UEET 603

Introduction to Energy Engineering

Spring 2010
Wind Energy and Wind Turbine
10/8/2014
Instructor
Pradip Majumdar, Ph. D
Professor
Professor Department of Mechanical
Engineering
Office: EB 210
Email: majumdar@ceet.niu.edu
Tel: 815-753-9963, Fax: 815-753-0416
Wind Power - Introduction
Wind power is good renewable, clean and free
source of energy for power production

Reduce dependence on fossil fuels including
imported oils

Reduce emission of greenhouse gas and other
pollutant

One major concern is the noise can be improved

Intermittency and variability of the wind


Wind Energy in USA
Wind energy use is about 2% of the domestic energy
consumption

Expected to increase to about 20% over next two decades.

Rates of wind turbine installation has been going up at a
higher rate highest in the world
- 8,500 MW in 2008
- 10,000 MW in 2009

Denmark is the world leader
- produces wind power over 20% of the countrys power


Leading Manufacturers of Wind Turbine
1. Vestas (Denmark) - 35,000 MW
2. Enercon (Germany) - 19,000 MW
3. Gamesa (Spain) 16,000 MW
4. General Electric (USA, Germany) 15,000 MW
5. Siemens (Denmark, Germany) 8,800 MW
6. Suzlon (India) 6,000 MW
7. Nordex (Germany) 5,400 MW
8. Acciona (spain) 4,300 MW
9. Repower (Germany) 3,000 MW
10.Goldwind (china) 2,889
Source: Wikipedia
Typical Cost
1.0 2.5 million per MW for large scale
- Most commercial wind turbine are in
the range of 2 MW

$3,000 5000 per kW in range less than 10kW
- $15,000 - $25,00 for residential home
application



The Wind
The wind is created by the movement of
atmospheric air mass as a results of variation of
atmospheric pressure, which results from the
difference in solar heating of different parts of
the earth surface.

Hot air goes up
and creates low
pressure region
Cooler air moves
from high pressure
region
Has different wind systems

Equator receives more solar
radiation than higher latitude
regions.

The curvature of the earth surface
causes oblique interaction with
incoming suns ray with increased
altitude.

Wind Energy Conversion
Wind power describes the process by which the wind is
used to generate mechanical energy or electrical
energy.

Wind energy is the kinetic energy of the large mass of
air over the earth surface.

Wind turbines converts the kinetic energy of the wind
into mechanical energy first and then into electricity if
needed.

The energy in the wind turns propeller like blades
around a rotor shaft.
- The rotor is connected to the main shaft, which
spins a generator to create electricity.


It is the design of the blades that is primarily
responsible for converting the kinetic energy into
mechanical energy.

The rate of change of angular momentum of air at
inlet and outlet of a blade gives rise to the
mechanical torque.

- As the air flows over the aerofoil-section of the
blade, it induces a differential pressure distribution
across the top and bottom surfaces of the blade.


Available Wind Power
The kinetic energy of
a stream of air:

2
mV
2
1
E
The kinetic energy of the air
stream available for the
turbine
2
a
V
2
1
E

V
A

= Volume of air parcel
available to the rotor

The air parcel interacting with the rotor per unit

time has a cross-sectional area equal to that of the
rotor ( ) and thickness equal to the wind velocity
(V).

Power is the energy per unit and expressed




T
A
3
T a
V A
2
1
P
Major Factors: Air density, area of wind rotor and
wind velocity

The most important factor is Wind Speed
(Power varies cubic power of velocity)

- As the velocity doubles, the power is
increased by 8 times.

- The rotor area is reduced by a factor
of 8.

The selection of site is very critical for the success
of a wind power



Wind Turbine Power and
Efficiency
A wind turbine converts a fraction of the wind energy into
mechanical energy
- A part is transferred to the rotor of the wind turbine ( )
- Rest is carried away by passing air

The efficiency is the ratio of actual power developed by
wind turbine rotor to the available wind power
- defined as power coefficient and expressed as





3
T a
T
p
V A
2
1
P
C

T
P
The power coefficient or the power picked
up by the wind turbine rotor is influenced
by many factors:
- profile of the rotor blade
- number of blades
- blade arrangement


Wind Turbine Torque
The thrust force developed by the rotor is



The rotor torque is




Where R is the radius of the rotor
2
T a
V A
2
1
F
R V A
2
1
T
2
T a

Maximum
Theoretical Torque
Rotor Torque
The torque developed by the rotor shaft is less
than the maximum theoretical torque and given
in terms of coefficient of torque
as


T V A
2
1
T
C
2
T a
r
T

Rotor Tip Relative Speed

The rotor power at given wind speed depends on the
relative speed between the rotor tip and the wind.

Higher relative speed between the rotor tip and the wind
leads to poor interaction the rotor and the wind.

- For high speed wind approaching a slower moving
rotor, a portion of the wind passes the rotor without
transferring energy.

- For low speed wind approaching a faster moving
rotor, the wind deflects from the rotor and energy is
lost due to turbulence and vortex shedding.

Relative speed is defined as velocity of rotor
tip and wind speed as




V
NR 2
V
R
V
rw


N = Rotor rotational speed, rpm
= Angular velocity

Also, it can be shown that power coefficient

and torque coefficient is related by relative
speed:
V
R
V
C
C
rw
T
P


Types of Wind Turbine
Horizontal axis
- Primarily of the axial flow types
- requires control mechanism to take
account of variation in wind direction

Vertical axis
- Can handle winds from all directions
Betz Law
States the theoretical limit for the conversion of wind
energy in wind turbine

According to this law maximum possible wind
turbine efficiency is less than 59.3 %

Derived assuming a thin rotor from a fluid at a
speed
Major assumptions:

- Rotor without any hub
- Infinite number of blades with no drag
- axial flow in and out



Sizes of Wind Turbines
Single small turbines , below 100 kW are for
homes, water pumps, telecommunication
dishes, stand alone system remote use, off
grid location, hybrid applications, etc.

Utility scale turbines range in sizes from 100 kW
to MW.
- Larger turbines are grouped together into a
wind farms which provide bulk power to the
electrical grid.





Major Components
Rotor
Blades
Low speed shaft
Gear Box
High speed shaft
Generator
Brakes
Controller
Blades
Aerofoil design






Air flow over the blade develops lift force
and causes the blade to rotate

Angle
of
Attack
Trailing
Edge
Leading
Edge
L
D
Wind
F
Gear Transmission
Connects the low speed shaft of the rotor to the
high sped shaft of the generator.


Lower
speed shaft
Higher
Speed
shaft
Low Speed Gear
High Speed
Gear
- Speed of a typical rotor may be
30 rpm to 50 rpm.
- Generator speed may be around
1000 rpm to 1500 rpm.
-Need gear trains in the transmission
line to manipulate the speed according
the requirements of the generator.



May need multiple
stages to achieve the
speed ratio.
Additional Consideration for Gear
System
Heat dissipation, power losses and cooling

Compact design

Weight

Bearing system
Power Regulation
Turbine starts generating
power at lower set wind
speed.
Power increases with increase
in wind speed up to a rated
wind speed and rated power.
Power output remains
constant at rated power
between the rated wind speed
and the cut-out speed
Turbines stops operating
speeds higher than the rated
speed due to safety reason.

Rated Power,
250 kW
5 m/s 15 m/s 25 m/s
Wind Speed
Turbine Power Control
As the wind speed changes (15 m/s to 20
m/s for example over the rated power
range, the rotor speed also changes (30
rpm to 50 rpm for example).

Need to address the rapid acceleration.

Turbine power is regulated.


Common Power Control Methods
Pitch control
- blade pitch and blade angle of attack is decreased
with wind speed greater than rated speed.
- Wind speed and power output and power out put are
continuous monitored by sensors
- Need sophisticated control mechanism
Stall control
- blades are designed in such a that with increase in
wind speed, the angle of attack increases.
- Pressure variation at the tp and bottom surface
changes causing flow separation and vortex shedding
- kills lift forces and leads to blades stalling
- Need very sophisticated blade aerodynamic design
Active stall-Controlled power regulation
- The blades are pitched to to attain its best
performance.

- As the wind speed exceeds the rated velocity, the
blades are turned in the opposite direction to increase
the angle of attack and forces the blade to stall
region.

Yaw Control
- The rotor is partly pushed away from the wind
direction at higher wind speeds.

- The rotor spin axis is pushed to an angle to the
incoming wind direction