From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article discusses the energy-conversion machinery. See the broader article on wind power for more on turbine placement, economics, public concerns, and controversy: in particular, see the wind energy section of that article for an understanding of the temporal distribution of wind energy and how that affects wind-turbine design. See environmental concerns with electricity generation for discussion of environmental problems with wind-energy production.

Contents 1 Types of wind turbines 1.1 Horizontal axis 1.1.1 HAWT Subtypes 1.1.2 HAWT advantages 1.1.3 HAWT disadvantages 1.1.4 Cyclic stresses and vibration 1.2 Vertical axis 1.2.1 VAWT subtypes 1.2.2 VAWT advantages 1.2.3 VAWT disadvantages 1.3 Other designs 2 Locations 2.1 Offshore 2.2 Near-shore 2.3 Onshore 3 Turbine design and construction 4 Special wind turbines 5 History 6 Records 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

Wind turbines can be separated into two types based on the axis about which the turbine rotates. Turbines that rotate around a horizontal axis are more common. Vertical-axis turbines are less frequently used.

Horizontal-axis wind turbines(HAWT) have the main rotor shaft and electrical generator at the top of a tower, and must be pointed into the wind. Small turbines are pointed by a simple wind vane, while large turbines generally use a wind sensor coupled with a servo motor. Most have a gearbox, which turns the slow rotation of the blades into a quicker rotation that is more suitable for generating electricity.

Since a tower produces turbulence behind it, the turbine is usually pointed upwind of the tower. Turbine blades are made stiff to prevent the blades from being pushed into the tower by high winds. Additionally, the blades are placed a considerable distance in front of the tower and are sometimes tilted up a small amount.

Downwind machines have been built, despite the problem of turbulence, because they don't need an additional mechanism for keeping them in line with the wind, and because in high winds, the blades can be allowed to bend which reduces their swept area and thus their wind resistance. Since turbulence leads to fatigue failures, and reliability is so important, most HAWTs are upwind machines.

There are several types of HAWT:

Windmills 

These four- (or more) bladed squat structures, usually with wooden shutters or fabric sails, were developed in Europe. These windmills were pointed into the wind manually or via a tail-fan and were typically used to grind grain. In the Netherlands they were also used to pump water from low-lying land, and were instrumental in keeping its polders dry. Windmills were also located throughout the USA, especially in the Northeastern region.

Modern Rural Windmills 

The Eclipse windmill factory was set up around 1866 in Beloit, Wisconsin and soon became a huge success building mills for farm waterpumping and railroad tank filling. Other firms like Star, Dempster, and Aeromotor also entered the market.

These windmills, invented in 1876 ^[1] by Griffiths Bros and Co (Australia ^[2]), were used by Australian and later American farmers to pump water and to generate electricity. They typically had many blades, operated at tip speed ratios (defined below) not better than one, and had good starting torque. Some had small direct-current generators used to charge storage batteries, to provide a few lights, or to operate a radio receiver. The American rural electrification connected many farms to centrally-generated power and replaced individual windmills as a primary source of farm power by the 1950's. Such devices are still used in locations where it is too costly to bring in commercial power.

Common modern wind turbines 

Usually three-bladed, sometimes two-bladed or even one-bladed (and counterbalanced), and pointed into the wind by computer-controlled motors. The rugged three-bladed turbine type has been championed by Danish turbine manufacturers. These have high tip speeds of up to 6x wind speed, high efficiency, and low torque ripple which contributes to good reliability. This is the type of turbine that is used commercially to produce electricity. The blades are usually colored light gray to blend in with the clouds and range in length from 20 to 40 metres (70 to 100 ft) or more. The posts range from about 200 to 295 feet high. Contemporary models rotate at 16.6 rpm with a planetary gearbox which steps up the speed of generator components to 2,200 rpm. All are equipped with high wind shut down features to avoid over speed damage.

• Blades are to the side of the turbine's center of gravity, helping stability.
• Ability to wing warp, which gives the turbine blades the best angle of attack. Allowing the angle of attack to be remotely adjusted gives greater control, so the turbine collects the maximum amount of wind energy for the time of day and season.
• Ability to pitch the rotor blades in a storm, to minimize damage.
• Tall tower allows access to stronger wind in sites with wind shear. In some wind shear sites, every ten meters up, the wind speed can increase by 20% and the power output by 34%.
• Tall tower allows placement on uneven land or in offshore locations.
• Can be sited in forests above the tree line.
• Most are self-starting.
• Can be cheaper because of higher production volume, larger sizes and, in general higher capacity factors and efficiencies.

• HAWTs have difficulty operating in near ground, turbulent winds because their yaw and blade bearing need smoother, more laminar wind flows.
• The tall towers and long blades (up to 180 feet (55 m) long) are difficult to transport on the sea and on land. Transportation can now cost 20% of equipment costs.
• Tall HAWTs are difficult to install, needing very tall and expensive cranes and skilled operators.
• Supply of HAWTs is less than demand and between 2004 and 2006, turbine prices increased up to 60%. At the end of 2006, all major manufacturers were booked up with orders through 2008.
• The FAA has raised concerns about tall HAWTs effects on radar in proximity to air force bases.
• Their height can create local opposition based on impacts to viewsheds.
• Offshore towers can be a navigation problem and must be installed in shallow seas.
• Downwind variants suffer from fatigue and structural failure caused by turbulence.

Cyclic stresses fatigue the blade, axle and bearing material failures were a major cause of turbine failure for many years. Because wind velocity often increases at higher altitudes, the backward force and torque on a horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) blade peaks as it turns through the highest point in its circle. The tower hinders the airflow at the lowest point in the circle, which produces a local dip in force and torque. These effects produce a cyclic twist on the main bearings of a HAWT. The combined twist is worst in machines with an even number of blades, where one is straight up when another is straight down. To improve reliability, teetering hubs have been used which allow the main shaft to rock through a few degrees, so that the main bearings do not have to resist the torque peaks.

When the turbine turns to face the wind, the rotating blades act like a gyroscope. As it pivots, gyroscopic precession tries to twist the turbine into a forward or backward somersault. For each blade on a wind generator's turbine, precessive force is at a minimum when the blade is horizontal and at a maximum when the blade is vertical. This cyclic twisting can quickly fatigue and crack the blade roots, hub and axle of the turbines.

Vertical-axis wind turbines (or VAWTs) have the main rotor shaft running vertically. Key advantages of this arrangement are that the generator and/or gearbox can be placed at the bottom, near the ground, so the tower doesn't need to support it, and that the turbine doesn't need to be pointed into the wind. Drawbacks are usually pulsating torque that can be produced during each revolution and drag created when the blade rotates into the wind. It is also difficult to mount vertical-axis turbines on towers, meaning they must operate in the often slower, more turbulent air flow near the ground, resulting in lower energy extraction efficiency.

Darrieus wind turbine 

"Eggbeater" turbines. They have good efficiency, but produce large torque ripple and cyclic stress on the tower, which contributes to poor reliability. Also, they generally require some external power source, or an additional Savonius rotor, to start turning, because the starting torque is very low. The torque ripple is reduced by using 3 or more blades which results in a higher solidity for the rotor. Solidity is measured by blade area over the rotor area. Newer Darrieus type turbines are not held up by guy wires but have an external superstructure connected to the top bearing.

Giromill

A subtype of Darrieus turbine with vertical, as opposed to curved, blades. The cycloturbine variety have variable pitch to reduce the torque pulsation and are self-starting [1]. The advantages of variable pitch are: high starting torque; a wide, relatively flat torque curve; a lower blade speed ratio; a higher coefficient of performance; more efficient operation in turbulent winds; and a lower blade speed ratio which lowers blade bending stresses. Straight, V, or curved blades may be used. Recently , this type of turbine has been advanced by former Russian rocket scientists who claim to have increased the efficiency of the VAWT up to 38% . A company , SRC Vertical Ltd.[2] has been formed , and has begun selling the new turbine .

Savonius wind turbine 

These are drag-type devices with two- (or more) scoops that are used in anemometers, the Flettner vents (commonly seen on bus and van roofs), and in some high-reliability low-efficiency power turbines. They are always self-starting if there are at least three scoops. They sometimes have long helical scoops to give a smooth torque. The Banesh rotor and especially the Rahai rotor improve efficiency with blades shaped to produce significant lift as well as drag. A new variety uses sails that can open or close with changes in wind speed.

• Easier to maintain because most of their moving parts are located near the ground. This is due to the vertical wind turbine’s shape. The airfoils or rotor blades are connected by arms to a shaft that sits on a bearing and drives a generator below, usually by first connecting to a gearbox.
• As the rotor blades are vertical, a yaw device is not needed, reducing the need for this bearing and its cost.
• Vertical wind turbines have a higher airfoil pitch angle, giving improved aerodynamics while decreasing drag at low and high pressures.
• Mesas, hilltops, ridgelines and passes can have higher and more powerful winds near the ground than up high because of the speed up effect of winds moving up a slope or funneling into a pass combining with the winds moving directly into the site. In these places, VAWTs placed close to the ground can produce more power than HAWTs placed higher up.
• Low height useful where laws do not permit structures to be placed high.
• Smaller VAWTs can be much easier to transport and install.
• Does not need a free standing tower so is much less expensive and stronger in high winds that are close to the ground.
• Usually have a lower Tip-Speed ratio so less likely to break in high winds.
• Does not need to be pointed into the wind, can turn regardless of the direction of the wind.
• They can potentially be built to a far larger size than HAWT's , for instance floating VAWT's hundreds of meters in diameter where the entire vessel rotates , can eliminate the need for a large and expensive bearing .

• Most VAWTs produce energy at only 50% of the efficiency of HAWTs in large part because of the additional drag that they have as their blades rotate into the wind. This can be overcome by using structures to funnel more and align the wind into the rotor (e.g. "stators" on early Windstar turbines) or the "vortex" effect of placing straight bladed VAWTs closely together (e.g. Patent # 6784566).
• There may be a height limitation to how tall a vertical wind turbine can be built and how much sweep area it can have. However , this can be overcome by connecting a multiple number of turbines together in a triangular pattern with bracing across the top of the structure . Thus reducing the need for such strong vertical support , and allowing the turbine blades to be made much longer .
• Most VAWTS need to be installed on a relatively flat piece of land and some sites could be too steep for them but are still usable by HAWTs.
• Most VAWTs have low starting torque, and may require energy to start the turning.
• A VAWT that uses guide wires to hold it in place puts stress on the bottom bearing as all the weight of the rotor is on the bearing. Guide wires attached to the top bearing increase downward thrust in wind gusts. Solving this problem requires a superstructure to hold a top bearing in place to eliminate the downward thrusts of gust events in guide wired models.
• While VAWTs' parts are located on the ground, they are also located under the weight of the structure above it, which can make changing out parts near impossible without dismantling the structure if not designed properly.

For an unusual way to induce a voltage using an aerosol of ionised water, see vaneless ion wind generator.

Wind turbines can also be classified by the location in which they are to be used. Onshore, offshore, or even aerial wind turbines have unique design characteristics, which are explained in more detail in the section on turbine design and construction.

Offshore wind development zones are generally considered to be between 4000 and 8000 metres from land. Offshore wind turbines are less obtrusive than turbines on land, as their apparent size and noise can be mitigated by distance. Because water has less surface roughness than land (especially deeper water), the average wind speed is usually considerably higher over open water. Capacity factors (utilisation rates) are considerably higher than for onshore and near-shore locations which allows offshore turbines to use shorter towers, making them less visible.

In stormy areas with extended shallow continental shelves (such as Denmark), turbines are practical to install — Denmark's wind generation provides about 16-18% of total electricity demand in the country, with many offshore windfarms. Denmark plans to increase wind energy's contribution to as much as half of its electrical supply.

Locations have begun to be developed in the North American Great Lakes - with one project by Trillium Power approximately 20 km from shore and over 700 MW in size. Ontario, Canada is aggressively pursuing wind power development and has many onshore wind farms and several proposed near-shore locations but presently only one offshore development.

In most cases offshore environment is more expensive than onshore. Offshore towers are generally taller than onshore towers once the submerged height is included, and offshore foundations are more difficult to build and more expensive. Power transmission from offshore turbines is generally through undersea cable, which is more expensive to install than cables on land, and may use high voltage direct current operation if significant distance is to be covered — which then requires yet more equipment. The offshore environment can also be corrosive and abrasive in salt water locations but locations such as the Great Lakes are in fresh water and do not have many of the issues found in the ocean or sea. Repairs and maintenance are usually much more difficult, and generally more costly, than on onshore turbines. Offshore wind turbines are outfitted with extensive corrosion protection measures like coatings and cathodic protection however some of these measures may not be required in fresh water locations.

While there is a significant market for small land-based windmills, offshore wind turbines have recently been and will probably continue to be the largest wind turbines in operation, because larger turbines allow for the spread of the high fixed costs involved in offshore operation over a greater quantity of generation, reducing the average cost. For similar reasons, offshore wind farms tend to be quite large—often involving over 100 turbines—as opposed to onshore wind farms which can operate competitively even with much smaller installations.

There are some conceptual designs that might make use of the unique offshore environment. For example, a floating turbine might orient itself downwind of its anchor, and thus avoid the need for a yawing mechanism. One concept for offshore turbines has them generate rain, instead of electricity. The turbines would create a fine aerosol, which is envisioned to increase evaporation and induce rainfall, hopefully on land.^[3]

Near-shore turbines are generally considered to be within a zone that is on land three kilometers of a shoreline and on water within ten kilometers of land. Wind speeds in these zones share wind speed characteristics of both onshore wind and offshore wind. Issues that are shared within near-shore wind development zones are ornithological (including bird migration and nesting), aquatic habitat, transportation (including shipping and boating) and visual aesthetics.

Sea shores also tend to be windy areas and good sites for turbine installation, because a primary source of wind is convection from the differential heating and cooling of land and sea over the course of day and night. Winds at sea level carry somewhat more energy than winds of the same speed in mountainous areas because the air at sea level is denser.

Near-shore wind farm siting can sometimes be highly controversial as coastal sites are often picturesque and environmentally sensitive (for instance, having substantial bird life).

Onshore turbine installations in hilly or mountainous regions tend to be on ridgelines generally three kilometers or more inland from the nearest shoreline. This is done to exploit the topographic acceleration where the hill or ridge causes the wind to accelerate as it is forced over it. The additional wind speeds gained in this way make large differences to the amount of energy that is produced. Great attention must be paid to the exact positions of the turbines (a process known as micro-siting) because a difference of 30 m can sometimes mean a doubling in output. Local winds are often monitored for a year or more with anemometers and detailed wind maps constructed before wind generators are installed.

For smaller installations where such data collection is too expensive or time consuming, the normal way of prospecting for wind-power sites is to directly look for trees or vegetation that are permanently "cast" or deformed by the prevailing winds. Another way is to use a wind-speed survey map, or historical data from a nearby meteorological station, although these methods are less reliable.

Wind farm siting can sometimes be controversial, particularly as the hilltop, often coastal sites preferred are often picturesque and environmentally sensitive (for instance, having substantial bird life). Local residents in a number of potential sites have strongly opposed the installation of wind farms, and political support has resulted in the blocking of construction of some installations.^[4] Placement by motorways is seen as a solution to local opposition to wind turbines, as the problems of wind turbines are masked by the noise and visual pollution of motorways.^[5]

Main article: Wind turbine design

Wind turbines are designed to exploit the wind energy that exists at a location. Aerodynamic modelling is used to determine the optimum tower height, control systems, number of blades, and blade shape.

Virtually all modern wind turbines convert wind energy to electricity for energy distribution. As described, the modern wind turbine is a system that comprises three integral components with distinct disciplines of engineering science. The rotor component, which is approximately 20% of the wind turbine cost, includes the blades for converting wind energy to an intermediate low speed rotational energy. The generator component, which is approximately 34% of the wind turbine cost, includes the electrical generator, the control electronics, and most likely a gearbox component for converting the low speed rotational energy to electricity. The structural support component, which is approximately 15% of the wind turbine cost, includes the tower for optimally situating the rotor component to the wind energy source.^[6]

Main article: Special wind turbines

One E-66 wind turbine at Windpark Holtriem, Germany carries an observation deck, open for visitors to see. Another turbine of the same type, with an observation deck, can be located in Swaffham, England.

A series of floating wind turbines utilizing the Magnus Effect are in development in Canada by Magenn Power. They deliver power to the ground by a tether system.

Wind turbines may also be used in conjunction with a solar collector to extract the energy due to air heated by the Sun and rising through a large vertical solar updraft tower.

Main article: History of wind power

Wind machines were used for grinding grain in Persia as early as 200 B.C. This type of machine was introduced into the Roman Empire by 250 A.D. By the 14th century Dutch windmills were in use to drain areas of the Rhine River delta. In Denmark by 1900 there were about 2500 windmills for mechanical loads such as pumps and mills, producing an estimated combined peak power of about 30 MW. The first windmill for electricity production was built in Cleveland, Ohio by Charles F Brush in 1888, and in 1908 there were 72 wind-driven electric generators from 5 kW to 25 kW. The largest machines were on 24 m (79 ft) towers with four-bladed 23 m (75 ft) diameter rotors.

By the 1930s windmills were mainly used to generate electricity on farms, mostly in the United States where distribution systems had not yet been installed. In this period, high-tensile steel was cheap, and windmills were placed atop prefabricated open steel lattice towers. A forerunner of modern horizontal-axis wind generators was in service at Yalta, USSR in 1931. This was a 100 kW generator on a 30 m (100 ft) tower, connected to the local 6.3 kV distribution system. It was reported to have an annual load factor of 32 per cent, not much different from current wind machines.

The world's largest turbines are manufactured by the Northern German companies Enercon and REpower. The Enercon E-126 delivers up to 6 MW , has an overall height of 198 m (650 ft) and a diameter of 126 m (413 ft). The REpower 5M delivers up to 5 MW , has an overall height of 183 m (600 ft) and a diameter of 126 m (413 ft).

The turbine closest to the North Pole is a Nordex N-80 in Havoygalven near Hammerfest, Norway. The ones closest to the South Pole are two Enercon E-30 in Antarctica, used to power the Australian Research Division's Mawson Station.^[7]

• BBC News,"Wind farms 'must take root in UK", http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4560139.stm, BBC News,Copyright 2007
• Alan Wyatt: Electric Power: Challenges and Choices. Book Press Ltd., Toronto 1986, ISBN 0-920650-00-7
• Tony Burton, David Sharpe, Nick Jenkins, Ervin Bossanyi: Wind Energy Handbook, John Wiley & Sons, 1st edition (2001), ISBN 0-471-48997-2
• Darrell, Dodge, Early History Through 1875, TeloNet Web Development, http://telosnet.com/wind/early.html, Copyright 1996-2001
• David, Macaulay, New Way Things Work, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Copyright 1994-1999, pg.41-42

• Listing of wind technology websites at the Open Directory Project
• Eric, Eggleston, What are Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTS)?, American Wind Energy Association, Copyright 1998
• History of Wind Energy, U.S Department of Energy, Copyright 1997-2005
• How Wind Turbines Work, U.S Department of Energy, Copyright 1997-2005
• What are the Basic Wind Turbine Configurations?, American Wind, Copyright 1998, 11/2/05
• Wind Energy Economics, Danish Wind Industry Association ,Copyright 1997-2003
• Wind Energy Technology Website of the World Wind Energy Association
• Wind Turbine Simulation, National Geographic
• How to build a wind turbine at home for $150
• Wind turbines and birds
• Wind turbines and shipwrecks