MODULE 3

MET 445 Wind Energy - Classification of wind turbines and power

RENEWABLE ENERGY performance curve, Energy in wind, Calculation of energy
content, Power coefficients, Betz limit theory, Tip speed ratio,
ENGINEERING Solidity of turbine’s power control strategies, Basic principles of
Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS), Classification of WECS,
Parts of WECS 1
 Introduction
• Wind energy is the kinetic energy
associated with movement of large masses
of air.
• These motions result from uneven heating
of atmosphere by the sun, creating
temperature, density and pressure
differences.
• It is a clean, cheap, and eco-friendly
renewable source. Main disadvantages
are: it is a dispersed, erratic and location-
specific source.
• Wind energy is harnessed as mechanical
energy with the help of wind turbine.

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 Introduction

Significant factors that have led to the accelerated development of wind power
are as follows:
(i) Availability of high-strength fibre composites for constructing large low-cost
rotor blades
(ii) Falling prices of power electronics
(iii) Variable speed operation of electrical generators to capture maximum
energy
(iv) Improved plant operation, pushing the availability up to 95 per cent
(v) Economy of scale, as the turbines and plants are getting larger in size
(vi) Accumulated field experience (the learning curve effect) improving the
capacity factor
(vii) Short energy payback (or energy recovery) period of about one year

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 Wind energy
• Wind turbines are mounted on a tower to
capture the most energy. At 100 feet or more
above ground, they can take advantage of
faster and less turbulent wind.
• Wind turbines can be used to produce
electricity for a single home or building, or
they can be connected to an electricity grid for
more widespread electricity distribution.

Operation
• Wind turbines operate on a simple
principle. The energy in the wind turns
two or three propeller-like blades around
a rotor. The rotor is connected to the main
shaft, which spins a generator to create
electricity.
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Wind energy

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 Wind energy

Advantages
• Wind energy is cost competitive with other fuel sources
• Wind energy is an indigenous, home grown energy source that helps to diversify the
national energy portfolio
• Wind energy can provide income for farmers, as well as economic benefits to communities
• Wind energy is an inexhaustible renewable energy source
• Wind turbines do not consume water
• Wind energy is clean
• Wind energy systems have low operating costs
• Wind energy can be used in a variety of applications
• Wind energy creates jobs
Disadvantages
• Wind reliability
• Threat to wildlife
• Noise and visual pollution

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 Classification of wind turbines
Horizontal axis wind turbine
Categorize wind turbines by:
1. orientation of their axis of rotation:
horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs)
and vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs)
2. mechanism that provides torque to the
rotating shaft: lift or drag.

• When the axis of rotation is parallel to

the air stream (i.e. horizontal), the
turbine is said to be a Horizontal Axis
Wind Turbine (HAWT), and when it is
perpendicular to the air stream (i.e.
vertical), it is said to be a Vertical Axis
Wind Turbine (VAWT).
• The size of the rotor and its speed
depends on rating of the turbine
• Efficiency of VAWT is low compared to
HAWT 7
 Classification of wind turbines
Vertical axis wind turbine

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 Horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs)
Modern horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs) use a
lifting force to turn the blades, similar to how an airplane
flies.
Here's how it works:
• When wind blows, air moves around both the top and
bottom of the blade. Because the blade is curved, air
moves faster over the top than the bottom, creating
lower pressure on the top. This difference in pressure
creates a force that pulls the blade upward.
This lift force pushes the blade in a direction that’s at a
right angle to the wind blowing on it. The lift force is
stronger than the direct push of the wind (drag), allowing
the blades to spin faster.
• Most modern turbines are built to reduce drag and
increase lift for better efficiency.

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 Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs)
• VAWTs are typically small wind turbines that are
characterized by an axis of rotation that is
perpendicular to the ground.
• VAWTs can operate independently of wind direction,
which is a major advantage for urban applications
where wind direction can change rapidly.
• The two primary VAWT designs are derived from
either the Darrieus (lift-driven) or the Savonius (drag-
driven) rotors.
• The lift-based Darrieus design looks like an eggbeater
and uses long airfoil shaped blades (i.e. tapered like
airplane wings) to extract energy as the wind strikes
the blades perpendicularly.
• In ideal low-turbulence wind environments, Darrieus
turbines tend to have lower efficiencies than HAWTs.
• Darrieus machines may run more smoothly and
produce more energy than HAWTs under the high-
turbulence, directionally fluctuating wind conditions
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A vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT)
works by using wind to rotate blades
around a vertical axis. The blades
experience both lift and drag forces.
• Lift is created by the air moving around
the curved surface of the blades, pulling
them in a direction perpendicular to the
wind, which helps the blades rotate
more efficiently.
• Drag is the resistance of the wind
pushing against the blades, which slows
the rotation but also contributes to some
of the turbine's motion.
• Efficient VAWTs are designed to
maximize lift while minimizing drag to
generate more power.

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Wind energy terminologies

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13
 Extracting energy from the wind
The mechanical energy can be defined as the form of energy that can be
converted to mechanical work completely and directly by an ideal
mechanical device such as an ideal turbine. The mechanical energy of a
flowing fluid can be expressed as:

where P/𝜌 is the flow energy, V2/2 is the kinetic energy, and gz is the
potential energy of the fluid, all per unit mass, and ṁ is the mass flow rate
of the fluid.
The pressures at the inlet and exit of a wind turbine are both equal to the
atmospheric pressure and the elevation does not change across a wind
turbine.
If the wind is blowing at a location at a velocity of V, the available wind
power is expressed as
This is the maximum power a wind turbine can
generate for the given wind velocity V. 14
 Extracting energy from the wind

The mass flow rate is given by

where ρ is the density and A is the disk area of a wind turbine (the circular area swept out by the
turbine blades as they rotate) and V is the velocity. Substituting,

The power potential of a wind turbine is proportional to cubic power of the wind
velocity

E.g. consider a location where the wind with a density of 1.2 kg/m3 is blowing at a velocity of 4
m/s. The maximum power a wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 1.03 m can generate is
determined from Eq

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 Extracting energy from the wind
WIND POWER DENSITY
For comparison of various wind turbines and locations, it is more useful to think in terms
of the available wind power per unit area, which we call the wind power density (WPD),
typically in units of W/m2

Average wind power density in terms of annual average wind speed V, based on hourly
averages as

A location is considered poor for construction of wind turbines if the average WPD is
less than about 100 W/m2, good if it is around 400 W/m2, and great if it is greater than
about 700 W/m2
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Why WPD Matters:
• WPD depends on wind speed and air density, and higher WPD values mean more wind
energy can be captured.
• Wind power is proportional to the cube of wind speed, so even a small increase in wind
speed dramatically increases the potential power output.
• Therefore, places with higher WPD are more desirable for wind turbine construction,
ensuring better energy generation and economic returns.

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Extracting energy from the wind

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 Extracting energy from the wind
Consider two locations, location A and location B, with average wind power
densities of 250 W/m2 and 500 W/m2, respectively. Determine the average
wind speed in each location. Take the density of air to be 1.18 kg/m3. If a
turbine with a diameter of 40 m is to be installed in location A and a turbine
with a diameter of 20 m is to be installed in location B, what is the ratio of wind
power potentials in location A to location B?

Va=7.51 m/s
Vb=9.46 m/s

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 Wind turbine efficiency
An actual wind turbine can produce only a percentage of available power potential into actual
shaft power. This percentage is called the wind turbine efficiency, and is determined from

.
𝑾𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒇𝒕 refers to rotor shaft power output

A gearbox/generator connected to the turbine converts shaft power into electrical power output
W’electric and they are related to each other by

where ηgearbox/generator is the gearbox/generator efficiency (typically >80%)

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 Wind turbine efficiency

overall wind turbine efficiency as the electrical power output divided by the
available wind power as:

The efficiency of wind turbine is usually referred to as power coefficient Cp. The
efficiency of wind turbines usually ranges between 30 and 40 percent.

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 Wind turbine efficiency
If we neglect frictional effects in a wind turbine and take the wind
velocity as the average velocity of air at the turbine inlet, we can state
that the portion of incoming kinetic energy not converted to electric
power leaves the wind turbine as outgoing kinetic energy

This relation enables us to determine the exit velocity when the turbine efficiency is known and the frictional
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effects are neglected.
 Betz limit
• The Betz limit is a theoretical limit that tells us the maximum
amount of energy a wind turbine can extract from the wind.
According to the Betz limit, no wind turbine can capture more
than 59.3% of the kinetic energy in the wind.
Why can't we capture 100% of the wind energy?
• If a wind turbine were to extract all the energy from the wind, the
wind would stop moving entirely behind the turbine. For the
turbine to work, the wind must continue flowing, so it must allow
some wind to pass through it. This leftover wind still has energy,
which limits how much the turbine can capture.
Key Points:
• 59.3% efficiency cap: The Betz limit says that even the best-
designed wind turbine can only capture up to 59.3% of the wind's
energy.
• Practical turbines: Real turbines capture less than this due to
design losses and inefficiencies, but the Betz limit helps engineers
understand the theoretical upper boundary. 23
 Betz Limit for Wind Turbine Efficiency
• Wind turbine efficiency is 100 percent under ideal
conditions based on the second law of thermodynamics.
• This would be the case only when the velocity of air at the
turbine exit is zero.
• This is not possible for operational reasons because air must
be taken away at the turbine exit to maintain the mass flow
through the turbine.
• There is a maximum possible efficiency for a wind turbine:
Betz limit
• Consider two control volumes surrounding the disk area—a
large control volume and a small control volume—as
sketched in Fig., with upstream wind speed V taken as V1.
• The axisymmetric stream tube (enclosed by streamlines as
drawn on the top and bottom) can be thought of as forming
an imaginary “duct” for the flow of air through the turbine.
• Since locations 1 and 2 are sufficiently far from the turbine,
we take P1 = P2 = Patm, yielding no net pressure force on the
control volume. 24
 Betz Limit for Wind Turbine Efficiency

The approximate velocities at the inlet (1) and outlet (2) be uniform at V1 and V2, respectively
The momentum equation for this simplified case is written as:
(1)

where FR is the reaction force on the turbine

The smaller control volume in Fig. encloses the turbine, but
A3 = A4 = A, since this
control volume is infinitesimally thin in the limit
Since the air is considered to be incompressible, V3 = V=4
the wind turbine extracts energy from the air, causing a pressure
drop, thus, P3 ≠ P4
Applying the stream wise component of the control volume
momentum equation on the small control volume

(2)

𝑚ሶ 𝑉2 − 𝑉1 =ሶ 𝑃4 − 𝑃3 𝐴
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 Betz Limit for Wind Turbine Efficiency
Bernoulli equation is certainly not applicable across the turbine, since it is extracting energy
from the air
A reasonable approximation between locations 1 and 3 and between locations 4 and 2

In this ideal analysis, the pressure starts at atmospheric pressure far upstream (P1 = Patm),
rises smoothly from P1to P3, drops suddenly from P3to P4 across the turbine disk, and then
rises smoothly from P4 to P2, ending at atmospheric pressure far downstream (P2 = Patm)

Setting P1 = P2 = Patm , V3 = V4 and z1 = z2 = z3 = z4

(3)

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 Betz Limit for Wind Turbine Efficiency

Substituting m’=ρAV3 into Eq. (1) and then combining the result with Eqs. (2) and (3) yields

(4)

we conclude that the average velocity of the air through an ideal wind turbine is the arithmetic
average of the far upstream and far downstream velocities.

For convenience, we define a new variable a as the fractional loss of velocity from far upstream
to the turbine disk as
(5)

The velocity through the turbine thus becomes V3 = V1 (1 -a), and the mass flow rate through
the turbine becomes m’= ρ V3 A = ρ V1 A (1 − a)
Combining this expression for V3 with Eq. (4) yields
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 Betz Limit for Wind Turbine Efficiency

For an ideal wind turbine without irreversible losses such as friction, the power generated by the
turbine is simply the difference between the incoming and outgoing kinetic energies.

(6)

Again assuming no irreversible losses in transferring power from the turbine to the turbine
shaf, the efciency of the wind turbine is expressed as

(7)

calculate the maximum possible value of ηwt by setting dηwt /da = 0 and solving for a.

This yields a=1 or ⅓. Since a = 1 is the trivial case (no power generated), “a” must equal ⅓ for
maximum possible power coefficient
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 Betz Limit for Wind Turbine Efficiency

Substituting a = ⅓ into Eq. (7) gives

This value of ηwt,max represents the maximum possible efficiency of any wind turbine and is
known as the Betz limit. All real wind turbines have a maximum achievable efficiency less
than this due to irreversible losses, which have been ignored in this ideal analysis.

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 Power curve

• The amount of energy a wind turbine

will produce varies according to
instantaneous wind speed. This
relationship between wind speed and
turbine power, termed the power curve,
varies by turbine design.
• This information is normally obtained
by monitoring and recording wind
speeds and direction over a period of
up to a year or more (typically longer
for large wind projects and shorter for
small wind projects) using a wind-
measuring instrument (anemometer)
and data recorder.
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 Tip speed ratio (TSR)
• TSR refers to the ratio between the wind speed and the speed of the tips of the wind
turbine blades.
• If the blade set spins too slowly then most of the wind will pass by the rotor without
being captured by the blades.
• If the blades spin too fast, then the blades will always be traveling through
used/turbulent wind. This is because the blades will always be traveling through a
location that the blade in front of it just traveled through (and used up all the wind
in that location).
• It is important that enough time lapses between two blades traveling through the
same location so that new/unused wind can enter this location.
• Thus, the next blade that passes through this location will be able to harness
fresh/unused wind. In short, if the blades are too slow they are not capturing all the
wind they could and if they are too fast, then the blades are spinning through
used/turbulent wind.
• TSR’s are employed when designing wind turbines so that the maximum amount of
energy can be extracted from the wind using a particular generator. 31
 Tip speed ratio (TSR)
TSR Number of blades
~ 6-7 2
~ 5-6 3
~ 2-3 5

1. Rotors with many blades (i.e. 11 blades) are generally not a good idea. An 11 bladed rotor would have an
optimal TSR which is very low. This means an 11 bladed rotor would operate most efficiently at extremely
low rpm’s. Because nearly all generators (permanent magnet alternators) are not optimized for extremely
low rpm’s, there is no advantage or reason to use a rotor with many blades. Remember, rotors with lots of
blades are capturing used/turbulent wind at high TSR’s and are thus extremely inefficient if used as a high-
rpm blade set.
2. High rpm generator or a motor requires a two or three blade rotor. These rotors operate more efficiently at
high rpm’s. Also, keep the blades as short as pragmatically possible because shorter blades obviously spin
faster than longer blades.
3. If wind generator rotor is operating at a low TSR compared to the optimum value, then wind turbine’s
blades will tend to stall before hitting maximum power/efficiency. If the wind turbine’s blades are spinning
above the recommend TSR, then the blades will be traveling through turbulent wind. Which is inefficient
and causes unnecessary stress and fatigue.
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 Tip speed ratio (TSR)

The angular velocity of rotating machinery is typically expressed in rpm (number of revolutions per
minute) and denoted by N.
Noting that velocity is distance traveled per unit time and the angular distance traveled during each
revolution is 2π,
the angular velocity of a wind turbine is ω = 2πN rad/min
Or ω = 2πN/60 rad/s.
Tip speed of turbine = ω × r
Where r is the radius of the turbine
𝑁
2×𝜋× ×𝑟
𝑇𝑆𝑅 = 60
𝑉
V is the free wind speed

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 Solidity of turbine
Solidity is the ratio of total platform area to swept area of the turbine 𝐴𝑏 Ab is the blade area
𝜎=
𝐴𝑑 Ad is the disc area

The local blade solidity is defined as the ratio of blade chord length
to spacing
𝑁×𝐶
𝜎= where r is the spanwise coordinate.
2×𝜋×𝑟
• The blade solidity has a significant influence in the starting
behaviour and in the efficiency of a micro-scale runner.
• From a practical standpoint, an infinite blade solidity would
not allow the fluid to pass through the rotor plane.
• On the contrary, a solidity equal to σ = 0 implies that the wind
turbine is transparent to the fluid.
• In both cases, no power conversion is achieved.
Two rotors illustrating the geometric
• Considering a high-solidity rotor, the fluid would strictly follow
significance of rotor solidity ratio. The rotor on
the deflection imposed by the blade geometry.
the right has a larger solidity ratio due to the
• The flow relative angle in the near wake of the rotors would at
blades covering a larger fraction of the net rotor
least be equal to the blade trailing edge angle.
disk area.
• By reducing the blade solidity, the difference between the
blade angle and the outlet flow angle becomes more
significant. 34
The solidity of a turbine refers to how much of the turbine's area is
actually occupied by its blades compared to the total area of the
turbine.
To put it simply:
•High Solidity: If a turbine has a high solidity, it means it has a
lot of blades close together. This design can help the turbine
capture more wind or fluid but can create more drag, which
might reduce efficiency.
•Low Solidity: If a turbine has low solidity, it means it has fewer
blades that are spaced further apart. This design typically results
in less drag and can be more efficient in certain conditions, but it
might not capture as much flow as a high solidity turbine.
In short, solidity is a measure of how "filled" the turbine is with
blades, and it affects how well the turbine works in different
situations.
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 Power control strategies

• Dependence of wind energy systems on climatic

and environmental factors
• Control systems are needed to ensure efficient
operation of WTs
• Effectively utilizing the wind energy such that
maximum power can be generated.
• Enhance the ability of the WTs to cope with the
variability of wind in producing energy in a cost
effective and reliable manner.
• Provide stability for grid integration, mitigation of
static and dynamic mechanical loads,
maximization of power production and
continuous power supply to the grid.
• In order to achieve the aforementioned control
objectives, it is important to optimally control the
WT generator torque and blade pitch angle.
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 Power control strategies
• WTs are not designed for extreme speeds or rotational torques.
• At very large aerodynamic torques or rotational speeds, the force on the blades of the
WT is enormous and can tear the turbine apart.
• To avoid this, WTs are always designed with a cut-out speed above which brakes will
slow the turbine to a halt.
• However, there is s range of wind speeds before the cut-out speed where the WT
employs various control strategies to deal with high wind speeds before the cut-out
speed
• All WTs are therefore designed with a kind of power control technique.
• stall control or (ii) pitch control.
• Stall control of WTs is further classified as passive and active stall control.
• Power control strategies in wind turbines are crucial for protecting the turbine,
optimizing energy production, ensuring grid stability, complying with regulations, and
enhancing overall safety and efficiency. They play a vital role in the effective integration
of wind energy into the power system.

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 Power control strategies
Passive stall power control
• Passive stalled controlled WTs have their blades bolted to the hub at a fixed angle.
• The geometry of the rotor blade profile is aerodynamically designed to ensure that in high wind speed
conditions, it creates turbulence on the side of the rotor blade which not facing the wind.
• This stall prevents the lifting force of the rotor blade from acting on the rotor.
• The rotor blade of a passively stalled controlled WT is slightly twisted along its longitudinal axis to ensure a
gradual stalling of the rotor blades rather than abruptly when the wind speed reaches its critical value
• Advantage: low cost technique which does not require the installation of additional actuators
• Disadvantage: natural stalling of the turbine blades the control process is very limited and the WT is exposed
to torque spikes and power fluctuations
Active stall power control
• Active stall controlled WTs are fitted with active power control mechanisms and pitchable blades similar to
pitch controlled WTs.
• During low wind speed conditions the WT blades are pitched in steps to get large torque.
• The active stall controlled WT increases the angle of attack of the rotor blades in order to make the blades go
into a deeper stall rather than decreasing the angle of attack to reduce the lift and rotational speed of the
blades
• active stall control enables power output control more accurately to avoid overshooting the rated power of
the WT at the beginning of a wind gust
• Another advantage of active stall control over passive stall control is the possibility of running the WT almost
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exactly at rated power at all high wind speeds.
 Power control strategies
Pitch control
• An electronic signal is generated which pitches the turbine blades out
of the wind when the power level goes above the prescribed safe level.
• The turbine blades are pitched or turned back into the wind at an
optimal angle of attack to catch the wind when the power level gets
lower.
• Minimal power loss can be achieved by pitching the WT blades and this
results in the captured power being equal to the electrical power
produced by the wind generator.
• Pitch controlled WTs have an active control system which varies the
pitch angle of the turbine blades to decrease torque and rotational
speed in WTs.

• This type of control is usually employed in high wind speeds only where high rotational speeds and
aerodynamic torques can damage the equipment.
• Pitch controlled system to have a constant power output above the rated wind speed while the stall controlled
systems are not able to keep a constant power output in high winds.
• The pitch control and active stall control of WTs are both based on the rotating actions on the WT blade.
• While pitch control turns the blade away from the wind in order to reduce the lift force on the turbine blades,
the active stall control of the WT turns the turbine blades into the wind.
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Power control strategies

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 Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS)
• A wind energy conversion system converts wind energy into some form of
electrical energy.
• In particular, medium and large scale WECS are designed to operate in parallel
with a public or local ac grid. This is known as grid-connected system.
• A small system, isolated from grid, feeding only to local load is known as
autonomous, remote, decentralized, stand alone or isolated power system.
• The turbine shaft speed is stepped up with the help of gears, with fixed gear ratio,
to suit the electrical generator and fine-tuning of speed is incorporated by pitch
control.

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 Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS)

• DC, synchronous or induction generators are used for mechanical to electrical

power conversion depending on the design of the system.
• The interface conditions the generated power to grid quality power. It may
consist of power electronic converter, transformer and filter, etc.
• The control unit monitors and controls the interaction among various blocks.
• It derives the reference voltage and frequency signals from the grid and receives
wind speed, wind direction, wind turbine speed, etc., processes them and
accordingly controls various blocks for optimal energy balance.

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 Classification of WECS
(1) Based on axis (4) According to the rotational speed of the area
(a) Horizontal axis machines turbines
(b) Vertical axis machines (i) Constant speed and variable pitch blades
(2) According to size (ii) Nearly constant speed with fixed pitch blades
(a) Small size machines (upto 2k W) (iii) Variable speed with fixed pitch blades
(b) Medium size machines (2 to 100k (a) Field modulated system
W) (b) Double output indication generator
(c) Large size machines (100k W and (c) AC-DC-AC link
above) (d) AC commentator generator
(3) Types of output (iv) Variable speed constant frequency generating
(a) DC output system.
i. DC generator (5) As per utilization of output
ii. Alternator rectifier (a) Battery storage
(b) AC output (b) Direct conversion to an electro
i. Variable frequency, variable or constant magnetic energy converter
voltage AC. (c) Thermal potential
ii. Constant frequency, variable or (d) Inter convention with conventional
constant voltage AC electric utility guides 43