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Chapter 4. Wind Energy

The document discusses wind energy and wind turbines. It covers the following key points: 1. Wind forms as air moves from areas of high pressure to low pressure. 2. Modern wind turbines can achieve efficiencies between 35-50% of the maximum possible energy that can be extracted from wind according to Betz's law. 3. Wind turbines come in two main types - horizontal axis and vertical axis - and vary significantly in size from small residential turbines to large multi-megawatt offshore turbines over 600 feet tall.

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92 views

Chapter 4. Wind Energy

The document discusses wind energy and wind turbines. It covers the following key points: 1. Wind forms as air moves from areas of high pressure to low pressure. 2. Modern wind turbines can achieve efficiencies between 35-50% of the maximum possible energy that can be extracted from wind according to Betz's law. 3. Wind turbines come in two main types - horizontal axis and vertical axis - and vary significantly in size from small residential turbines to large multi-megawatt offshore turbines over 600 feet tall.

Uploaded by

bouzaaymen5
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 4

WIND ENERGY
WIND FORMATION

Image source: Center for Multiscale modeling of Atmospheric Processes via NASA
HISTORY OF WIND ENERGY
WHY SHOULD WE USE WIND ENERGY?
• Clean, zero emissions
• 𝑁𝑂𝑥 , 𝑆𝑂2 , 𝐶𝑂, 𝐶𝑂2
• Air quality, water quality
• Climate change

• Reduce fossil fuel dependence


• Energy independence
• Domestic energy-national
security

• Renewable
• No fuel-price volatility
WHY SHOULD WE USE WIND ENERGY?
There are, however, some aspects of wind power that distinguish it from other renewables like
hydroelectric, geothermal and solar power. We’ve organized these into 10 points to
demonstrate how, moving forward, wind power can become the second most important green
energy source worldwide and the protagonist of a sustainable future for many countries.

1. Wind is almost everywhere


2. Wind power is excellent in remote areas, wherever they may be
3. Wind is consistent in the medium and long-term
4. Excellent conversion efficiency
5. Wind power occupies very little land
6. The environmental impact is minimal
7. A green source that is truly economical
8. Maintenance is simple and only occasionally necessary
9. Excellent circularity in the end-of-life phase
WORLD INSTALLED WIND TURBINE CAPACITY
TOP WIND POWER PRODUCING STATES, 2022
10 MEGAWATT WIND FARM IN ADRAR ALGERIA

The first and only wind turbine farm in


Algeria was installed in 2014 at
Kabertene Adrar in the southern region
of the country with a generation
capacity of 10 MW. The onshore wind
farm-owned and operated by Sonelgaz-
comprises 12 units of 850 kW turbines.
WIND TURBINE TYPES
There are two different types of wind turbines. These turbines are often used for microgeneration, meaning that they can
be installed for a home to generate electricity. Both of these types of wind turbines have advantages and disadvantages.

Horizontal axis wind turbines


It has three blades that span 200 feet across, and are taller
and wider so that they can capture more wind. All the
components are on top of a tall tower, and the blades face
into the wind. The wind turns the blades that are connected
to a generator that makes the electricity.

Vertical axis wind turbines


The vertical axis turbines have the shaft of the blades
connected to it vertically to the ground. All the main
components are closer to the ground. It has 2 blades that
spin around like a giant eggbeater.
WIND TURBINE PARTS AND FUNCTIONALITY

Image Source: DOE


INSTALLING A WIND TURBINE

Setting the turbine Turbine foundation Cable trench Fixing rotor Lowering lower
foundations blades to hub tower section

Installing nacelle Installing generator Installed wind turbine


HOW TALL IS TALL?
OFFSHORE WIND
Advantages: Disadvantages:
• Offshore wind speeds tend to be faster than on land. • Offshore wind farms can be expensive and difficult
• Offshore wind speeds tend to be steadier than on to build and maintain.
land. • Effects of offshore wind farms on marine animals
• Many coastal areas have very high energy needs. and birds are not fully understood.
• Offshore wind farms have many of the same • Offshore wind farms built within view of the
advantages as land-based wind farms – they provide coastline may be unpopular among local residents,
renewable energy. and may affect tourism and property values.
ONSHORE WIND FARMS
OFFSHORE WIND FARMS
GLOSSARY OF TERMINOLOGY
WTG Wind turbine generator

dedicated platforms that collect energy generated from


Offshore substations offshore wind farms and transfer it to shore through an AC or
DC export cable.
The cables which would bring electricity from the offshore
Offshore export cables electrical platforms to the landfall. These cables will include
fiber optic cables.
Horizontal directional A method of cable installation where the cable is drilled beneath
drilling (HDD) a feature without the need for trenching.
HDD punch out means the location where the drilling bit associated with the
HDD exits out of the pilot hole on the seabed.
or the subsea cable linking one offshore wind turbine or
Inter-Array cables another – need to be particularly robust to keep them from
being damaged by external factors.
is a simple construction. The foundation consists of a steel pile
Mono pile foundation with a diameter of between 3.5 and 4.5 meters. The pile is
driven some 10 to 20 meters into the seabed depending on the
type of underground
EFFICIENCY OF WIND TURBINES
In 1919, German physicist Albert Betz hypothesized the Betz
limit as the maximum efficiency of wind turbines. In his study,
Betz determined this value as 59.3%, meaning that not more
than 59.3% of the kinetic energy in the wind can be used to
spin a turbine and produce electricity. A turbine cannot reach
the Betz limit, and typical efficiency levels range from 35% to
about 50%.

Betz’s Law
Betz’s law determines how much power is possible to extract from the wind, independent of
how a wind turbine is designed. On the basis of the principles of conservation of mass and
momentum, this law determines that when an airstream passes through an idealized “actuator
disk,” it captures energy from the wind stream. Betz’s law states that no turbine is capable of
capturing more than 16/27 (59.3%) of the wind’s kinetic energy. The value of 16/27 (59.3%) is
known as Betz limit or Betz’s coefficient. Wind turbines at utility-scale are typically capable of
producing 75–80% of the Betz limit at peak.
EFFICIENCY OF WIND TURBINES (CONT.)
The power output of a wind turbine is obtained by utilizing the laws of mass and momentum conservation to the air control volume as
follows:

𝑷 = 𝟏 𝟐 𝝆𝑨𝒗 𝒗𝟏 𝟐 − 𝒗𝟐 𝟐

and, 𝒗 = 𝟏 𝟐 𝒗𝟏 + 𝒗𝟐

This means 𝒗 is the wind velocity at the rotor as the average of the air velocities at upstream ( 𝒗𝟏 ) and downstream (𝒗𝟐 ).

Also, 𝑨 is the rotor swept area, and 𝝆 is the air density.

Using mathematical operations, maximum wind turbine output power


can be obtained as follows:

𝑷𝒎𝒂𝒙 = 𝟏𝟔 𝟐𝟕 × 𝟏 𝟐𝝆𝑨𝒗𝟏 𝟑

Therefore, the power that can be obtained from a cylinder of fluid with
a cross-sectional area of A and velocity of v1 is expressed as:

𝑷 = 𝟏 𝟐𝑪𝒑 𝝆𝑨 𝒗𝟏 𝟑

In this equation, 𝑪𝒑 is the power coefficient and can be calculated by: Schematic view of Betz’s tube, including air
streamlines from the entry to exit
𝑪𝒑 = 𝑷 𝑷
𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅
EFFICIENCY OF WIND TURBINES (CONT.)
In which, 𝑷𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅 is the power in a moving fluid in a cylinder with a cross-sectional area of 𝑨 and velocity of v1:

𝑷𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅 = 𝟏 𝟐 𝝆𝑨𝒗𝟏 𝟑

The power coefficient has a maximum value of:

𝑪𝒑,𝒎𝒂𝒙 = 𝟏𝟔 𝟐𝟕 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟗𝟑

Maximum Efficiency of a Wind Turbine

Today’s wind turbines can reach maximum values of Cp in the range of 0.45 to 0.50, which is 75–85% of the maximum theoretical
value. If wind speeds are high and a turbine is running at its rated power, the turbine rotates (pitches) its blades to reduce Cp to
avoid damage. From 12.5 to 25 m/s, the wind power increases by a factor of 8, so Cp must fall accordingly, decreasing to 0.06 for
winds of 25 m/s.

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