Lecture Notes on Wind Energy
Unit -1 Wind Energy (EC 340)
Historical Background: Wind power has been used as long as humans have put sails into the
wind. Wind-powered machines used to grind grain and pump water, the windmill and wind pump,
were developed in what is now Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan by the 9th century
The first windmill used for the production of electric power was built in Scotland in July 1887
Across the Atlantic, in Cleveland, Ohio, a larger and heavily engineered machine was designed and
constructed in the winter of 1887–1888 by Charles F. Brush. This was built by his engineering
company at his home and operated from 1886 until 1900. The Brush wind turbine had a rotor 17
metres (56 ft) in diameter and was mounted on an 18 metres (59 ft) tower. Although large by
today's standards, the machine was only rated at 12 kW. The connected dynamo was used either to
charge a bank of batteries or to operate up to 100 incandescent light bulbs, three arc lamps, and
various motors in Brush's laboratory.
With the development of electric power, wind power found new applications in lighting buildings
remote from centrally generated power. Throughout the 20th century parallel paths developed
small wind stations suitable for farms or residences. The 1973 oil crisis triggered the investigation
in Denmark and the United States that led to larger utility-scale wind generators that could be
connected to electric power grids for remote use of power. By 2008, the U.S. installed capacity had
reached 25.4 gigawatts, and by 2012 the installed capacity was 60 gigawatts. Today, wind-powered
generators operate in every size range between tiny stations for battery charging at isolated
residences, up to near-gigawatt-sized offshore wind farms that provide electric power to national
electrical networks.
What is Wind? Motion of the air parallel to the surface of the earth is called wind.
Cause of Air movement: Solar Energy is main cause of wind
Sea Breeze & land Breeze:
Prepared by Mahmood Alam (MED, IU Lko)
Lecture Notes on Wind Energy
Power contained in wind:
Wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion, also called wind. Total wind energy flowing
through an imaginary surface with area A during the time t is:
Where ρ is the density of air; v is the wind speed; Avt is the volume of air passing
through A (which is considered perpendicular to the direction of the wind); Avtρ is therefore the
mass m passing through "A". ½ ρv2 is the kinetic energy of the moving air per unit volume.
Power is energy per unit time, so the wind power incident on A (e.g. equal to the rotor area of a
wind turbine) is:
Wind power in an open air stream is thus proportional to the third power of the wind speed; the
available power increases eightfold when the wind speed doubles. Wind turbines for grid electric
power, therefore, need to be especially efficient at greater wind speeds.
Wind is the movement of air across the surface of the Earth, affected by areas of high pressure and
of low pressure. The global wind kinetic energy averaged approximately 1.50 MJ/m 2 over the
period from 1979 to 2010, 1.31 MJ/m2 in the Northern Hemisphere with 1.70 MJ/m2 in the
Southern Hemisphere. The atmosphere acts as a thermal engine, absorbing heat at higher
temperatures, releasing heat at lower temperatures. The process is responsible for the production of
wind kinetic energy at a rate of 2.46 W/m2 sustaining thus the circulation of the atmosphere against
frictional dissipation.
Thermodynamics of wind Energy:
“Energy changes form and moves from place to place but the total amount doesn't
change.”
The first law of thermodynamics tells us the energy out of the wind turbine over a certain amount
of time (power) has to equal the energy that went into the turbine during the same amount of time
(also power). The "energy in" is the kinetic energy from the wind's velocity and air density that
flows into the area swept by the turbine blades. It is not possible to convert all of the wind's kinetic
energy into mechanical energy. Some energy must remain in the air leaving the turbine. The
"energy out" is the energy converted by the turbine blades into mechanical energy (which is then
usually turned into electricity), plus whatever energy is left in the air after it passes through the
turbine rotors.
Prepared by Mahmood Alam (MED, IU Lko)
Lecture Notes on Wind Energy
Energy Efficiency for wind energy conversion:
An efficiency of 100% would mean that every last bit of available power in the wind passing
through the turbine blades would be converted into mechanical shaft power. But remember, as is
often the case with an ideal that can only be imagined, it is impossible to achieve. A wind turbine
with an efficiency of 100% is impossible.
In terms of power, the formula, for just the turbine blade conversion efficiency (aerodynamic
efficiency), will look like the expression below:
For a wind turbine the available power is almost entirely from the kinetic energy of
all those trillions upon trillions of air molecules moving along together in that mass
movement of air molecules we call wind. Thus the expression for the bottom part of
the fraction above would be the wind power formula also described in another page,
and shown below:
Prepared by Mahmood Alam (MED, IU Lko)
Lecture Notes on Wind Energy
Types of wind energy conversion devices
1. Horizontal axis wind turbine
2. Vertical axis wind turbine
Horizontal axis wind turbine:
It can be further divided into three types:
Dutch type grain grinding wind mills
Multi blade water pumping windmills
High speed propeller type windmills
1. Dutch Windmill:
Man has used Dutch windmills for a long time. In fact the grain
grinding windmills that were widely used in Europe since the middle
ages were Dutch. These windmills were operated on the thrust
exerted by the wind. The blades, generally four, were inclined at an
angle to the plane of rotation. The wind being deflected by the blades
exerted a force in the direction of rotation. The blades were made of
sails or wooden slats.
2. Multi blade Water Pumping Windmill:
Modern water pumping windmills have a large number of blades-
generally wooden or metallic- driving a reciprocating pumps. As the mill
has to be placed directly over the well, the criterion for site selection
concerns about water availability & not windiness. Therefore the mill must
be able to operate at slow winds. The large number of blades gives a high
torque, required for driving a centrifugal pump, even at low wind speeds.
Hence sometimes these are called as fan mills. As these windmills are
supposed to be installed at remote places, mostly as single units, reliability,
sturdiness, and low cost are the prime criteria and not efficiency. The
blades are made of flat steel plates, working on the thrust of wind. These
are hinged to a metalPrepared
ring to ensure structural Alam
by Mahmood strength, and the
(MED, low speed
IU Lko)
of rotation adds to the reliability. The orientation is generally achieved by
tail vane.
Lecture Notes on Wind Energy
3. High speed propeller type wind machines:
The horizontal axis wind turbines that are used today for electricity generation do not operate on
thrust force. They depend mainly on the aerodynamic forces that develop when wind flows around
a blade of aerofoil design. Windmills working on thrust force are inherently less efficient. So all
the modern wind turbine blades are designed based on aerofoil section.
Vertical axis wind turbines:
It comes in two different designs
The savonius rotor
The darrieus rotor
1. The savonius rotor:
The savonius rotor is extremely simple vertical axis device that works entirely because of
the thrust force of wind. The basic equipment is a drum cut in two halves vertically. The
two parts are attached to the two opposite sides of a vertical shaft. As the wind blowing into
the structure meets with two dissimilar surfaces – one convex and the other concave – the
forces exerted on the two surfaces are different, which gives the rotor a torque. By
providing a certain amount of overlap between the two drums, the torque can be increased.
This is because the wind blowing into the concave surface turn around and give a push to
the inner surface of the other drum, partly cancelling the wind thrust on the convex side. It
has been found that an overlap of about one third the drum diameters gives optimum result.
2. The darrieus wind turbine:
The particularity of Darrieus rotor is that its working is not at all evident from its
appearance. Two or more flexible blades are attached to a vertical shaft. The blades bow
outwards, taking approximately the shape of a parabola and are of symmetrical airfoil
section. Here the torque is zero when the rotor is stationary. It develops a positive torque
only when it is already rotating. This means that such a rotor has mo starting torque and has
to be start using some external means.
Prepared by Mahmood Alam (MED, IU Lko)
Lecture Notes on Wind Energy
Savonius rotor Darrieus wind turbine:
Prepared by Mahmood Alam (MED, IU Lko)
