BT 362: Sustainable Energy Processes

MODULE – III
1. Introduction to Wind Energy
Wind energy is an indirect form of solar energy. In the world, around 1% of solar energy is
converted in to wind energy. Wind flow is created as an effect of solar heat, which creates low and
high-pressure regions on the earth due to heating. The uneven terrains of the earth get unequally
heated by the sun rays. It makes some region of the earth warmer than others. The hot air in the
warmer regions becomes less dense and thus it rises up. Thus upward movement of the hot air creates
a vacuum which is immediately filled up by cold air from the adjacent cooler regions.

The flowing wind is used to rotate the wind turbine, which is also known as windmill. The
windmill can be directly coupled to a generator to produce electrical power. Wind turbines are
usually located at the sea shore or in the sea where there is availability of wind. For electric power
generation, the average wind speed required is 5 m/s.

Wind power as an alternative to fossil fuels, is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean
and it produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation. The cost per unit of energy produced
is similar to the cost for coal and natural gas power production. It needs less time to construct than
hydel and nuclear power plants.

The biggest wind mill erected for power generation is of 9.5 MW capacity in Denmark. In
India, some parts of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are considered for wind power generation. The Indian
wind energy sector has an installed capacity of 32,380 MW (as on 2017). In terms of wind power
installed capacity, India is ranked 5th in the world.

1.1. Characteristics of Wind Energy

• Wind power systems do not pollute the atmosphere.
• Fuel provision and transportation are not required in wind-power systems.
• Wind is a renewable source of energy.
• Wind energy when produced on small scale is cheap but it is competitive with conventional
power generating systems when produced on a large scale.

1.2. Sources of wind

Winds are natural phenomena in the atmosphere and have two different origins viz.,
planetary winds and local winds.

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a) Planetary winds – Planetary winds are caused by solar heating of the earth's surface near the
equator than near the north or south poles. This causes warm tropical air to rise and flow
through the upper atmosphere towards the poles and cold air from the poles to flow back to
the equator nearer to the earth's surface. The direction of motion of the planetary winds is
affected by the rotation of the earth.

b) Local winds – Local winds are caused by un-equal heating and cooling of land and water, and
also by hills and mountain sides. During the day warmer air over land rises upwards and
colder air from lakes, ocean, forest areas, flows towards warmer zones.

2. Availability of Wind Energy

• Wind energy systems can be implemented successfully only in areas with better wind
availability.
• Normally, wind speed varies with height. Also, it is found that due to the type of terrains, the
speed of wind varies.
• It is therefore difficult to find the real wind speed at a particular spot without any in-situ
measurements.
• The power in the wind is proportional to the cube of the wind speed. It is well known that the
highest wind velocities are generally found on hill tops, exposed coasts and out at sea.
• Various parameters need to be known regarding wind, including the mean wind speed,
directional data, variations about the mean in the short-term – daily, seasonal and annual
variations, as well as variations with height.
• These parameters are highly site specific and they can only be determined with sufficient
accuracy by measurements at a particular site over a sufficiently long period.
Wind vane
2.1. Wind Data Measurement
Cup anemometer
• For measurement of wind speed, the basic sensors used are
anemometers and for measurement of direction, wind vanes
are used.
• The most commonly used anemometer is rotating cup
anemometer. N E
• In this type, a vertical shaft supports a cup assembly.
• The cup rotates about the vertical axis in proportion with S
W
the incoming wind speed.
Anemometer and wind vane

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• The calculation of the power of the wind energy (Pt) is based on the kinetic energy of moving
air molecules. According to Betz' law, wind power,

Where, Pt = Power available in the wind

1 δ = Density of air,
Pt = ρAV 3 A = Swept area
2 V = Velocity of wind

Therefore, wind speed (V) is the most important parameter, as wind energy (Pt) is
proportional to the cube of wind speed.

• The wind is measured on the basis of many factors such as time availability, budget allocated
for the measurement and accuracy needed for estimation.
• It is better to use meteorological data or civil aviation data. Basically, the measurements are
wind speed and wind direction.
• The meteorological department collects data continuously from many airports and data from
anemometers located at 10m height in order to follow the world standard.
• Sometimes, anemometers provide inaccurate data due to the friction in bearings which causes
it to rotate slowly.

The world meteorological organization (WMO) has approved four methods for recording wind:
i. Human observation & log book: The visible symptoms corresponding to different wind
speeds are defined in “Beaufort Scale”. This scale is used in this method. This method is
cheap and can be easily implemented, but it is unreliable.
ii. Mechanical cup-counter anemometer: Majority of meteorological stations are now using
these anemometers. These anemometers take readings thrice a day and compute mean wind
speed. This method is cheap and relatively reliable. The main disadvantage is that it has to be
monitored daily for any faults.
iii. Data logger: The data logger collects velocity, frequency and direction. It is expensive and
may lead to technical failure of the machine. But it gives accurate values. The data are easily
and readily interpreted.
iv. Continuous record of velocity and direction: It is expensive and complex. They are used
only in major meteorological stations. But it can provide details in time-series data (second –
by – second) of direction and speed. Since it provides time series data, it takes lengthy and
expensive analysis.

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3. Site Characteristics
Site selection for large wind power plants requires consideration of a comprehensive set of
factors and balancing of a particular area for a defined land use. Mainly, four sites are selected to
install wind mills for extracting wind energy. They are:
i. Plain site
ii. Hill top site
iii. Sea-shore site
iv. Off-shore shallow water site.
3.1. Characteristics of a Good Wind Power Site
A good wind power site should have the following characteristics:
➢ High annual wind speed.
➢ An open plain or an open shore line.
➢ A mountain gap.
➢ The top of a smooth well rounded hill with gentle slopes lying on a flat plain or located on an
island in a lake or sea.
➢ There should be no full obstructions within a radius of 3km.

Some important factors that are to be considered while selecting a suitable site for wind power
plants are:
a) Technical Considerations
• Wind power is based on the wind velocity as the wind power is proportional to the cubic
power of wind speed. The viability of wind power in a particular site depends on having
sufficient wind speed available at the required height.
• Wind farms are located away from cities to avoid resistance to the air movement created by
buildings. So, the flat area is advisable to locate wind mill.
• There should not be any high structure to obstruct wind for a distance of 3 km to the wind
mill.
• Wind direction, size of the turbine, grid structure and distance are also considered for site
selection.
b) Economic Considerations
• Land cost should be favorable so that the total project cost is minimal.
• The selected site should be easily accessible to provide transport facilities for erection of
equipments and structures as well as for maintenance.

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• The site should be near the consumer for reducing the cost and transmission losses of the
generated power.
c) Environmental Considerations
• A stable ground is selected.
• Noise impact – Due to aerodynamic and mechanical noise when turbine blades interact with
eddies caused by atmospheric turbulence.
• There have long been arguments that wind turbines affect the migratory of birds but more
recently, it is discovered that they can make bats lungs explode.
d) Social Considerations
• Land use – some land related constraints include forest area, wet lands, land of high
productivity, archeological sites, military zones etc may cause issues to the installation of
wind farms.
• National Security – wind power plants can affect the national security. It seems that wind
farms makes holes in RADAR coverage as the blades on turbines confuse the system.
• Visual Impact – For many people, the big towers of the wind turbines with two or three
blades create visual pollution.
• Distance from Residential Area – noise from vibration stemming from wind turbines may
cause disturbance to the nearby residential area. Hence, wind turbines should be sited in a
considerable distance from the residential area.

4. Principle of Wind Energy Conversion System

Energy available in wind is basically the kinetic energy of the large masses of air moving
over the earth’s surface. Blades of the wind turbine receive this kinetic energy which is then
transformed to mechanical or electrical forms. The efficiency of converting wind energy to other
useful energy greatly depends on the efficiency with which the rotor interacts with the wind stream.
All the wind turbines work on two physical principles (or combination of these two) – Drag
Principle and Lift Principle.
The wind energy can be extracted from lift force or drag force or combination of lift and drag
forces. The lift force acts perpendicular to the air flow direction and drag force acts parallel to the
wind direction. The lift is produced by the change in velocity of air stream which speeds up the air
flow thereby creating a pressure drop. So, the pressure drop forces the body to lift the surface from
high pressure side to low pressure side of an aerofoil.

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Fig: Lift and Drag forces on an aerofoil

5. Wind Turbines
A wind turbine is a machine that converts kinetic energy of the moving air in to mechanical
energy which in turn, is converted in to electrical energy by a generator. The size of the wind turbine
may vary depending upon application. Mostly, smaller turbines are used for applications such as
battery charging for auxiliary power for boats or to power traffic warning signs, and slightly larger
turbines can be used for making contributions to a domestic power supply. Wind turbines are
generally classified in terms of orientation of the axis of rotation of their rotors as:
➢ Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT)
➢ Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT)
5.1. Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines
In a horizontal axis machine, the rotor axis is horizontal and is continuously adjusted in a
horizontal plane so that it is parallel to the direction of wind stream. These machines have to face the
direction of the wind in order to generate power. Its blade rotates on an axis parallel to the ground as
shown in the figure.

Fig: Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Fig: Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

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HAWT is the most common wind turbine design. Commonly found horizontal axis wind
turbines are multi-blade type, sail type, and propeller type. Both multi-blade and sail type wind
turbines run at low speeds of 60 – 80 rpm. The propeller type has two or three aerofoil blades and run
at speeds of 300 to 400 rpm. The propeller type approach currently dominates the wind turbine
applications. HAWTs consists of a tower and a nacelle that is mounted on the top of the tower.
Different mechanisms exist to point the nacelle towards the wind direction or to move the nacelle out
of the wind in case of high wind speeds.

Multi blade type Sail type

5.1.1. Advantages of HAWTs

• The tall tower base allows access to stronger wind in sites with wind shear.
• Efficiency is high in receiving power through the whole rotation since the blades always
move perpendicularly to the wind.
• The face of the horizontal axis blade is struck by the wind at a consistent angle regardless of
the position in its rotation.
• Variable blade pitch gives the turbine blades the optimum angle of attack.
5.1.2. Disadvantages of HAWTs
• HAWTs require an additional yaw control mechanism to turn the blades towards the wind.
• HAWTs have difficulty in operating near ground with turbulent wind. Therefore, tall towers
are required.
• The tall towers and blades (up to 90m long) are difficult to transport.
• They are difficult to install and it needs tall and expensive cranes and skilled operators.
• Massive tower construction is required to support the heavy blades, gearbox and generator.
• Reflections on tall HAWTs may affect the side lobes of radar installations creating signal
clutter.

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5.2. Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

In a vertical axis machine, the rotor axis is vertical, fixed and is perpendicular to both the
surface of the earth and wind stream. The key advantage of this arrangement is that the turbine does
not need to be pointed in to the wind streams to be effective because their operation is independent of
wind direction. With a vertical axis turbine, the generator and gearbox can be placed near the ground,
so the tower does not need to support it and hence is more accessible for maintenance.

Although vertical axis machines have existed for centuries, they are not as common as their
horizontal counterparts. The main reason for this is that they do not take advantage of the higher
wind speeds at higher elevations. A VAWT can catch wind in all directions. So, it need not be
oriented with respect to wind direction. This means that unlike a HAWT, no yawing mechanism
(adjusting the nacelle about the vertical axis to bring the rotor facing the wind) is needed for a
VAWT.

The rotor blades of VAWT have a variety of designs with different shapes and number of
blades. The VAWT normally needs guide wires to keep the rotor shaft in a fixed position and
minimize the possible mechanical vibrations. Although VAWTs have these advantages, their designs
are not as efficient at collecting energy from the wind as compared to horizontal machine designs.
The basic vertical designs are the Darrieus type, which has curved blades and efficiency of 35%, and
the Savonius type having the efficiency of 30%.

Savonius type
Darrieus type

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5.2.1. Savonius Type

Savonius type uses drag forces to create rotation of the shaft. Savonius windmill consists of a
hollow circular cylinder sliced in half, the two halves being fixed to a vertical axis with a gap in
between. Torque is produced by the pressure difference between the two sides of the blade-half
facing the wind. It has high starting torque, low speed and low efficiency. It needs large surface area.
It can extract power even from very slow wind, making it working most of the time. They are used
for low-power applications. A high starting torque particularly makes it suitable for pumping
applications, using positive displacement pumps.

5.2.2. Darrieus Type

Darrieus type uses lift forces to create the rotation of the shaft. Darrieus type requires much
less surface area. It is shaped like an egg beater and has two or three blades shaped like aerofoils. In
Darrieus vertical wind turbine, the generator is positioned at the base of the tower. The tower is
reinforced with guy wires. Darrieus rotor is used for large scale power generation. It runs at a large
tip-speed ratio. One of the drawbacks of this rotor is that it is usually not self- starting. Movement
may be initiated by using electrical motor. As the pitch of the blade cannot change, the rotor
frequency and thus, the output power cannot be controlled. Rotor frequency increases with wind
speed and power output keeps on increasing. Hence, at high wind speed, it becomes difficult to
control the output.

5.2.3 Advantages of VAWTs

• It need not be oriented with respect to wind direction. Hence, no yawing mechanism is
needed for VAWT.
• Since the shaft is vertical, the transmission and generator can be mounted at ground level
allowing easier servicing, lighter weight and lower tower cost.
• A massive tower structure is not required.
• VAWTs have lower noise signature.
• VAWTs have lower wind startup speeds than HAWTs.

5.2.4. Disadvantages of VAWTs

• It is less stable compared to HAWTs.
• It may not produce as much energy at a given time as a HAWT with the same footprint or
height because the rotors are located close to the ground.

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• It is less stable compared to HAWTs.

• A VAWT which used guy-wires to hold it in place puts stress at the bottom bearing as the
whole weight of the rotor is on the bearing.

5.3. Components of wind turbine

i. Hub – The blades are attached to the hub. It is the front portion of the shaft which faces the
wind direction. It is normally of conical shape.

ii. Rotor – Blades and hub together is called the rotor. Rotor is attached to the slow speed shaft.
Blades are manufactured from Fibreglass-Reinforced Polyester (FRP), steel or aluminium.

iii. Nacelle – Nacelle is the cover housing that houses all of the generating components in a wind
turbine, including the generator, gearbox, drive train, and brake assembly. It is placed on the
top of the tower.

iv. Tower– The tower of the wind turbine carries the nacelle and the rotor. Towers may be made
from steel or concrete. Towers are designed to withstand wind loads and gravity loads.
Usually, the range of tower is from 12m to 37m for small wind applications and it is from
30m to 75m for moderate or higher wind turbines.

v. Transmission System– The mechanical power generated by the wind turbine (rotor blades) is
transmitted to the electric generator by a transmission system located at the nacelle. It
contains a gearbox, clutch and braking system to stop the rotor in an emergency. Gears
connect the low-speed shaft attached to the hub to the high-speed shaft attached to the
generator and increase the rotational speed. The transmission system must be designed for
high dynamic torque loads due to fluctuating power output from the rotor.

vi. Electric Generator – It may be either asynchronous (induction) or synchronous type. Most of
the grid connected wind turbines installed so far use induction generators.

vii. Yaw Control System – It is used to continuously orient the rotor in the direction of the wind.
It turns a HAWT nacelle according to the actual wind direction, using a rotary actuator
attached to the gear ring at the top of the wind tower. A wind vane mounted at the top of the
top of the nacelle senses the relative wind direction and the wind-turbine controller then
operates the yaw drives.

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ix. Storage – There are different energy

storage systems available to store energy.
These systems are used to store energy
when there is excess power developed and
to discharge it when there is a lack in
power. The most common storage device
is the lead – acid battery.

x. Energy Converters – Usually the power

generated from the wind turbine is of AC
voltage (as most of the wind turbines use
alternators to produce AC), a controller
circuit consisting of converter and rectifier
is needed to convert the wind power in to
DC form; which is then stored in batteries.
The stored power is again converted in to
AC power by an inverter to supply to
connected loads.
Fig: Components of a Wind Turbine

6. Design Principles of Wind Turbines

All the wind turbines work on two physical principles (or combination of these two) in blade
Lift
designs by which energy is extracted from the wind.
Drag
Wind
• These principles are either
(i) Drag principle or
(ii) Lift principle. Lift and drag forces acting on a blade

• Blade designs are based on either the principle of drag or lift.

Drag devices are simple wind machines that use flat, curved or cup-shaped (unlike aerodynamic
shapes of the lift devices) blades to run the rotor. In the drag blade design, the wind pushes the blades
out of the way. Drag powered wind turbines are characterized by slower rotational speeds and high
torque capabilities. They are useful for pumping, sawing or grinding work. For example a farm type
wind mill must develop high torque at start-up in order to pump, or lift, water from a deep well.

Lift Devices employs the same principle that enables airplanes, kites and birds to fly. The blade
is essentially an airfoil, or wing. The top surface of a blade aerofoil is more curved than the bottom
surface. When air flows past the blade, a wind speed and pressure differential is created between the

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upper and lower blade surfaces. The pressure at the lower surface is greater and thus acts to ‘lift’ the
blade. This differential pressure creates a thrust force. This lifting force is perpendicular to the
direction of the wind and is converted in to a mechanical torque. This torque in turn makes the
turbine rotor to rotate and is then transformed to electrical forms. Lift-powered wind turbines have
much higher rotational speeds than drag types and therefore well suited for electricity generation.

6.1. Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines

In wind turbines, aerodynamics deals with the relative motion between moving air and
stationary aerofoil. The aerofoil is the cross-section of the blade of the wind turbine. It is the shape
designed to create maximum lift force when the air flows over it. In the wind turbine, linear kinetic
energy associated with the wind is converted in to rotational motion that is required to turn the
electrical generator for power generation. This change is accomplished by a rotor that has one, two or
three blades or aerofoils attached to the hub. The wind flowing over the surfaces of these aerofoils
generates the forces that cause the rotor to run. The basic principle of aerodynamics of a horizontal
axis wind turbine is shown in figure below.

Fig: Aerodynamics of Wind Turbine

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Wind passes more rapidly over the longer (upper) path of the aerofoil in comparison to the
shorter (lower) path as shown in figure below. The pressure is low at locations where the flow
velocity is high and the pressure is high at locations where the flow velocity is low. Thus, low
pressure is created in the upper surface of the aerofoil and high pressure in its lower surface. The
pressure difference between top and bottom surfaces of the aerofoil results in a force called
aerodynamic lift as air moves from high-pressure region to low pressure region.

Fig: Aerodynamic lift force on aerofoil section of wind turbine

The upward force due to aerodynamic lift pushes the blades to move up. Since the blades of
the wind turbine are constrained to move up with the hub at its centre, the lift force causes the
rotation of the blade about the hub. Air flowing smoothly over an aerofoil produces two forces – the
lift force perpendicular to the air flow and drag which acts in the direction of flow.

• The prime objective in the wind turbine design is for the blade (aerofoil-shaped) to have a
relatively high lift to drag ratio.
• This ratio can be varied along the length of the blade to optimize the output energy of the
turbine at various wind speed.
• Hence in aerodynamic analysis of wind turbines, both lift and drag forces are important for
their optimization in efficient design.
• Aerodynamics is not the only design consideration in creating an effective wind turbine.
• The longer the turbine blades (i.e., greater the diameter of the rotor), the more energy a
turbine can capture from the wind and greater will be the electricity generation capacity.
• Tower height is also a major factor in production capacity, as well.
• The higher the turbine, the more energy it can capture because wind speeds increase with
increase in elevation.

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7. Wind Energy Storage

Due to the irregularity in wind speeds, wind energy needs storage. There are different energy
storage systems available to store energy. Storage systems are used to store energy when there is
excess power developed and to discharge it when there is a lack in power. The most common storage
device is the lead – acid battery. During off peak demand periods, the energy generated by the wind
turbine is directly distributed to users. Excess energy is stored in the energy storage system. During
the full peak demand periods, the energy generated by the turbine and stored energy is supplied to
users. To meet high demand, hybrid systems are used. Here, energy stored in storage system and
energy produced by conventional sources is supplied to users. Various types of wind energy storage
systems are as follows:

7.1. Pumped Storage: This method is suitable for large power plants. It involves the use of surplus
electrical energy from the wind turbines to pump water in to high reservoirs during periods of high
wind availability or periods of low demand and extraction of power during periods of high demand
by running the same through water turbines. The energy extracted is less than that stored because of
the losses in both pumping and generation.

7.2. Compressed Air Storage: Electricity generated is used to compress air and store it in vessel.
When needed, the compressed air is mixed with natural gas, burned and expanded in a gas turbine /
internal combustion engine. Compressed air can also be used to run turbines to produce electric
power.

7.3. Flywheel Storage: A flywheel is a heavy shaft-mounted rotating disc that speeds up when
electrical energy is applied to it. When energy is needed, the flywheel is slowed and the
kinetic energy is converted back to electrical energy, where it can be transmitted to where it is
required.

7.4. Battery Storage: This is the storage of electrical energy by conversion to chemical energy in
batteries. The most common and highly developed is lead-acid battery.

7.5. Hydrogen Storage: It is a method of storing wind energy in hydrogen through the electrolysis of
water. The stored hydrogen is subsequently used to generate electricity during peak period which
cannot be managed by the wind energy alone. The energy in the stored hydrogen can be converted in
to electrical power through fuel cell technology.

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Fig: Wind- Hydrogen Storage System

8. Merits and Limitations of Wind Energy

8.1. Merits of Wind Energy

➢ Wind energy is clean, as it emits no green house gases.

➢ It is a non-polluting and environment friendly source of energy.

➢ Wind turbines can be used for both distributed generation or grid interactive power
generation using on-shore or off shore technologies.

➢ It can be made available easily in many off-shore, on-shore and remote areas; thus, helpful in
supplying electric power to remote and rural areas.

➢ It is an important renewable and sustainable source of energy, available free of cost.

➢ Due to their nature, wind turbines can be places in a variety of inhospitable locations.

➢ The scope of wind resource, globally, is enormous and is less dependent on latitude than
other solar based renewable energy technologies.

➢ Power generation is cheaper as there is no shortage of input cost and recurring expenses are
almost nil. Hence it is economically competitive.

8.2. Limitations of Wind Energy

➢ Energy Density: It has low energy density as the wind flow is variable, unsteady, irregular
and sometimes dangerous.

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➢ Reliability: Wind energy has low reliability because electricity production depends on- wind
speed, location, season and air temperature. Hence various monitoring systems are needed
and may also add to the cost.

➢ Expensive: High percentage of the hardware cost (for large wind turbine) is spent on the
tower designed to support the turbine. Wind turbines are quite expensive to match with the
output of a regular power station.

➢ Noise: The wind power generating systems produce ample noise.

➢ Complex System: Wind turbine design, manufacture and installation have proved to be
complex due to widely varying atmospheric conditions in which they have to operate and
extreme stresses.

➢ Distance from load centres: Wind farms can be located only in vast open areas in locations of
favorable wind. Generally, such locations are away from load centres.

➢ Aesthetics: The appearance of wind turbines on the landscape and their continual whirling
and whistling can be irritating.

➢ Impact on Wildlife: Wind turbines affect the migratory of birds. Areas that are commonly
occupied by threatened or endangered species should be regarded as unsuitable for wind
power development.

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