3. Issues to be discussed
๏ถ Definition of wind turbine
๏ถ History of wind turbine
๏ถ Types of wind turbine
๏ถ Wind turbines on public display
๏ถ Small wind turbines
๏ถ Wind turbine spacing
๏ถ Health monitoring of wind turbine
4. Definition of wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device
that converts kinetic energy
from the wind into electrical
power. A wind turbine used
for charging batteries may
be referred to as a wind
charger.
5. History of wind turbine
Windmills were used in Persia (present-day
Iran) as early as 200 B.C. The wind wheel of
Hero of Alexandria marks one of the first
known instances of wind powering a
machine in history. However, the first known
practical windmills were built in Sistani, an
Eastern province of Iran, from the 7th
century.
6. History of wind turbine (continue)
The first electricity-generating wind
turbine was a battery charging machine
installed in July 1887 by Scottish academic
James Blyth to light his holiday home in
Mary irk, Scotland. Some months later
American inventor Charles F. Brush built
the first automatically operated wind
turbine for electricity production in
Cleveland, Ohio.
7. Types of wind turbine
Horizontal-axis:
Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT)
have the main rotor shaft and electrical
generator at the top of a tower, and
must be pointed into the wind. Small
turbines are pointed by a simple wind
vane, while large turbines generally use
a wind sensor coupled with a servo
motor
8. Types of wind turbine (continue)
Vertical-axis design
Vertical-axis wind turbines (or VAWTs) have the
main rotor shaft arranged vertically. One
advantage of this arrangement is that the
turbine does not need to be pointed into the
wind to be effective, which is an advantage on
site where the wind direction is highly variable.
It is also an advantage when the turbine is
integrated into a building because it is
inherently less steerable.
9. Windturbines on public display
A few localities have exploited the attention-getting nature of
wind turbines by placing them on public display, either with
visitor centers around their bases, or with viewing areas
farther away. The wind turbines are generally of conventional
horizontal-axis, three-bladed design, and generate power to
feed electrical grids, but they also serve the unconventional
roles of technology demonstration, public relations, and
education.
10. Small wind turbines
Small wind turbines may be used for a variety of applications including on-
or off-grid residences, telecom towers, offshore platforms, rural schools
and clinics, remote monitoring and other purposes that require energy
where there is no electric grid, or where the grid is unstable. Small wind
turbines may be as small as a fifty-watt generator for boat or caravan use.
Hybrid solar and wind powered units are increasingly being used for traffic
signage, particularly in rural locations, as they avoid the need to lay long
cables from the nearest mains connection point.
11. Wind turbine spacing
On most horizontal wind turbine farms,
a spacing of about 6-10 times the rotor
diameter is often upheld. However, for
large wind farms distances of about 15
rotor diameters should be more
economically optimal, taking into
account typical wind turbine and land
costs.
12. Health monitoring of windturbines
Due to data transmission problems, health monitoring of wind
turbines is usually performed using several accelerometers
and strain gages attached to the nacelle to monitor the
gearbox and equipment's. Recently, digital image correlation
and stereo photogrammetry are used to measure dynamics of
wind turbine blades. These methods usually measure
displacement and strain to identify location of defects.
