Wind Power Engineering

Wind Turbine Design

Components of wind turbine
 Function of Component
Foundation:- Foundation give support to wind turbine. It consist of solid concrete assembly

Tower :- It connect rotor and foundation and raise rotor so that it can operate at required wind.
Made up of steel having tube like structure.

Rotor & Rotor blades :- It is rotating part which converts wind energy to rotation. It is made up of
glass-fibre, carbon-fibre, reinforced plastics.

Nacelle :- Contains the key components of the wind turbine including the gearbox , yaw system
and electric generator

Low speed shaft:- Connects the rotor hub to the gearbox.

High speed shaft :- Drives the electrical generator by rotating at high speed.
 Function of Component
Gearbox :- The gearbox converts the rotor motion of lower rpm into the higher rpm.

Coupling :- Coupling is done between the main shaft and the transmission.

Generator :- Generates electricity from rotation of shaft.

Controller :- It is a self operating system use in control system. It may be sensor (mechanical, electrical),
decision elements( relays, microprocessor) and actuators( hydraulic, electric).

Yaw mechanism :- Turns the nacelle with the rotor into the wind using motors.

Anemometer and wind vane :- Measures the speed and the direction of the wind while sending signals to
the controller to start or stop the turbine.
Working
 Types of wind turbine
1. Horizontal axis type
A horizontal axis machine has its blades rotating on an axis parallel to the ground.
Single blade Horizontal wind turbine Two blades Horizontal wind turbine Three blades Horizontal wind turbine

Lower blade weight and less cost. Similar to single blade HAWT. Balance of gyroscopic forces

More vibration & unconventional look. Have stability problem increases gearbox costs
 Types of wind turbine
2. Vertical axis type
Vertical axis wind turbines(VAWTs) have the main rotor shaft arranged vertically.
VAWTs runs in any wind direction.
Darrieus wind turbine Savonius wind turbine

Good efficiency drag type turbine

Produce large torque and cyclic stress on the tower used in cases of high reliability in many things such as
Require some external power source to start turning ventilation and anemometers.

self starting

less efficient
 Size of wind turbine
Small (10 kW) Intermediate Large (250 kW - 2+MW)
• Homes
• Farms (10-250 kW) • Central Station Wind Farms
• Remote Applications • Village Power • Distributed Power
• Hybrid Systems
(e.g. water pumping,
telecom sites,) • Distributed Power
The performance of wind turbines depend on 5 major factors:

WIND POWER OBSTRUCTIONS ALTITUDE

AIR BLADE
TEMPERATURE AERODYNAMICS
 Site Selection
Consideration during site selection
 High annual average wind speed
 Altitude of proposed site

 Terrain and aerodynamic

 Ease of transportation

 Nearness to users/centers
 Local ecology & Nature of ground

Best sites for wind turbine

 Off shore and sea coast (2400 kWh/ per year)

 Mountains (1600 kWh/ per year)

 Planes (750 kWh/ per year)
 Wind farms
A wind farm or wind park is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce energy.

Offshore wind farms Onshore wind farms

Wind farm located right off the Less wind power available than offshore.
coast or in sea using floating platform. Less cost in installation.
More wind power but more cost. Usually near to user but create noise and visual problems.

London Array, United Kingdom (630 MW) Jaisalmer wind park, Rajasthan (1064 MW)
 Safety System
Emergency stop :- If a situation arises which calls for the wind turbine to be stopped immediately, it is
used and wind turbine stop in few seconds by feathering the blade directly into the wind.

Computer and sensors :- The wind turbine is controlled by a computer and data from sensors
which monitors the most important gauging instrument and compare the result , if
found error wind turbine is stopped.

Lightning Rods :- The wind turbine system is protected from lighting by these rods going from the tip
of the blade to the ground.

Temporary Rope System :- This system provides temporary fall protection during construction,
maintenance or inspection of wind turbine.
 ADVANTAGE
Cost comparison of different sources
 Good for environment as it uses renewable source of Power plant type Cost ($/kW-hr) Renewable sources
energy as wind. Natural gas 0.07-0.13 No
Hydro 0.08 Yes
 Wind is freely available in nature. Coal 0.08-0.14 No
Wind 0.08-0.15 Yes
 Can be setup in remote areas where electricity Nuclear 0.10 No
through transmission wire cannot be reached. Biomass 0.10 Yes
Solar PV 0.13 Yes
 Clean source of energy as it does not produce any CO2 Emissions of diff. Power Sources
per Electric-generating Capacity
green house gases or any other pollutants. coal fired

Natural gas fired

 Once setup is completed the cost of generation Solar PV

electricity become less. Wind

Nuclear

 Can be combined with solar electricity to give reliable Hydro

supply of electricity. 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

CO2 emission(g-CO2/kWh)
 DISADVANTAGE
 Site Specific i.e suited to particular region.

 Create a lot of Noise Disturbances

 Prediction of wind is difficult i.e wind speed varies.

 Threat to wild life as it kills birds.

 Cause visual impact.

 High Initial cost.

 Large requirement of land for wind farm.

 Turbines Interfere With the Reception of Televisions and

communication signals.
 Future
 Wind farms can provide a surplus of reliable clean energy to society.
Wind alone can not solve today’s energy crisis in one day, but together with many other
forms of renewable power, maybe someday we can help relieve the damage to our planet
caused by the overconsumption of fossil fuels.

 Price of wind power is coming down.

Technological Developments as application
specific Turbines
Offshore
Limited land/resource areas
Transportation or construction limitations
Low wind resource
Cold climates
 Can become cost competitive for electricity generation if fossil energy costs skyrocket.
 Wind Turbine Design
 The Rotor
 Collects the winds energy and transforms it into mechanical power in the form of rotation.

 Made of two or more laminated-wood, fiber glass or metal

 The rotor blades extract part of the kinetic energy from the moving air masses according
to the lift principle at a rate determined by the wind speed and the shape of the blades.
The net result is a lift force perpendicular to the direction of flow of the air. Then the trick
is to design the rotor blade to create the right amount of rotor blade lift and thrust
producing optimum deceleration of the air.

 It does not capture 100% all of the power of the wind as to do so would mean that the air
behind the turbines blades would be completely still and therefore not allow any more
wind to pass through the blades. The theoretical maximum efficiency is between 30 and
45% and depends on the following rotor blade variables: Blade Design, Blade Number,
Blade Length, Blade Pitch/Angle, Blade Shape, and Blade Materials and Weight to name a
few.
 Wind Turbine Design
 Blade Design
 Rotor blade designs operate on either the principle of the lift or drag method for
extracting energy from the flowing air masses. The lift blade design employs the same
principle that enables aeroplanes, kites and birds to fly producing a lifting force which is
perpendicular to the direction of motion. The rotor blade is essentially an aerofoil, or wing
similar in shape to an aeroplane wing. As the blade cuts through the air, a wind speed and
pressure differential is created between the upper and lower surfaces of the blade.

 The pressure at the lower surface is greater and thus acts to “lift” the blade upwards, so
we want to make this force as big as possible. When the blades are attached to a central
rotational axis, like a wind turbine rotor, this lift is translated into a rotational motion.
 Wind Turbine Design
 Blade Design
 Opposing this lifting force is a drag force which is parallel to the direction of motion and
causes turbulence around the trailing edge of the blade as it cuts through the air. This
turbulence has a braking effect on the blade so we want to make this drag force as small
as possible. The combination of lift and drag causes the rotor to spin like a propeller.

 Drag designs are used more for vertical wind turbine designs which have large cup or
curved shaped blades. The wind literally pushes the blades out of the way which are
attached to a central shaft. The advantages of drag designed rotor blades is slower
rotational speeds and high torque capabilities making them useful for water pumping and
farm machinery power. Lift powered wind turbines having a much higher rotational speed
than drag types and therefore are well suited for electricity generation.

 Constant improvements in the design of wind blades has produced new wind turbine
designs which are more compact, quieter and are capable of generating more power from
less wind. Its believed that by slightly curving the turbine blade, they’re able to capture 5
to 10 percent more wind energy and operate more efficiently in areas that have typically
lower wind speeds.
 Wind Turbine Design
 Blade Design should be Flat or Curved
 The advantages of a curved rotor blade compared to a flat blade is that lift forces allow the
blade tips of a wind turbine to move faster than the wind is moving generating more
power and higher efficiencies. As a result, lift based wind turbine blades are becoming
more common now. Also, home made PVC wind turbine blades can be cut from standard
sized drainage pipes having the curved shape already built-in giving them the best blade
shape.

 But curved blades also suffer from drag along its length which tries to stop the motion of
the blade. Drag is essentially the friction of air against the blade surface. Drag is
perpendicular to Lift and is in the same direction as the air flow along the blade surface.
But we can reduce this drag-force by bending or twisting the blade and also tapering it
along its length producing the most efficient wind turbine blade design
 Wind Turbine Design
 Blade Design should be Flat or Curved
 The angle between the direction of the oncoming wind and the pitch of the blade with
respect to the oncoming wind is called the “angle of attack”. As this angle of attack
becomes larger, more lift is created but as the angle becomes even larger, greater than
about 20 degree, the blade will begin to decrease lift. So there is an ideal pitch angle of
the rotor blade that creates the best rotation and modern wind turbine rotor blades are
actually designed with a twist along their length from a steep pitch at their root to a very
shallow pitch at their tip.

 As the speed at the tip of a rotating blade is faster than it is at its root or center, modern
rotor blades are twisted along their length by between 10-to-20o from root to tip so that
the angle of attack decreases from where the air is moving relatively slowly near to their
root, to where it is moving much faster at the tip. This blade twist maximizes the angle of
attack along the length, getting the best lift and rotation.
 Wind Turbine Design
 Blade Numbers
 The number of rotor blades a wind turbine design has is generally determined by the
aerodynamic efficiency and cost. The ideal wind turbine design would have many thin
rotor blades but most horizontal axis wind turbine generators have only one, two or three
rotor blades.

 Increasing the number of rotor blades above three gives only a small increase in rotor
efficiency but increases its cost, so more than three blades are usually not required but
small high spinning multi-bladed turbine generators are available for home use. Generally,
the fewer the number of blades, the less material is needed during manufacturing
reducing their overall cost and complexity.

 Single bladed rotors have a counter balance weight on the opposite side of the rotor but
suffer from high material stress and vibration due to their unsmooth rotational motion of
the single blade which must move more rapidly to capture same amount of wind energy.
 Wind Turbine Design
 Blade Number
 Also with single or even double bladed rotors, most of the available air movement and
therefore wind power passes through the unswept cross-sectional area of the turbine
without interacting with the rotor decreasing their efficiency.

 Multi-bladed rotors on the other hand have a smoother rotational operation and lower
noise levels. Slower rotational speeds and torque are possible with multi-bladed designs
which reduces the stresses in the drive train, resulting in lower gearbox and generator
costs. However, wind turbine designs with many blades or very wide blades will be subject
to very large forces in very strong winds which is why most wind turbine designs use three
rotor blades.
 Wind Turbine Design
 An Odd or Even Number of Rotor Blades
 A wind turbine design which has an “EVEN” number of rotor blades, 2, 4 or 6, etc, can
suffer from stability problems when rotating. This is because each rotor blade has an exact
and opposite blade which is located 180 degree in the opposite direction.

 As the rotor rotates, the very moment the uppermost blade is pointing vertically upwards
(12 o’clock position) the lower most blade is pointing straight down in front of the turbine
support tower. The result is that the uppermost blade bends backwards, because it
receives the maximum force from the wind, called “thrust loading”, while the lower blade
passes into the wind free area directly in front of the supporting tower.

 This uneven flexing of the turbines rotor blades (uppermost bent in the wind and the
lowermost straight) at each vertical alignment produces unwanted forces on the rotor
blades and rotor shaft as the two blades flex back and forth as they rotate. For a small rigid
aluminium or steel bladed turbine this may not be a problem unlike longer fibreglass
reinforced plastic blades.
 Wind Turbine Design
 An Odd or Even Number of Rotor Blades
 A wind turbine design which has an “ODD” number of rotor blades (at least three blades)
rotates smoother because the gyroscopic and flexing forces are more evenly balanced
across the blades increasing the stability of the turbine.

 The most common odd bladed wind turbine design is that of the three bladed turbine. The
power efficiency of a three bladed rotor is slightly above that of a similar sized two bladed
rotor and due to the additional blade they can rotate slower reducing wear and tear and
noise.

 Also, to avoid turbulence and interaction between the adjoining blades, the spacing
between each blade of a multi-bladed design and its rotational speed should be big
enough so that one blade will not encounter the disturbed, weaker air flow caused by the
previous blade passing the same point just before it. Because of this limitation most odd
type wind turbines have a maximum of three blades on their rotors and generally rotate at
slower speeds
 Wind Turbine Design
 An Odd or Even Number of Rotor Blades
 Generally, three bladed turbine rotors integrate better into the landscape, are more
aesthetically appealing and are more aerodynamically efficient than two bladed designs
which contributes to the fact that three bladed wind turbines are more dominate in wind
power generation market. Although certain manufacturers produce two and six-blade
turbines (for sail boats).

 Other advantages of odd (three) bladed rotors include smoother operation, less noise and
fewer bird strikes which compensate for the disadvantage of the higher material costs.
Noise level is not affected significantly by the blade count.
 Wind Turbine Design
 Rotor Blade Length
 Three factors determine how much kinetic energy can be extracted from the wind by a
wind turbine: “the density of the air”, “the speed of the wind” and “the area of the rotor”.
The density of the air depends upon how far above sea level you are while the wind speed
is controlled by the weather.

 However, we can control the rotational area swept by the rotor blades by increasing their
length as the size of the rotor determines the amount of kinetic energy a wind turbine is
able to capture from the wind.

 The rotor blades rotate around a central bearing forming a perfect circle of 360 degree as
it rotates and as we know from school, the area of a circle is given as: π.r 2. So as the swept
area of the rotor increases, the area it covers also increases with the square of the radius.
Thus, doubling the length of a turbines blades results in an increase of four times its area
which allows it to receive four times as much wind energy. However, this greatly increases
the size, weight and ultimately the cost of the wind turbine design.
 Wind Turbine Design
 Rotor Blade Length
 One important aspect of the blade length is the rotational tip-speed of the rotor resulting
from the angular velocity. The longer the turbine blade length the faster the rotation of
the tip for a given wind speed. Likewise, for a given rotor blade length the higher the wind
speed the faster the rotation.

 Then why can we not have a wind turbine design with very longer rotor blades operating
in a windy environment producing lots of free electricity from the wind. The answer is that
there becomes a point where the length of the rotor blades and the speed velocity of the
wind actually reduces the output efficiency of the turbine. This is why many larger wind
turbine designs rotate at much slower speeds.
 Wind Turbine Design
 Rotor Blade Length
 Efficiency is a function of how fast the rotor tip rotates for a given wind speed producing a
constant wind speed to tip ratio called the “tip-speed ratio” ( λ ) which is a dimensionless
unit used to maximize the rotor efficiency. In other words, “tip-speed ratio” (TSR) is the
ratio of the speed of the rotating blade tip in rpm to the speed of the wind in kilometers-
per-hour (Kph), or miles-per-hour (mph).

 A good wind turbine design will determine the rotor power for any combination of wind
and rotor speed. The larger this TSR ratio, the faster the rotation of the wind turbine rotor
at a given wind speed. The shaft speed that the rotor is fixed too is given in revolutions per
minute (rpm) and depends on the tip-speed and the diameter of the turbines blades.

 A turbines rotational speed is defined as: rpm = wind speed x tip-speed-ratio x 60 /

(diameter x π).
 Wind Turbine Design
 Rotor Blade Length
 If a turbines rotor rotates too slowly, it allows too much wind to pass through undisturbed,
and thus does not extract as much as energy as it could. On the other hand, if the rotor
blade rotates too quickly, it appears to the wind as one large flat rotating circular disc,
which creates large amounts of drag and tip losses slowing the rotor down. Therefore it is
important to match the rotational speed of the turbine rotor to a particular wind speed so
that the optimum efficiency is obtained.

 Turbine rotors with fewer blades reach their maximum efficiency at higher tip-speed ratios
and generally, three bladed wind turbine designs for electrical generation have a tip speed
ratio of between 6 and 8, but will run more smoothly because they have three blades. On
the other hand, turbines used for water pumping applications have a lower tip speed ratio
of between 1.5 and 2 as they are specially designed for high torque generation at low
speeds
 Wind Turbine Design
 Rotor Blade Pitch/Angle
 Fixed design wind turbine rotor blades are generally not straight or flat like aeroplane
aerofoil wings, but instead have a small twist and taper along their length from the tip to
the root to allow for the different rotational speeds along the blade. This twist allows for
the blade to absorb the winds energy when the wind is coming at it from different
tangential angles and not just straight-on.

 A straight or flat rotor blade will stop giving lift and may even stop (stall), if the rotor blade
is hit by the wind at different angles, called the “angle of attack” especially if this angle of
attack is too steep.

 Therefore, to keep the rotor blade seeing an optimum angle of attack increasing lift and
efficiency, wind turbine design blades are generally twisted throughout the length of the
blade. In addition, this twist in the wind turbine design keeps the rotor blades from
spinning too fast in high wind speeds.
 Wind Turbine Design
 Rotor Blade Pitch/Angle
 However, for very large-scale wind turbine designs used for electrical power generation,
this twisting of the blades can make their construction very complicated and expensive, so
some other form of aerodynamic control is used to keep the blades angle of attack
perfectly aligned with the wind direction.

 The aerodynamic power produced by the wind turbine can be controlled by adjusting the
pitch angle of the wind turbine in relationship to the angle of attack of the wind as each
blade is rotated about its longitudinal axis. Then rotor blades with pitch control can be
flatter and more straight but generally these large blades have a similar twist in their
geometry but much smaller to optimize the tangential loading on the rotor blade.

 Each rotor blade has a rotational twist mechanism, either passive or dynamic built into the
root of the blade, producing a uniform incremental pitch control along its length (constant
twist). The amount of pitch required is only a few degrees as small changes in the pitch
angle can have a dramatic effect on the power output.
 Wind Turbine Design
 Rotor Blade Pitch/Angle
 One of the major advantages of rotor blade pitch control is the increase in the wind speed
window. A positive pitch angle produces a large starting torque as the rotor begins to turn
decreasing its cut-in wind speed. Likewise, in high wind speeds when the rotors maximum
speed limit is reached, the pitch can be controlled to keep the rotors rpm from exceeding
its limit by reducing their efficiency and angle of attack.

 Power regulation of a wind turbine can be achieved by using pitch control on the rotor
blades to either reduce or increase the lift force on the blades by controlling the angle of
attack. Smaller rotor blades achieve this by incorporating a small twist in their design.

 Larger commercial wind turbines use pitch control either passive, with the aid of
centrifugal springs and levers (similar to helicopter rotors) or by active using small
electrical motors built into the blades hub to rotate it the required few degrees. The
principal disadvantages of pitch control are reliability and cost.
 Wind Turbine Design
 Blade Construction
 The rotor blades of smaller turbines used in residential applications that range in size from
100 watts and upwards are generally made of solid carved wood, wood laminates or wood
veneer composites as well as aluminium or steel. Wooden rotor blades are strong, light
weight, cheap, flexible and popular with most do-it-yourself wind turbine designs as they
can be easily made. However, the low strength of wood laminates compared with other
wood materials renders it unsuitable for blades with slender designs operating at high tip
speeds.

 Aluminium blades are also light weight, strong and easy to work with, but are more
expensive, easily bent and suffer from metal fatigue. Likewise steel blades uses the
cheapest material and can be formed and shaped into curved panels following the
required aerofoil profile. However, it is much harder to introduce a twist into steel panels,
and together with poor fatigue properties, meaning it rusts, means that steel is rarely
used.
 Wind Turbine Design
 Blade Construction
 The rotor blades used for very large horizontal axis wind turbine design are made from
reinforced plastic composites with the most common composites consisting of
fiberglass/polyester resin, fiberglass/epoxy, fiberglass/polyester and carbon-fibre
composites. Glass-fibre and carbon-fibre composites have a substantially higher
compressive strength-to-weight ratio compared with the other materials. Also, fibreglass is
lightweight, strong, inexpensive, has good fatigue characteristics and can be used in a
variety of manufacturing processes.

 The size, type and construction of the wind turbine you may need depends on your
particular application and power requirements. Small wind turbine designs range in size
from 20 watts to 50 kilowatts (kW) with smaller or “micro” (20- to 500-watt) turbines be
used in residential locations for a variety of applications such electrical power generation
for charging batteries and powering lights.
 Wind Turbine Design
 Blade Construction
 Wind energy is among the world’s fastest-growing sources of renewable energy as it is a
clean, widely distributed energy resource that is abundant, has zero fuel cost, emissions-
free power generation technology. Most modern wind turbine generators available today
are designed to be installed and used in residential type installations.

 As a result, they are manufactured smaller and more lightweight allowing them to be
quickly and easily mounted directly onto a roof or onto a short pole or tower. Installing a
newer turbine generator as part of your home wind power system will allow you to reduce
most of the higher costs of maintaining and installing a taller and more expensive turbine
tower as you would have before in the past.