Unit-3

Wind Energy Systems

 Introduction to Wind
 Wind – Atmospheric air in motion.

 It has become an energy source.

 Sun produces 4 x 1026 joules of electromagnetic radiation

every second that is radiated into space.

 About 2% of the sunlight that falls on the earth is transformed to

wind energy.

 Wind provides around 1% of the world’s electricity

 Process of Wind Creation
 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.

 The two major driving factors of wind patterns are the differential heating
between the equator and the poles (difference in absorption of solar energy )
and the rotation of the planet.

 Each second, the sun releases an enormous amount of radiant energy into the
solar system.

 Some of it reaches the earth:

 strikes the equator directly (giving it the most radiation)
 diffuses along the Northern and Southern Hemisphere
 the poles receive the lowest amount of radiation
 Cont…

 The radiation from the sun heats the Earth's surface.

 Heating process creates temperature differences between the Land, Water, Air
due to their different physical properties i.e.
o Density

 Hot air rises, it expands, becomes less dense, and is then replaced by denser,
cooler air.

 Heated air rise.

Wind formation
 Wind Turbines
• Rotating machines that can be used to generate electricity from the kinetic
power of the wind.

• Alike aircraft propeller, turn in moving air, power the electric generator, supply
electric current.

• For fan Electricity Wind

• For turbines Wind
Electricity
• Wind rotates the turbine blades
o spins a shaft connected to a generator
o The spinning of the shaft in the generator makes
electricity

• Efficiency depends on number of blades in

windmill. .
 Blades
One Two Three
• Rotor must move more rapidly • Rotor must move more • Balances of
. rapidly gyroscopic forces.
• Gearbox ratio reduced. . speed means • Slower rotation
• Higher speed means • Higherandmore
noise other impacts. • Increases gearbox
more noise and other impacts. • Needs shock and transmission
• Captures 10% less energy than because absorber of cost
2 blades design. imbalances. gyroscopic • More aesthetic,
• Ultimately provide no • Captures 5% less less noise , fewer
cost energy
than three blades design. bird strikes.
savings.
Wind turbines
• Based on rotor axis orientation
a) Horizontal axis (HAWT)
b) Vertical axis (VAWT)
• Based on the size and energy production capacity
a) Small wind turbine (≤300kW)
b) Large wind turbine (>300kW)
• Based on rotor speed
a) Fixed speed
b) Variable speed
Stand alone and grid connected wind turbine
system
 Turbines: Sizes & Application
Small Turbines (<1kW)
- Homes(grid-connected)
-Farms
-Remote applications

Intermediate wind turbines(10-

500kW)
-Village power
-Hybrid systems
-Distributed power
-

L
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Types of Wind Turbines
Vertical axis Horizontal axis
 Horizontal axis
• Rotating axis of the wind turbine is
horizontal or parallel to the ground
• Primarily used in big wind application
• Able to produce more
electricity from a given
amount of wind
• Disadvantage of horizontal axis
however is that it is generally heavier
and it does not produce well in
turbulent winds
Vertical axis
• Rotating axis of the wind turbine is vertical
or perpendicular to the ground
• Primarily used in small wind projects and
residential applications
• Powered by wind coming from all
360
degrees.
• Ideal for installations where wind conditions
are not consistent, or due to public
ordinances the turbine cannot be placed high
enough to benefit from steady wind
Comparison
 Working Principle

Principle:

The energy in the wind turns two or threee blades around a rotor. The
rotor is connected to the main shaft, which spins a generator to create
electricity. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into
mechanical power.
 Parts of Wind Turbine system:
i. Blades BLADES

ii. Rotor TURBINE

iii. Pitch system ROTOR
iv. Low speed shaft
v. Brake
vi. Gear box
vii.High speed shaft
viii.Generator
ix. Controller
x. Anemometer
xi. Wind vane
xii. Yaw drive
 Cont…

 Anemometer: Measures the wind speed and transmits wind speed data to the controller.

 Brake: Stops the rotor mechanically, electrically, or hydraulically, in emergencies.

 Controller: Starts up the machine at wind speeds of about 8 to 16 miles per hour (mph) and
shuts off the machine at about 55 mph.

 Gear box: Connects the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and increases the rotational
speeds from about 30-60 rotations per minute (rpm), to about 1,000-1,800 rpm; this is the
rotational speed required by most generators to produce electricity.

 Generator: Produces 60-cycle AC electricity; it is usually an off-the-shelf induction

generator.

 High-speed shaft: Drives the generator.

 Low-speed shaft: Turns the low-speed shaft at about 30-60 rpm.

Tower
A tower that supports the nacelle and rotor hub at its top. These are made from
tubular steel, concrete, or steel lattice. Height of the tower is an important in
design of HWAT. Because wind speed increases with height, taller towers enable
turbines to capture more energy and generate more electricity.

Blades
Wind turbine blades are used to extract the kinetic energy of wind and convert to
mechanical energy. These blades are made up of fiber glass-reinforced polyester or
wood-epoxy. Wind turbines have one or two or three or multiple blades based up
on the construction. Most of the HAWT have three blades. These are connected to
rotor hub
Nacelle
A housing which contains all the components which is essential to
operate the turbine efficiently is called a nacelle. It is fitted at the
top of a tower and includes the gear box, low- and high-speed
shafts, generator, controller, and brakes. A wind speed
anemometer and a wind vane are mounted on the nacelle.
 Cont….
• Pitch: Turns blades out of the wind to control the rotor speed, and to keep the rotor from turning
• in winds that are too high or too low to produce electricity.
• Rotor: Blades and hub together form the rotor.
• Tower: Made from tubular steel (shown here), concrete, or steel lattice. Supports the structure of
the turbine.

• Wind direction: Determines the design of the turbine. Upwind turbines—like the one shown
• here-face into the wind while downwind turbines face away.
• Wind vane: Measures wind direction and communicates with the yaw drive to orient the turbine
properly with respect to the wind.
• Yaw drive: Orients upwind turbines to keep them facing the wind when the direction changes.
Downwind turbines don't require a yaw drive because the wind manually blows the rotor away
from it.
• Yaw motor: Powers the yaw drive.
 Working of Wind Turbine
 Wind blows toward the turbine's rotor blades.

 The rotors spin around, capturing some of the kinetic energy from the wind,
and turning the central drive shaft that supports them.

 In most large modern turbines, the rotor blades can swivel on the hub at the
front so they meet the wind at the best angle (or "pitch") for harvesting
energy. This is called the pitch control mechanism.

 Inside the nacelle, the gearbox converts the low-speed rotation of the drive
shaft into high-speed rotation fast enough to drive the generator efficiently.

 The entire top part of the turbine (the rotors and nacelle) can be rotated by a
yaw motor, mounted between the nacelle and the tower, so it faces directly
into the oncoming wind and captures the maximum amount of energy.
 Cont…

• If it's too windy or turbulent, brakes are applied to stop the rotors from
turning (for safety reasons).

• The electric current produced by the generator flows through a cable

running down through the inside of the turbine tower.

• A step-up transformer converts the electricity to about 50 times higher

voltage so it can be transmitted efficiently to the power grid (or to nearby
buildings or communities). If the electricity is flowing to the grid, it's
converted to an even higher voltage (130,000 volts or more) by a
substation nearby, which services many turbines.

• Homes enjoy clean, green energy: the turbine has produced

no
greenhouse gas emissions or pollution as it operates.
 Advantages
• Very low carbon dioxide emissions (effectively zero once constructed).

• No air or water pollution.

• No environmental impacts from mining or drilling.

• Completely sustainable—unlike fossil fuels, wind will never run out.

• Turbines work almost anywhere in the world where it's reliably

windy,
unlike fossil-fuel deposits that are concentrated only in certain regions.

• Unlike fossil-fueled power, wind energy operating costs are predictable years
in advance.

• Freedom from energy prices and political volatility of oil and gas supplies
from other countries.

• New jobs in construction, operation, and manufacture of turbines.

 Disadvantages
• High up-front cost .

• Extra cost and complexity of balancing variable wind power with other
forms
of power.

• Extra cost of upgrading the power grid and transmission lines, though
the whole system often benefits.

• Damage local wildlife

• Large overall land take—though at least 95 percent of wind farm land can still
be used for farming, and offshore turbines can be built at sea.

• Can't supply 100 percent of a country's power all year round, the way
fossil fuels, nuclear, hydroelectric, and biomass power can.
 Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine Working Principle

• The horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) is a wind turbine in which the main
rotor shaft is pointed in the direction of the wind to extract power.
• The rotor receives energy from the wind and produces a torque on a low-speed
shaft. The low-speed shaft transfers the energy to a gearbox, high-speed shaft,
and generator, which are enclosed in the nacelle for protection.
• Notice how the blades are connected to the rotor and to the shaft. This shaft is
called the low-speed shaft because the wind turns the rotating assembly at a
leisurely 10 to 20 revolutions per minute (rpm) typically.
• The low-speed shaft connects to the gearbox, which has a set of gears that
increase the output speed of the shaft to approximately 1,800 rpm for an output
frequency of 60 Hz (or a speed of 1,500 rpm if the frequency is 50 Hz). For this
reason, the shaft from the gearbox is called the high-speed shaft.
• The high-speed shaft is then connected to the generator, which converts the
rotational motion to AC voltage.
 Application
• all turbines range in size from 20 Watts to 100 kilowatts (kW). The smaller or
"micro" (20- to 500-Watt) turbines are used in applications such as charging
batteries for recreational vehicles and sailboats.
• One- to 10-kW turbines can be used in applications such as pumping water.
• Turbines used in residential applications can range in size from 400 Watts to 100
kW (100 kW for very large loads), depending on the amount of electricity you
want to generate
 Construction Process of Wind
Turbines
The following steps are followed for turbine construction:
• First the tower is constructed. The steel sections of the tower may be made offsite
in a factory but they are normally assembled on the site.
• The parts are bolted together and the tower is kept in a horizontal position till it is
placed. The tower is lifted into position by a crane, bolts are tightened and on
completion, stability is tested.
• The fiberglass nacelle is installed next.
• The gear box, main drive shaft, yaw controls and blade pitch are assembled and
mounted onto a base frame at a factory.
• The nacelle is bolted enclosing the equipment and at the site, the nacelle is lifted
on the completed tower and fixed.
• The nacelle is usually made of fiber glass and includes the gearbox and the main
drive shaft.
• The blades are normally bolted on the nacelle after placing it on the tower.
Normally a three-pronged blade has two blades on the nacelle before it is lifted
and the third blade is bolted after the nacelle is in place.
• The utility box for the wind turbines and electrical communication system for the
• Experimentation with new materials for the blades has taken place. In
commercial wind turbines, fiberglass with a hollow core is used for the blades;
however, aluminium and lightweight woods are also used.
• Aluminum blades are made by bolting aluminum sheets together, and wooden
blades are carved forming an aerodynamic propeller with a similar cross-
section as found on an airplane wing.
Vertical Axis Turbine
Blades
Rotor blades are a crucial and basic part of a wind turbine.they are mainly made
of aluminium, fibber glass or carbon fibber because they provide batter strength
to weight ratio. The design of the individual blades also affects the overall
design of the rotor. Rotor blades take the energy out of the wind; they “capture”
the wind and convert its kinetic energy into the rotation of the hub. there are two
types of blades use in VAWT
• Drage force type blades ( savonius wind turbine)
• Lift force type blades (Darrieus and giromill wind turbine)

Shaft
• The shaft is the part that gets turned by the turbine blades. It in turn is
connected to the generator within the main housing
Gear Box
• 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 plantary, helical,oarallel 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.
Base
• base of VAWT is usually the roof of building on which it is installed.
Two distinctive designs, two working principles
• What’s special about vertical axis wind turbines is the variety of possible designs
— blades, structures, shapes— which then determines the operational principle,
performance, and applications.
• Vertical axis wind turbines come in many shapes, but technically, they can be
categorized in to two groups based on their operational principles:
Savonius Wind Turbines: The Resistance
Runner
• Savonius wind turbines have blades built around the vertical shaft in a helix
form, which basically looks like DNA or fusilli pasta.
• Wide, solid wind-receiving area of the blades is one of the most significant
features of a Savonius wind turbine.
• When in operation, Savonius wind turbines rely on the flow resistance
mechanism to turn their rotors.
• In simple words, the dynamic pressure of the wind against the blades pushes
the rotor into rotation.
• At the same time, the opposite side of the blades encounters a force of
aerodynamic resistance or “drag.” This is just like what we experience when
cycling or running: There’s always the air flow coming against us. Because of
this, Savonius wind turbines can only turn as fast as the wind speed.
Darrieus: The Uplift Runner
• classic Darrieus turbines have long, curved wings with each end attached to
the top and bottom of the rotor shaft. Another model of the Darrieus turbines
has three straight wings connected to the shaft parallelly, forming the “H”
shape.
• In terms of operation, Darrieus utilizes the “lift” aerodynamic force to rotate.
• By flowing around the structure, the wind creates a suction on the front side of
the turbine, driving the wings to rotate.
• Because of the shape of the wings, they do not experience as much drag as
Savonius turbines do. Once the rotation starts, Darrieus wind turbines are able
to accelerate to rotate faster than the wind speed.
 Advantages of VAWT
• You can build your wind turbine close to the ground so if you do not have a
suitable rooftop for placement, or if you live where there are hills, ridges, etc.
that prohibit the flow of air, they work wonderfully for your needs.
• Since VAWT are mounted closer to the ground they make maintenance easier,
reduce the construction costs, are more bird friendly and does not destroy the
wildlife.
• You do not need any mechanisms in order to operate the wind turbine
• Lower wind startup speed
• The main advantage of VAWT is it does not need to be pointed towards the
wind to be effective. In other words, they can be used on the sites with high
variable wind direction.
• You can use the wind turbine where tall structures are not allowed.
• VAWT’s are quiet, efficient, economical and perfect for residential energy
production, especially in urban environments.
• They are cost effective when compare to the HAWTs. It is still best to shop
around and check prices before making a purchase, however.
Disadvantages of VAWT
• Requires power and a starting motor to start the Darrieus wind turbine
• Need guy wires to ensure the pole stays vertical so blade rotation is
smooth
• Produces electrical energy at very low wind speeds
• Not as efficient as horizontal-axis wind turbines
General Maintenance of Wind Turbine

1. Gearbox failure.
2. Misalignment between generator and gearbox.
3. Problems related to lubrication.
4. Variation among the components by manufacturer,
configuration and operating
environment of such items such as generators, power
converters, gear box.
5. General routine maintenance related about tower, storage
devices, wiring, charging
gear oil, brake pads, filters, bearings, sensors, actuators.
6. Bearing failure issue.
Maintenance of Wind Turbine
The maintenance of Yaw system actuator is done quarterly or yearly. Following
maintenance activities are to be performed:
1. Yaw actuator is prone to wear due to its frequent operations and so it is one of the
causes of down time, Yaw system has short service life and difficult access for the
maintenance.
2. Check and adjust the yaw motor and nacelle bearing.
3. Check the brake pad and change if required.
4. Regular maintenance of yaw bearing.
5. Check the area of oil leak, if any. Select the right type of oil as per operational
requirement.
6.Gears in the drivers should be filled with grease and oil.
7. Electric Brake, motor fan, joint-bolts, hydraulic brake, yaw pads should be
checked.
8. Check out the rusting, amount of dirt and wear of brake pads.
9. Blades have to be inspected such that there should not be obstruction for right
operation.
Oiling and greasing:
1) Checking geared motor oil, greasing, lubrication and maintenance of drive
train.
2) Changing oil, belts, bearing lubrication.
3) Regular maintenance includes gearbox oil changes and it protects components
from wear.

Preventive maintenance schedule for Towers

1) Visual check out for concrete base foundation, its clearance, ladder and life line
fastening.
2) Visual check out for tower cleaning, joint bolt between foundation and tower
3) Every 6 months inspection for loop condition, safety norms, tower surface.
SPECIFICATION OF HORIZONTAL AND
VERTICAL AIS TURBINE
Horizontal axis Vertical axis