WIND ENERGY TURBINES

Wind Energy Turbines

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction3

2.The Natural Phenomenon3

3. Generating Electricity From Wind4

4. Wind Turbine4

5. Types of Wind Turbines6

6. Drawbacks7

7. Advantages8

8. References10

Wind Energy Turbines

1. Introduction

The wind is a natural energy resource that has been used by humans on a modest scale for hundreds of years. Recently, however, concerns about climate change and diminishing reserves of fossil fuels have resulted in an increasing interest in wind as a major contributor to future energy needs. This renewed interest has not been without controversy, and major obstacles remain to realizing the full potential of wind as a modern energy resource. Doing so will require significant modifications to our energy infrastructure. It may also require some unpleasant compromises and difficult decisions about how we value Earth's resources.

2. The Natural Phenomenon

Earth's winds are dissipated by their interaction with the planet's surface, which acts as a source of friction. Because of friction, winds on our planet are typically stronger and more consistent the higher one travels into the atmosphere. For the same reason, near-surface winds are typically higher in areas where there are few surface obstructions, such as on the ocean, treeless plains, and glacial plateaus. The twin influences of altitude and terrain can sometimes result in dramatic spatial variations in average wind speed over short distances. In addition, the wind speed varies considerably over time, so wind is considered an intermittent energy resource (Spera, 2000, pp. 49-51).

3. Generating Electricity From Wind

Although in the past wind energy was used to propel sailing ships, pump water, and grind grain, it is currently used almost exclusively to generate electric power.

4. Wind Turbine

Wind turbines are mechanical instruments used for converting mechanical power from the wind to electrical power. It is a rotating machine that can be used to do meaningful work or to generate electricity from the widely available clean fuel called wind power. It comprises four basic components: rotor, tower, generator, and nacelle. The rotor picks up mechanical energy from the wind through attached blades and in turn rotates; the rotation of the rotor is then picked up by the generator to convert the motion to electricity. The nacelle is the compartment that houses the generator and other equipment; the tower is the base on which the turbine is mounted. Other equipments that make up a wind turbine include the gearbox, used to increase the speed of the shaft between the rotor hub and generator; the brakes, used to stop shaft movement during system failure or power overload; the control unit, which monitors and shuts down the system in case of malfunction and controls the lurch mechanism; the yaw controller, which moves rotors to align with wind direction; and the electrical parts that carry electricity from the generator (Burton and Sharpe, 2003, pp. 20-23).

Wind turbines use aerodynamic lift to produce a net positive torque on a rotating shaft connected to an electric generator. Large turbines use a gearbox to modify the low-speed shaft rotation to a higher speed driving the ...