Spinning Toward the Future

The Workings of Wind Turbines and the Effect of Wind Farms on the Economy and Environment

Brendan Cassidy ENGL 202C March 16, 2012

Audience and Scope

The purpose of this technical description is to provide insight to those interested in clean energy technologies about horizontal wind turbines and how they are involved in the generation of electricity in todays global energy market. Wind turbines first got their start as windmills used for pumping water, first used in parts of Europe and the Middle East. Since then, technology has made it possible for modern wind turbines to generate mass amounts of electricity for homes, buildings, and even full towns, primarily generated from large scale wind farms. This document will present how horizontal wind turbines work, the incorporation in wind farms in the current energy market, and the economic and environmental attributes they present.

Horizontal Wind Turbines: An Introduction

Wind turbines are mechanical devices that generate energy and electricity by converting the kinetic energy from wind. Wind turbines can be used to generate bountiful amounts of electricity in both onshore and offshore wind farms, and can also range in size and power output. There are also two major types of wind generators, either with a vertical and horizontal axis. Wind power demand is growing rapidly, as many companies and customers alike are looking to invest in renewable and clean energy technologies, both for the benefit of the economy and environment. This document will focus on horizontal turbines, as they are more widely used and recognized.
Figure 1: A typical horizontal wind turbine

How Wind Turbines Work

Horizontal-axis wind turbines have the main rotor shaft and electrical generator at the top of a tower, and must be pointed into the wind. Most turbines have a gearbox, which turns the slow rotation of the blades into a quicker rotation that is more suitable to drive the electrical generator. Figure 2 shows all the components within a typical horizontal wind turbine. The most important components are the rotor blades, gearbox, generator, and tower, as discussed in the following section.
Figure 2: Wind turbine components

I.

Major Wind Turbine Components Component Rotor Blades Description Physically converts kinetic energy from wind as the wind forces the blades to move. Contains gears that spin with rotor blades, which is used to power the generator. Uses properties of electromagnetic induction to produce an electrical voltage. Large beam that supports the rotor, blades and the gearbox holding the gears and generator.

Gearbox / Drive Train

Generator

Tower

II.

How a Horizontal Wind Turbine Operates

The rotor blade acts like a wing or propeller by creating both a lift and drag force. The lift force spins the rotor blade, turning the rotor around, which then rotates the gears and spins the generator. The spinning of the generator results in electricity production.

Figure 3: Wind turbine process

Wind Farms, the Economy, and the Environment

Wind turbines have since begun to be a major part in the growing energy market, as its development and positive effect on the environment began to catch on. Now, much of the use of wind turbines comes from the design of wind farms, which are a grouping of wind turbines in one location in order to generate large amounts of power. There are now thousands of wind farms in the United States alone, due to rising energy prices and search for alternatives. However, there is still some controversy surrounding the construction of wind farms, as well as wind power in general, both economically and environmentally.

Figure 4a: Onshore wind farm

Figure 4b: Offshore wind farm

I.

Wind Power and Wind Farm Economics: A Costly Venture

Despite their positive outlook on the environment and carbon emissions, wind energy and the construction of wind farms is a costly investment. The graph below (Figure 5) demonstrates that the cost of wind energy decreases as wind speed increases. This certainly makes sense, but what isnt as often realized is that many areas have very low average wind speeds, which results in wind power and the construction of wind farms being a highly costly venture in many regions.

Figure 5: Electricity costs from a 600 kW wind turbine

II.

How Wind Power and Farms Benefit the Environment

Much like other modern forms of renewable energy, wind power is a clean energy source that consumes no fuel and emits no air pollution. Alongside this, many turbines are limited on noise pollution, and in nearly all cases wind farms dont have an effect on limiting land and agricultural use either. Figure 6 shows livestock ignoring a wind turbine in this field, demonstrating how wind power has a limited effect on agriculture.

Figure 6: Cattle ignore wind turbine in herd

Conclusion
Since their development, wind turbines have evolved greatly into become one of the most looked upon forms of alternative energy in todays growing energy market. An individual turbine captures the kinetic energy from wind and converts it into mechanical energy for generating electricity, as wind inflow spins the rotor blades which in turn spin the gears in the drive train activating the generator. Many wind turbines are used in the form of wind farms, both onshore and offshore, in generating large amounts of electricity for residential and commercial areas. Although wind power is highly beneficial to the environment by emitting no greenhouse gas emissions, the costs remain relatively high in many regions with lower average wind speeds, much higher than many fossil fuels today. However, despite these attributes, it is no question that wind energy is here to stay, and its efficiency in cost and reliability is only bound to increase with time.

References
Information cited from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_turbine http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/wind-power/wind-turbines/ http://claesjohnsonmathscience.wordpress.com/article/how-a-wind-turbine-worksyvfu3xg7d7wt-27/ http://windeis.anl.gov/guide/basics/index.cfm http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/wind-power1.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_farm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_wind_power

Images cited from: http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/facilities/sustainability/wind_turbine/ http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/wind-power/wind-turbines/ http://claesjohnsonmathscience.wordpress.com/article/how-a-wind-turbine-worksyvfu3xg7d7wt-27/ http://wiki.windpower.org/images/8/8f/Costbyms.gif http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_wind_power