Kwame Nkrumah University of

Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

Renwable Energy Conversion

ME 467
Basics of Wind Energy
David A. Quansah, PhD
Department of Mechanical Engineering, KNUST
 Wind Energy

2 www.knust.edu.gh
 Wind Power Global Capacity 2010-2020

Global capacity has almost quadrupled since 2010.

3 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology

Horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT)

Upwind machines
Downwind machines

4 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology
Merits
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines
• they don’t need yaw control to keep them facing into the wind.

• heavy machinery contained in the nacelle can be located down on the ground, (easier
servicing).

• tower need not be structurally as strong as that for a HAWT

Demerits

• Blades are relatively close to the ground where wind speeds are lower.

• Higher turbulence near surface of earth, in creasing stresses on blades.

• Due to low starting torque, there are challenges with controlling power output in high
wind speed regimes.

5 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology

Merits/Demerits (Downwind)

• A downwind machine has the advantage of letting the wind itself control the
yaw (the left–right motion)
• Naturally orients itself correctly with respect to wind direction.
• Problem, with wind shadowing effects of the tower. blade swings behind the
tower, encounters a brief period of reduced wind, causing the blade to flex
(leads to blade fatigue, increased noise and reduced power)

Merits/Demerits (Upwind)

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines • Complex yaw control systems to keep the blades facing into the wind.
• Operate more smoothly and deliver more power.

6 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology
The kinetic energy (K.E) of air with mass
m and speed v is may be written as:

But power is energy per unit time, therefore,

the power represented by a mass of air
moving at velocity v through area A is:

𝟏
𝑷𝒘 = 𝝆𝑨𝒗𝟑
Where:
Pw is the power in the wind (watts);
𝟐
ρ is the air density (kg/m3) (at 15◦C and 1 atm, ρ = 1.225 kg/m3); Power in the wind
A is the cross-sectional area through which the wind passes (m2) increases as the CUBE
v = windspeed normal to A (m/s) of wind speed.
7
7 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology
The kinetic energy (K.E) of air with mass
m and speed v is may be written as:

But power is energy per unit time, therefore,

the power represented by a mass of air
moving at velocity v through area A is:

𝟏
𝑷𝒘 = 𝝆𝑨𝒗𝟑
Where:
Pw is the power in the wind (watts);
𝟐
ρ is the air density (kg/m3) (at 15◦C and 1 atm, ρ = 1.225 kg/m3); Power in the wind
A is the cross-sectional area through which the wind passes (m2) increases as the CUBE
v = windspeed normal to A (m/s) of wind speed.
8
8 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology

specific power or
power density

Power in the wind, per square meter of cross section, at 150C and 1 atm.
9 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology
Comments on Equation:
• Density of air is dependent on temperature and altitude.

• Wind speeds are also affected by altitude.

The density ratio KT is the ratio of density at T

to the density at the standard (boldfaced) 15oC.

10 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology
𝟏
𝑷𝒘 = 𝝆𝑨𝒗𝟑
𝟐 Air Pressure at 15◦C as a Function of Altitude

Air density at a given temperature

and altitude may now be estimated
as:

𝜌 = 1.225𝑘 𝑇 𝑘𝐴

11 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology
Example:
Find the power density (W/m2) in 10 m/s wind at an elevation of 2000 m and a temperature
of 5◦C.
Solution:
Wind power density may be estimated from
1 𝑃𝑤 1 3
𝑃𝑤 = 𝜌𝐴𝑣 3 = 𝜌𝑣
2 𝐴 2
But density needs to be corrected to conditions given, using:
𝜌 = 1.225𝑘 𝑇 𝑘𝐴
𝑃𝑤 1 𝑃𝑤 1
= × 1.225𝑘 𝑇 𝑘𝐴 𝑣 3 = × 1.225 × 1.04 × 0.789 × 103
𝐴 2 𝐴 2
𝑷𝒘
= 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝑾/𝒎𝟐
𝑨
12 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology
Effect of tower height:

• One way to get the turbine into higher winds is to mount it on a taller tower.

• The windspeed v is the at height H is given by

𝛼
𝑣 𝐻
=
𝑣0 𝐻0

• where, v0 is the windspeed at height H0 (often a reference height of 10 m), and α

.is the friction coefficient.

13 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology
Effect of tower height:

𝛼
𝑣 𝐻
=
𝑣0 𝐻0

.
Friction Coefficient for Various Terrain Characteristics

14 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology

Question:
An anemometer mounted at a height of 12 m above a surface with crops, hedges, and
shrubs shows a wind speed of 5.5 m/s. Estimate the windspeed and the specific power in
the wind at a height of 50 m. Assume 15C and 1 atm of pressure.

15 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology
Characteristics of Wind Turbines

Cut-in speed.
At very low wind speeds, there is insufficient
torque exerted by the wind on the turbine
blades to make them rotate. However, as the
speed increases, the wind turbine will begin to
rotate and generate electrical power.

The speed at which the turbine first starts to

rotate and generate power is called the cut-in
speed and is typically between 3 and 4 metres
per second.

16 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology
Characteristics of Wind Turbines Rated output power and rate output wind speed.

As the wind speed rises above the cut-in speed, the

level of electrical output power rises rapidly as shown.
However, typically somewhere between 12 and 17
m/s, the power output reaches the limit that the
electrical generator is capable of.

This limit to the generator output is called the rated

power output and the wind speed at which it is
reached is called the rated output wind speed.

At higher wind speeds, the design of the turbine is

arranged to limit the power to this maximum level
and there is no further rise in the output power
17 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology
Characteristics of Wind Turbines
Cut-out speed.
As the speed increases above the rate output wind
speed, the forces on the turbine structure continue to
rise and, at some point, there is a risk of damage to the
rotor.

As a result, a braking system is employed to bring the

rotor to a standstill. This is called the cut-out speed and
is usually around 25 m/s.

18 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology

The Figure shown is the characteristic curve of a 1,300 kW NORDEX N 62 wind

turbine. Using this chart, estimate:
(a) the cut-in speed
(b) the speed at rated power
(c) cut-out speed

19 www.knust.edu.gh
 Fundamentals of Wind Power Technology

What advantages do Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) have over Horizontal
Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT)?

Why are wind turbine manufacturers increasingly pushing towards larger

turbines?

How can the capacity factor of wind turbines be increased?

20 www.knust.edu.gh