Institute of Aviation Engineering & Technology

Energy Conversion
Prof. Shady H. E. Abdel Aleem
BSc, MSc, PhD, SMIEEE, MIET
Associate Professor
[email protected]
Wind Energy
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Wind Energy Development: History
Wind has been a source of energy all along history.

The ancient Egyptians discovered the power of wind, which led to the
invention of sailboats around 5000 BC.

By 200 BC, the Persian, Chinese, and Middle Easterners used windmills
extensively for irrigation, wood cutting, and grinding grains.

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In addition to producing mechanical power, windmills were used to
communicate with neighbors by locking the windmill sails in a certain
arrangement.

During World War II, the Netherlanders used to set windmill sails in certain
positions to alert the public of a possible attack by their enemies.

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During the nineteenth century, the European settlers brought windmill
technology to North America.

They were mainly used to pump water from wells for farming. The first
known windmill was built by Daniel Halladay in 1854. It was quite an
innovative system, as it was able to align itself with wind direction.

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In 1888, Charles Francis Brush of the United States made a major innovation
by converting the kinetic energy in wind into electrical energy.

These types of windmills are called “wind turbines.”

The first design, which is shown in Figure 3, was about 20 m in height and
36 ton in weight.

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This enormous structure produced just 12 kW.

First electric wind turbine.

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Wind Turbines

Modern wind turbines are much larger in size and much more reliable than
the old versions.

The power rating of WTs, as shown in Figure 4, has increased from just a
few kilowatt to up to 8 MW for a single unit in 2013.

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Because the air density is
low, these machines are
large in size, as seen in
the figure.

Keep in mind that the

height of the Statue of
Liberty is 93 m and that
of the Great Pyramid is
140 m. Average height of wind turbines.

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The power captured by
the turbine is
proportional to the
sweep area of its blades.

This makes the power

proportional to the
square of the blade
length (l). Typical rotor diameter.

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The diameter of the sweep area is known as the “rotor diameter,”
which is twice the length of a single blade. Some typical rotor
diameters is given in Figure 5.

To put the number into perspective, the diameter of a 2 MW

turbine is more than the length of a Boeing 747 airplane or an
Airbus 380.

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Larger turbines are built offshore!

Blade of a 1.8 MW WT.

Figure 6 shows a 1.8 MW turbine

blade. Note the length of the blade with
respect to the extended-load truck. Fig.
7 illustrates the rotor diameter and
swept area.
Swept area and rotor diameter.
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The drive shaft of wind turbines can rotate horizontally or
vertically. A horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) is shown in
Figure 8. This is the most common type of WT system used today.

Its main drive shaft, gearbox, electrical generator, and, sometimes,

the transformer are housed in the nacelle at the top of a tower (see
Figure 9).

The turbine is aligned to face the upwind.

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A 1.8 MW HAWT. Nacelle of the 1.8 MW HAWT.

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To prevent the blades from hitting the tower at high wind
conditions, the blades are placed at a distance in front of the tower
and tilted up a little.

The tall tower allows the turbine to access strong wind.

Every blade receives power from wind at any position, which

makes the HAWT a high-efficient design.

However, HAWT requires massive tower construction to support

the heavy nacelle, and it requires an additional yaw control system
to turn the blades toward wind.
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The other design is the vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) shown
in Figure 10.

It is known as “Darrieus wind turbines” and it looks like a giant

upside down eggbeater.

The VAWT was among the early designs of wind turbines because
it is suitable for sites with shifting wind directions.

This design does not require a yaw mechanism to direct the blade
into wind.
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The generator, gearbox, and transformers are all located at the
ground level, making the VAWT easier to install and maintain as
compared with the HAWT.

The cut-in speed of the VAWT is generally lower than that for the
HAWT.

The VAWT is also popular in small wind energy systems. One of

them is shown in Figure 11. This small VAWT is intended for
individual use (home or office), and several units with design
variations are installed all over the world.
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Vertical-axis wind turbine. Small wind turbine.
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However, because of its massive inertia, VAWT may require
external power source to startup the turbine, and extensive
bearing system to support the heavy weight of the turbine.

Because wind speed is slower near ground, the available wind

power is lower than that of HAWT. In addition, objects near
ground can create turbulent flow that can produce vibration on
the rotating components and cause extra stress on the turbine.

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Offshore Wind Turbines

With the continuous demand for larger wind turbines, researchers

envisioned the offshore wind turbines.

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This is because of several reasons; a few among them are as follows:

1. Size of wind turbines will eventually reach a level where roads cannot
accommodate the transportation of the blades.
2. Offshore wind is stronger than onshore.
3. Offshore winds are often strong in the afternoon, which match the time of heavy
electricity demand.
4. Most densely populated areas are near shores.
5. Offshore turbines are not normally visible from shores. This reduces the public
concern with regard to the visual impact of wind farms.
6. Noise and light flickers are less of a problem for offshore turbines.

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Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines
The role of wind turbines (WTs) is
to harness the kinetic energy in wind
and convert it into electrical energy.

According to Newton’s second law

of motion, the kinetic energy of an
object is the energy it possesses
while in motion.
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If the moving object is air, KE of the moving air (wind) can be computed
in a similar way. In Figure 1, the mass of air passing through a ring is
given as follows:

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Wind passing through a ring.
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The volume of air passing through the ring is the area of the ring multiplied
by the length of the air column.

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Hence, the mass of air passing through the ring during a given time is

Substituting the mass in KE Equation yields:

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Because the energy is power multiplied by time, the wind power (Pw) in
watt is

Note that the KE and the power of wind are proportional to the cube of
the speed of wind; if the wind speed increases by just 10%, the KE of
wind increases by 33.1%.

The wind power density can be written as

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For a dry thin air of 1 kg/m3, the wind power density is about 3.0 kW/m2
if wind speed is 18 m/s.

This is a tremendous amount of energy for moderate wind speeds.

This is why storms are destructive; at 35 m/s (78 mile/hr), wind power
density is about 21.5 kW/m2.

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Wind power density as a function of wind speed.
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Several offshore areas in the east and west coasts as well as the Great Lakes
region have fresh to strong breezes with an average wind speed of about
10.0 m/s.

These sites have an average annual power density of about 500 W/m2.

This simple relation (10.0 m/s) (0.5 kW/m2) can be easily remembered.

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Wind speed
Wind is a renewable resource as it is
in constant motion relative to the
Earth’s surface.

Wind speed is a stochastic variable;

its magnitude and direction are
continuously changing and cannot
be controlled.
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The three main factors that determine wind speed are:

1. Pressure gradient force (PGF),

2. Coriolis force, and

3. Friction.

The first one is the most stochastic component of wind speed.

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PGF: Because of the roundness of the Earth and its alignment with respect to
the sun, the sun heats up the Earth with uneven temperatures.

Two adjacent areas with different temperatures cause a difference in pressure

(pressure gradient). Remember Gay-Lussac's law (P/T=Constant).

Pressure gradient causes air to flow from the high-pressure side to the low-
pressure side to equalize the two pressures (or temperature).

Wind speed increases as the PGF becomes stronger.

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Remember

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Coriolis force: The Coriolis force is due to the Earth’s
rotation.

Coriolis effect is a deflection of moving air when they

are viewed from a rotating reference frame such as the
Earth’s surface.

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Coriolis force is the strongest near the poles and zero at the equator.

PGF and the Coriolis force determine the magnitude and direction of wind.

Friction: Because the surface of the Earth is rough, air friction near ground is
high.

Friction causes air to slow down.

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Impact of Friction and Height on Wind Speed

Wind speeds decreases near ground as air friction is high.

Smooth surfaces, such as water, reduce air friction.

Forests or buildings slow down the wind substantially.

Therefore, elevation is a key factor in determining wind speed.

This requires the knowledge of area topography as well as several

meteorological parameters.

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An approximate method that is often used is given as follows:

Terrain=‫تضاريس‬

Because power is proportional to the cube of wind speed, we can

predict the power of wind as
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Example

Solution

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Air Density (δ)

Air density is a function of 5 parameters:

1. Air pressure,
2. Temperature,
3. Humidity,
4. Elevation, and
5. Gravitational acceleration.

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One of the expressions used to compute air density is:

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Substituting these values into the equation yields

The equation shows that when the temperature decreases, the air is denser.
Also, air is less dense at higher altitudes.
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Example

Solution

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