of the airspeed will no longer

be known as it differs significantly at different lengths across the propeller. Furthermore, the

fan method can only be set to 4 discrete speeds, which are far from the air speeds required to

find the optimum velocity. To solve these issues, it was decided to place the propeller on a rig

on car. By driving the car on a windless day, a continuous range of airspeeds can be recorded

in order to find the optimum air speed.

On the other hand, by placing the turbine on a car, new problems are encountered. One flaw

in the method, was that by placing the turbine on top of the car, the car’s structure affected

the flow of air around it and thus created turbulent flow that was feeding into the turbine. As

discussed in the theory, turbulent flow will adversely affect the efficiency of the wind

turbine. Consequently, the turbine was moved from the roof and placed on a boom extended

from the body of the car. To further ensure that the flow of air feeding into the turbine was

laminar, strips of aluminum foil was placed below the turbine to test for turbulent flow. The

boom was moved correspondingly until the aluminum foils were only swinging back of forth

indicating laminar flow in that area. In addition, we encountered problems in recording the

airspeed. Initially, it was assumed that the air speed was equivalent to that of the speed of the

car, given by the car’s speedometer. However, the car’s speedometer suffered from a
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significant uncertainty to ±1-"ℎ() and had a human error involved as it required the driver

to attempt to maintain a constant speed while recording a given airspeed. A GPS software

was then used to calculate the speed of the car moving. Yet this method also suffered from

significant uncertainty due to latency in the date received. As a result, an airspeed meter was

attached below the rig which was connected to a Vernier logger pro data logger. This

provided live feed of the airspeed to a much higher certainty of ±0.01"< () .

Another problem encountered was in recording the power output of the turbine. Initially, a

volt meter and ammeter was connected to the turbine. However, this proved to give a high

uncertainty in the data recorded as it required to add the percentage error from both the

ammeter and voltmeter. To resolve this issue, the turbine was connected to a Vernier power

sensor also connected to the same data logger for the airspeed. This enabled simultaneous

recording of the power versus the airspeed to a high certainty, as the data logger was to set to

take samples at a rate of 50 samples per minute. All in all, this methodology enables a

relative accurate measurement of air speed and power in a continuous manner, eradicating the

need for multiple trials and reducing much of the errors associated with collecting the data.

The only requirement was that it was necessary to perform the experiment in a windless day,

to avoid turbulent flow of air as much as possible.

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Raw and Processed Data:

I (mA) V (V)
Speed (m/s) +/- +/-
+/-0.01 m/s 1mA 0.01V P (mW) ΔP(mW) P Air (W) ΔP Air (W) Efficiency Δ Efficiency
3.98 18 0.19 3.42 0.37 0.30 0.03 1.1 0.2
4.29 12 0.12 1.44 0.24 0.38 0.03 0.4 0.1
4.09 6 0.05 0.3 0.11 0.33 0.03 0.09 0.04
4.63 34 0.36 12.24 0.7 0.48 0.04 2.6 0.4
5.31 43 0.47 20.21 0.9 0.72 0.06 2.8 0.4
5.67 41 0.44 18.04 0.85 0.88 0.08 2.1 0.3
5.88 42 0.45 18.9 0.87 0.98 0.09 1.9 0.3
5.73 33 0.35 11.55 0.68 0.91 0.08 1.3 0.2
5.6 26 0.28 7.28 0.54 0.84 0.08 0.9 0.1
5.24 18 0.19 3.42 0.37 0.69 0.06 0.5 0.1
7.44 109 1.18 128.62 2.27 1.98 0.18 6.5 0.7
7.36 97 1.05 101.85 2.02 1.92 0.17 5.3 0.6
8.46 230 2.53 581.9 4.83 2.91 0.26 20.0 2.0
9.04 224 2.46 551.04 4.7 3.55 0.32 15.5 1.5
8.91 162 1.76 285.12 3.38 3.40 0.31 8.4 0.9
8.38 136 1.47 199.92 2.83 2.83 0.25 7.1 0.7
8.32 140 1.51 211.4 2.91 2.77 0.25 7.6 0.8
8.31 136 1.48 201.28 2.84 2.76 0.25 7.3 0.8
7.44 109 1.18 128.62 2.27 1.98 0.18 6.5 0.7
13.97 386 4.22 1628.92 8.08 13 1 12.4 1.2
14.33 376 4.1 1541.6 7.86 14 1 10.9 1.0
14.05 357 3.9 1392.3 7.47 13 1 10.4 1.0
13.41 336 3.67 1233.12 7.03 12 1 10.6 1.0
12.87 348 3.81 1325.88 7.29 10.3 0.9 12.9 1.2
13.57 356 3.9 1388.4 7.46 12 1 11.5 1.1
13.97 386 4.22 1628.92 8.08 13 1 12.4 1.2
14.33 376 4.1 1541.6 7.86 14 1 10.9 1.0
14.77 388 4.24 1645.12 8.12 16 1 10.6 1.0
14.83 393 4.29 1685.97 8.22 16 1 10.7 1.0
15.69 394 4.3 1694.2 8.24 19 2 9.1 0.9
15.81 396 4.33 1714.68 8.29 19 2 9.0 0.9
16.83 419 4.6 1927.4 8.79 23 2 8.4 0.8
16.3 381 4.16 1584.96 7.97 21 2 7.6 0.7
Figure.4. Table showing extract from raw and processed data (remaining data in appendix A)
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25.00

20.00

15.00
Efficiency

10.00

5.00

0.00
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

-5.00
Wind Speed m/s

Figure .5. Graph showing the Efficiency of wind turbine against wind speed
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Discussion

In order to evaluate the results, it is necessary to consider the errors associated with

the data collected. The error on the velocity of the incoming air was +/0.01m/s in absolute

terms. For lower wind speeds, one value recorded is at 5.31m/s. The fractional uncertainty of

the wind speed is 0.2%. As the values of the recorded wind speed increase, the absolute error

remains constant and thus the fractional error decreases. As a result, the error on the velocity

of the incoming wind speed is negligible. The second data set recorded are the values of the

current recorded to an absolute uncertainty of +/-1mA. Although the absolute error is small,

the fractional error can be significant. For example, at a wind speed of 5.6m/s, the fractional

error is 4%. For higher wind speeds, such as 13.49m/s, the fractional error falls to 0.2%. The

voltage is recorded to an absolute uncertainty of +/-0.01V. Once again, for lower wind

speeds, the fractional error on the voltage of 3% for a wind speed of 3.89m/s is greater than a

fractional error of 0.2% for a wind speed of 12.58m/s. Power is the product of the voltage and

the current. The error is the summation of the fractional errors on the voltage and current. To

illustrates this, consider the wind speed of 8.56m/s. For this wind speed the fractional error

on the current is 0.4% and the fractional error on the voltage is also 0.4%. The fractional

error on the power is 0.8% and the absolute error on the power is 3mW. It is observed that at

higher wind speeds, the fractional and absolute errors decrease. It has been established that

the fractional error on current and voltage decrease with increasing wind speeds. The wind

power is determined by:

1
!!"#$ = %& % '
2

The error associated with the area is dependent on the radius of the blade measured as

50mm with an uncertainty of +/-1mm (2%). The percentage error on the area is 4% as the

area depends on r squared. The error on the velocity has already been established as
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negligible. The error on the density of air is taken with an error of 5% due to variations in

altitude This leads to a constant error of 9% associated with wind power data. The efficiency

is determined as the ratio of the electrical power to the wind power. Thus, the error is found

as the summation of the fractional errors on the respective powers. To illustrate this, consider

a wind speed of 10.49m/s. The fractional errors on the electrical and wind powers are 1% and

8% respectively. This leads to an error of 9% on the efficiency.

Figure 5 shows a significant amount of scattering. The scattering is due to random

errors in the experimental method. One possible source of scattering is due turbulent flow.

The anemometer was placed next to the turbine. Due to turbulent flow, incoming wind speed

recorded by the anemometer is different than the actual value of wind speed passing through

the turbine. Such variation can lead to the scattering observed. Another possible source of

random error lies in the angular inertia of the turbine. Thus, a significant change in speed

may require some time for the turbine to respond and increase electrical output. Due to the

fact the Vernier logger pro was logging data at a rate of 60 samples per second, the time lag

between the incoming wind speed and the electrical output could also lead to scattering.

These effects are unavoidable and the random errors observed are to be expected.

Conclusion

Figure 5 shows a nonlinear relationship between the efficiency and the wind speed.

The graph has a positive skew. The gradients for decreasing efficiency decay at slower rate

compared to the steeper increase for the positive gradients. It can be observed that there is a

maximum for the graph indicating an optimum wind speed. Due to scattering, it is not

possible to identify the exact value of this optimum speed. However, it can be approximated

to lie within 9-13m/s.

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Works Cited

Vaughan, Adam. “UK Renewable Energy Capacity Surpasses Fossil Fuels for First

Time.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 6 Nov. 2018,

www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/06/uk-renewable-energy-capacity-

surpasses-fossil-fuels-for-first-time.