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Energy Conversion System (WECS) ► LESSON 27. Wind energy conversion principles

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LESSON 27. Wind energy conversion principles
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The power in the wind
Current course
Renewable Energy The wind systems that exist over the earth’s surface are a result of variations in air pressure.These are
Sources
in turn due to the variations in solar heating. Warm air rises and cooler air rushesin to take its place.
Participants
Wind is merely the movement of air from one place to another. There areglobal wind patterns related
General
to large scale solar heating of different regions of the earth’ssurface and seasonal variations in solar
MODULE 1.
Overview of
incidence. There are also localised wind patternsdue the effects of temperature differences between
renewable energy land and seas, or mountains and valleys.Wind speed generally increases with height above ground.
sources This is because the roughness ofground features such as vegetation and houses cause the wind to be
MODULE 2. slowed.Windspeed data can be obtained from wind maps or from the meteorology
Characterization of
Biomass office.Unfortunately the general availability and reliability of windspeed data is extremely poor
MODULE 3. inmany regions of the world. However, significant areas of the world have mean annualwindspeeds of
Thermochemical above 4-5 m/s (metres per second) which makes small-scale wind poweredelectricity generation an
conversion
Technology (TCCT)
attractive option. It is important to obtain accurate windspeed datafor the site in mind before any
MODULE 4.
decision can be made as to its suitability. Methods forassessing the mean windspeed are found in the
Biochemical relevant texts (see the ‘References andresources’ section at the end of this fact sheet).
conversion
Technology-
Biogas...
MODULE 5. Bio- The power in the wind is proportional to:
fuels (BCCT)
MODULE 6. Solar Area of windmill being swept by the wind
Energy Conversion
System (SECS) Cube of the wind speed
MODULE 7. Hydro-
Energy Conversion Air density - which varies with altitude
 System (HECS) The formula used for calculating the power in the wind is shown below:
MODULE 8. Wind
Energy Conversion Power = density of air x swept area x velocity cubed
System (WECS)
LESSON 27. P = ½.ρ.A.V3
Wind energy
conversion where, P is power in watts (W)
principles
LESSON 28. ρ is the air density in kilograms per cubic metre (kg/m3)
wind mill- aero
generator
A is the swept rotor area in square metres (m2)
LESSON 29.
Wind mill- water Wind for electricity generation Practical Action
pumping
MODULE 9. Ocean V is the windspeed in metres per second (m/s)
Energy Conversion
System (OECS) The fact that the power is proportional to the cube of the windspeed is very significant. Thiscan be
MODULE 10. demonstrated by pointing out that if the wind speed doubles then the power in thewind increases by a
Energy
conservation in factor of eight. It is therefore worthwhile finding a site which has arelatively high mean windspeed.
agriculture
Courses
Wind into watts
Although the power equation above gives us the power in the wind, the actual power that wecan extract
from the wind is significantly less than this figure suggests. The actual power willdepend on several
factors, such as the type of machine and rotor used, the sophistication ofblade design, friction losses, and
the losses in the pump or other equipment connected to thewind machine. There are also physical limits to
the amount of power that can be extracted realistically from the wind. It can been shown theoretically that
any windmill can only possiblyextract a maximum of 59.3% of the power from the wind (this is known as
the Betz limit). Inreality, this figure is usually around 45% (maximum) for a large electricity producing
turbineand around 30% to 40% for a windpump, (see the section on coefficient of performancebelow). So,
modifying the formula for ‘Power in the wind’ we can say that the power which isproduced by the wind
machine can be given by:

PM = ½.Cp.ρ.A.V3
where,
 PM is power (in watts) available from the machine
Cp is the coefficient of performance of the wind machine
It is also worth bearing in mind that a wind machine will only operate at its maximumefficiency for a
fraction of the time it is running, due to variations in wind speed. A roughestimate of the output from a
wind machine can be obtained using the following equation;

PA = 0.2 A V3
where,
PA is the average power output in watts over the year
V is the mean annual windspeed in m/s
Principles of wind energy conversion

There are two primary physical principles by which energy can be extracted from the wind;these are
through the creation of either lift or drag force (or through a combination of the two).The difference
between drag and lift is illustrated by the difference between using a spinnakersail, which fills like a
parachute and pulls a sailing boat with the wind, and a Bermuda rig, thefamiliar triangular sail which
deflects with wind and allows a sailing boat to travel across thewind or slightly into the wind.Drag forces
provide the most obvious means of propulsion, these being the forces felt by aperson (or object) exposed
to the wind. Lift forces are the most efficient means of propulsionbut being more subtle than drag forces
are not so well understood.The basic features that characterise lift and drag are:
Drag is in the direction of air flow
Lift is perpendicular to the direction of air flow
Generation of lift always causes a certain amount of drag to be developed
With a good aerofoil, the lift produced can be more than thirty times greaterthan the drag
Lift devices are generally more efficient than drag devices
 FIG. Performance of wind mill system.
Types and characteristics of rotors
There are two main families of windmachines: vertical axis machines and horizontal axisWind for
electricity generation Practical Actionmachines. These can in turn use either lift or drag forces to harness
the wind. The horizontalaxis lift device is the type most commonly used. In fact other than a few
experimentalmachines virtually all windmills come under this category.There are several technical
parameters that are used to characterise windmill rotors. The tipspeedratio is defined as the ratio of the
speed of the extremities of a windmill rotor to thespeed of the free wind. Drag devices always have tip-
 speed ratios less than one and henceturn slowly, whereas lift devices can have high tip-speed ratios (up to
13:1) and hence turnquickly relative to the wind.The proportion of the power in the wind that the rotor
can extract is termed the coefficient ofperformance (or power coefficient or efficiency; symbol Cp) and its
variation as a function oftip-speed ratio is commonly used to characterise different types of rotor. As
mentioned earlierthere is an upper limit of Cp = 59.3%, although in practice real wind rotors have
maximum Cvalues in the range of 25%-45%.Solidity is usually defined as the percentage of the area of
the rotor, which contains materialrather than air. Low-solidity machines run at higher speed and tend to be
used for electricitygeneration. High-solidity machines carry a lot of material and have coarse blade
angles. Theygenerate much higher starting torque (torque is the twisting or rotary force produced by
therotor than low-solidity machines but are inherently less efficient than low-solidity machines.The
windpump is generally of this type. High solidity machines will have a low tip-speed ratioand vice versa.
There are various important wind speeds to consider:
Start-up wind speed - the wind speed that will turn an unloaded rotor
Cut-in wind speed – the wind speed at which the rotor can be loaded
Rated wind speed – the windspeed at which the machine is designed to run(this is at optimum tip-
speed ratio)

Furling wind speed – the windspeed at which the machine will be turned outof the wind to prevent
damage
Maximum design wind speed – the windspeed above which damage could occur to the machine
Anatomy and characteristics of the wind generator
A typical small wind generator has rotor that is directly coupled to the generator, whichproduces
electricity either at 120/240 volt alternating current for direct domestic use or at12/24 volt direct current
for battery charging. Larger machines generate 3 phase electricity.There is often a tail vane which keeps
the rotor orientated into the wind. Some windmachineshave a tail vane, which is designed for automatic
furling (turning the machine out ofthe wind) at high wind speeds to prevent damage. Larger machines
have pitch controlledblades (the angle at which the blades meet the wind is controlled) which achieve the
 samefunction. The tower is of low solidity to prevent wind interference and is often guyed to givesupport
to the tower.
Grid connected or battery charging
Depending on the circumstances, the distribution of electricity from a wind machine can be carried out in
one of various ways. Commonly, larger machines are connected to a grid distribution network. This can
be the main national network, in which case electricity can be sold to the electricity utility (providing an
agreement can be made between the producer and the grid) when an excess is produced and purchased
when the wind is low. Using the national grid helps provide flexibility to the system and does away with
the need for a back-up system when windspeeds are low.
Micro-grids distribute electricity to smaller areas, typically a village or town. When wind is used for
supplying electricity to such a grid, a diesel generator set is often used as a backup for the periods when
windspeeds are low. Alternatively, electricity storage can be used but this is an expensive option. Hybrid
systems use a combination of two or more energy sources to provide electricity in all weather conditions.
The capital cost for such a system is high but subsequent running costs will be low compared with a pure
diesel system. In areas where households are widely dispersed or where grid costs are prohibitively
expensive, battery charging is an option. For people in rural areas a few tens of watts of power are
sufficient for providing lighting and a source of power for a radio or television. Batteries can be returned
to the charging station occasionally for recharging. This reduces the inconvenience of an intermittent
supply due to fluctuating windspeeds. 12 and 24 volt direct current wind generators are commercially
available which are suitable for battery charging applications. Smaller turbines (50 -150 watt) are
available for individual household connection.
Environmental concerns
Wind power is a clean renewable energy source. There are, however some environmental considerations
to keep in mind when planning a wind power scheme. They include the following:
Electromagnetic interference - some television frequency bands are susceptible to interference
from wind generators.
Noise - wind rotors, gearboxes and generators create acoustic noise when functioning; this needs to
be considered when siting a machine.
 Visual impact - modern wind machines are large objects and have a significant visual impact on
their surroundings. Some argue that it is a positive visual impact, others to the contrary.

Last modified: Thursday, 3 October 2013, 5:11 AM

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Renewable Energy Sources