RENEWABLE ENERGY POWER PLANT

MODULE III

Wind energy conversion principle

The principle of wind energy conversion involves the transformation of kinetic energy from moving air
(wind) into mechanical energy and then further into electrical energy. This process takes place
through a device called a wind turbine or wind generator. Wind turbines capture the energy from the
wind and convert it into usable electricity.

Advantages of wind energy conversion

1. Clean and renewable energy source.
2. operating cost is very less.
3. Wind energy reduces dependance of fossil fuel systems.
4. Reduced carbon emission.
5. Low water usage for energy production.
6. Land can be used for multipurpose.
7. Technology advancements.

Disadvantages of wind energy conversion

1. Energy conversion dependant on the potential of area.

2. Visual impact and noise pollution.
3. These systems are harmful to the bird life.
4. Intial investment cost is high and it take long time for payback.
5. Limited energy storage solutions.
6. Requires frequent repair and maintenance.
7. It affect natural aethetics and tourism.

Criterion for selection of sites for wind energy powerplants

1. Availability of potential amount of wind energy.
2. Choose the site with consistent wind speed of 5.5 to 6.5 meter
per second.
3. The installation will not create any environmental issues.
4. Availability of proper land area.
5. The plant should be easily acessible to the grid system.
6. The plant should be economical and profitable.
7. Selection of type of wind turbine for the selected location.
8. Social acceptance and community engagement.

Wind energy conversion system

1. Wind turbine : Used to convert kinetic energy to mechanical energy. The output of
turbine coupled to a gear mechanism for speed control.the low turbine speed is raised
to generator high speed using this gear mechanism.
The diameter of turbine blades determine the power output of wind.the swept area is
determined by the diameter of rotor blades.
2. Towers : wind speed increases with height so the tower height should be high for
better energy production.for instance a 10% increase in overall system cost can produce
25% more power.

3. Electrical generators : AC generators are used to produce power from the mechanical
power input. Mainly two types of generators are used I n wind electric systems for
power generation.

Synchronous generators: these are the three phase AC generators with three phase
armature winding are placed in the stator frame and the rotor is supplied with a DC
source for developing required amount of flux.
By faraday’s law if there is a change in flux linking with the winding changes an emf is
induced across it.The frequency of generated emf depends on the speed of prime
mover.
Induction generators : these are similar in construction to a three phase squirrel cage
induction motor. It can generate AC power when the rotor is rotated above synchronous
speed by the prime mover. Suitable range of capacitor bank should be added to stator
for magnetization and for better power factor in the system.
4. Controller : this is used to control all activities in the system. It monitor the wind
speed and adjust the gear mechanism to maintain constant speed. It determines
temperature out of the generator for providing suitable cooling mechanism.the yaw
mechanism is properly maintained to align the rotor blades parallel with the wind
direction. The out put from the generator is monitored for maintaining constant
frequency by adjusting the power electronic drives.

5. Cooling system : Provided to ensure that the various parts do not overheat and cause
any damage to plant.

Classification of wind energy conversion system

Wind energy conversion devices can be broadly categorized into two types according to
their axis alignment.
1. Horizontal axis wind turbines

2. Vertical axis wind turbines.

Horizontal axis wind turbines

HAWTs utilize aerodynamic blades (i.e. airfoils) fitted to a rotor, which can be positioned
either upwind or downwind. HAWTs are typically either two- or three-bladed and
operate at high blade tip speeds. Machines with upwind rotors require a yaw, or tail
vane, to help them orient into the wind while downwind rotors have blades that are
coned allowing the turbine to orient on its own. In HAWT the turbine rotor couples the
electrical generator and this turbine generator set is placed
on the top of the turbine tower.The turbines commonly have a gearbox in between the
turbine shaft and the generator shaft. The functions of this gearbox are to provide
mechanical coupling between these two shafts and to step up the slow rotating speed of
the turbine blades to a high rotating speed of the generator.

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

There is another type of wind turbine which uses vertically aligned rotating shaft. We
call this turbine Vertical Axis Wind Turbines or VAWTs. As it has the vertical axis, it does
not have to align itself with the wind and hence using these turbines are more suitable
where the direction of wind significantly varies.
We can install this turbine even on the rooftop since the height of this turbine is much
lesser than that of HAWT. Another significant advantage is that as the shaft is vertical,
we can extend it to the bottom level where we can couple a generator with the vertical
shaft with the help of ground-based gearbox which facilitates easier maintenance.
Comparison between HAWT and VAWT

Horizontal axis wind turbine Vertical axis wind turbine

Axis of rotation parallel to the ground Axis of rotation perpendicular to ground

All the blades works at a time Only one blade works at a time
Works only for a specific wind direction Works in all wind directions
More ground area needed Less ground area needed
Can be located in remote area due to lagre Can be installed in urban areas
area requirement
Height is more Height is less
Power transmisssion cost is large Power transmission cost is less
Maintenance cost is high Maintenance cost is less.

Wind power plant

STAND ALONE WIND ENERGY SYSTEM.
 In stand alone type wind energy system the whole energy to drive the load is
derived from the wind turbine itself.
 Since the wind turbine is coupled with the AC generator it develop AC power. So it
can directly drive the AC load connected to it.
 For maintaining frequency at load side the generated AC is converted into DC and it
is converted into AC by using inverter by suitable switching of inverter circuit is
utilized to develop a constant frequency AC output.

GRID CONNECTED WIND ENERGY SYSTEM.

 Small wind energy system can be connected to the electricity distribution system.
 If the turbine cannot deliver amount of energy needed the utility makes up the
difference.
 When wind system produces more electricity than household requires the excess is
sent to the utility.
 This type of grid system wind turbine will operate only when utility grid is
available.during power outages the wind turbine is required to shut down.
 The block diagram representation of a grid connected system is shown in above
figure. Here the generated power is supplied to a common grid which interact with
the utility grid. The system is also connected with the AC load.
Power and energy from wind turbines.
Kinetic energy in wind turbine = 1/2 * M* V2
M = Mass of air travelling
A = Area swept by the rotating turbine blades.
V = Velocity of blades
ρ= Air density
D = diameter of the turbine blades
Pw = Wind power available
t = time.
Energy absorbed in turbine = 1/2 * ρ * A* V * t *V2
= 1/2 * ρ * A*V3 *t
Wind power = 1/2 *ρ *ᴨ/4*D2 * V3
= 1/8*ρ *ᴨ*D2 * V 3
Schemes for electric generation
INDUCTION GENERATORS
Construction
 An AC generator that has working phenomena similar to the induction motors is called
an induction generator.
 This generator works in a mechanical way as the speed of rotation of the generator is
higher than the synchronous speed.
 A normal induction motor is mostly working as a generator, without any special
changing in its circuitry.
 the induction generator has many restrictions. Because it does not have external
excitation circuitry and it cannot generate reactive energy (Q).
 As this generator uses reactive energy so there should be an exterior reactive power
source that should be connected with it to provide field at the stator.
 This separate source also regulates (control) the output voltage of the generator, this
generator does not have the ability to control its terminal voltage.
 The chief benefit of this generator is that its construction is very simple and there is no
need to move constantly on the same speed and it also not have special field circuitry.
Working principle of Induction generator
 The induction generator generates electrical power when the speed of rotation of the
rotor greater than the synchronous speed (it is the speed of rotation of field in the
stator).
 If we have normal 4 pole induction motor which working at the sixty-hertz frequency
it will have synchronous speed 1800 RPM (revolution per minute).
 We can find synchronous speed by this given formula.
Ns =120f / P
 During the usual working of the induction motor, the synchronous speed is larger than
the speed of the rotor.
 It allows rotor flux to produce current in the rotor, this current produce flux in the
stator which has polarity reverse to the stator flux.
 In this way, the rotor pulled along behind stator flux, with the currents in the rotor
induced at the slip frequency.
 In the case of a generator, a prime mover (that provides mechanical energy to the
generator) moves the rotor at such speed which is higher than the synchronous speed.
 In the case of generator stator also induced a current in the rotor and produce flux as
the opposite rotor flux is now linking with the stator, a current is formed in the stator
and the motor now works as a generator as it producing electrical energy.

Schemes for wind power generation

1. CSCFS (Constant Speed Constant Frequency Scheme)

Constant speed drives are used for large generators that feed the generated power to
the grid. Commonly synchronous generators or induction generators are used for power
generation.
The generator's rotational speed is tightly controlled to maintain a stable frequency,
usually 50 Hz or 60 Hz, depending on the region. This method is suitable for grid-
connected power generation systems where maintaining a consistent frequency is
essential for synchronization with the existing power grid.
Capacitors have to be used to avoid reactive volt ampere burden on the grid.

2. VSCFS (Variable speed constant frequency scheme)

The speed of the generator is allowed to vary based on the available input (wind speed ) to
optimize the conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy. Power electronic devices,
such as converters and inverters, are used to maintain a constant output frequency
regardless of the varying generator speed.

In this scheme output of three phase alternator (synchronous generator) is rectified by

bridge rectifier. The DC output is transmitted through DC transmission lines and then
converted back to AC using synchronous inverters and fed to grid system.
Due to variable speed operation, it yields higher power for both low and high wind
speeds. Both horizontal axis and vertical axis turbines are suitable.

3. (VSVFS) Variable speed variable frequency schemes

This scheme is suitable for loads that are frequency insensitive such as heating load.
Depending upon the wind speed, squirrel cage Induction Generator generates power at
variable frequency. Such generators are excited by Capacitor-bank. The magnitude and
frequency of the generated emf depends upon the wind turbine speed, excitation
capacitance and load impedance.