Wind Speed and windmills explained

Tip Speed Ratio - this is the ratio between the wind speed and the turbine blade tip speed, and is the starting point for designing the turbine itself. The optimum TSR band changes with the "solidity" of the turbine disc (i.e. how many blades it has). When operating at its design TSR, ma imum power can be e tracted from the wind. !s the actual TSR shifts abo"e or below its design point, the a"ailable power decreases substantially. ! turbine with a single blade (and a counter weight on the other side) might be designed for a TSR of #$ to #%. !s you add blades, the optimum TSR decreases, and a & blade turbine will wor' most effecti"ely with a TSR in a band between ( to ). The typical multi-blade farm "windmill" pump operates at a TSR of less than one. *or a & blade turbine with a + metre diameter and a TSR of (.% in a % metre per second wind, the optimum tip speed would therefore be % , (.%, or ++.% metres per second. This translates to a turbine shaft speed of +#% rpm. *or a +$ metre diameter turbine, the rotational speed would be only +#.% R-. to maintain the same TSR. These low speeds do not suit most alternators or generators and, in the case of the +$ meter turbine, would certainly re/uire stepping up by a gearbo . 0ote also that, if the wind speed doubles, then the turbine speed must double to permit ma imum power to be e tracted. Power in the wind and power extraction - !s a rough rule of thumb, you would re/uire an 1 metre diameter turbine to e tract # 'ilowatt of power from a % metre per second wind (#1 'ph). This assumes that the turbine is &$2 efficient. you can actually only e tract 3$2 of the wind energy anyway. The power a"ailable in the wind "aries as the cube of the wind speed and as the s/uare of the turbine diameter. This means that, for e"en minor wind speed increases, there is an enormous increase in e tractable energy. 4n most locations, though, wind speeds tend to be low, and the art with turbines focuses on e tracting useful energy at the pre"ailing (usually low) wind speeds. !ny small increase in wind speed can pro"ide substantial power di"idends so, within reason, the higher you can mount your wind turbine the better. Blade Twist or Helix- There is a lot of science in efficient blade design The principle of blade twist is, howe"er, relati"ely simple. !ir arri"ing at the leading edge of a turbine blade hits the blade with the speed of the wind in an a ial direction, while the blade simultaneously hits the air at its circumferential speed. The circumferential speed depends on the radius of the point in /uestion from the turbine a is, and is ob"iously fastest at the tip. 5onsidering the tip for the moment, if it is operating at its design TSR, then the air hitting the tip will do so at an angle to its rotational plane which is the angle who6s cotangent is the TSR (see *igure #). 4f the TSR is (.%, then this angle is #+.% degrees to the plane of rotation. !t half the diameter, where the speed ratio is half, the angle is the cotangent of half the TSR (or, in this case, +&.7 degrees). The attached table gi"es the twist angles for "arious percentages of the radius of a three bladed turbine with a TSR of (.%, but can be readily recalculated for other TSRs. 0ote that the twist angle is not directly proportional to the radius, but follows the cotangent function. The rate of twist increases closer to the turbine a is. Aerofoils - !t high wind speeds there is so much wind power a"ailable that e"en bits of pac'ing case timber set at an angle to the wind can generate power. The art is in efficiently e tracting power at low wind speeds. 8fficient turbines use aerofoil sections, li'e those used for the wings and propellers of aeroplanes. !ll aerofoils can be distinguished by ha"ing a lifting side, where the air mo"es more /uic'ly than on the other. The lifting side is ordinarily con"e , while the other side may be identical, less con"e , flat, or e"en conca"e. ! turbine blade is no different to an aerofoil wing or propeller in its use of one (or se"eral) aerofoil shapes. 9ne essential difference though is that a turbine blade needs its lifting side away from the wind, while a propeller blade has it towards the direction of tra"el. 9ne of the things which distinguish one aerofoil shape from another is its lift to drag (:;<) ratio. :ift is the force e erted at right angles to the incident air, while the drag force is in the same direction as the incident air. Really e cellent aerofoils can produce a lift force of around #$$ to #%$ times the drag force, although "alues of around +$ are more readily achie"able. !ttainment of high orders of :;< ratio is "ery much dependent on accurate reproduction of the aerofoil design, and a "ery high standard of finish. There are do=ens (hundreds, probably) of aerofoil sections that ha"e been de"eloped by bodies such as 0!5! (now 0!S!), and their de"elopment is a science in itself. ! table enabling the "enerable 0!5! 5lar' > aerofoil to be set out is attached (Table #). ?eing

essentially flat on the lower face, the 5lar' > is a relati"ely simple shape to reproduce, and has been used for many aeroplane propellors. 4t is, howe"er, by no means the ultimate wind turbine aerofoil. 4ts low :;< of about +$ needs a TSR at the lower end of the band (which is why (.% has been used as the e ample "alue) and lowers the turbine efficiency. The aerofoils of most interest to wind turbine blade e perimenters chasing higher :;< ratios and hence efficiency tend to come from the lower speed end of the range, as de"eloped for model aeroplanes. This is to do with ha"ing a similar Reynolds 0umber, to the turbine operating conditions (for those interested in following up the matter). 8rosion, or an accumulation of lumps from insects (particularly o"er the first third of the lifting surface), spoils the air-flow, and substantially lowers the :;< ratio Angle of Attack. The angle between the incident air and the aerofoil chord (line between the leading and trailing edges) is called the !ngle of !ttac'. !s a rule of thumb, the highest lift is de"eloped at an angle of attac' of about #$ to #+ degrees to the incident air. The point of stall, where the air flow dethatches from the lifting side and the lift collapses, occurs at an angle of about #3 degrees. The !! that pro"ides the highest :ift to <rag ratio is the angle of most interest to aeroplane designers, and occurs somewhere between $ to ( degrees, depending upon the aerofoil selected. Wind turbine designers are primarily interested only in the component of the lift that pro"ides tor/ue in the plane of rotation of the turbine, and may select a higher !! to get more lift. The component of lift acting in the same direction as the actual wind only ser"es to load up the support tower (see *igure +), so turbine and aeroplane designers ha"e different "iews on lift. Turbine Blade Angle - *or best efficiency, a turbine blade needs to be set at the twist angle minus the desired angle of attac' (i.e. the blade angle - see *igure #). Suggested blade angles for a percentage of blade radii for a typical three-blade turbine with a TSR of (.% are gi"en in the Table +. This is based on an arbitrarily selected !! of ( degrees, but this can be the sub@ect of some e perimentation (in association with different aerofoils). The !! does not need to be constant for all of the blade length (nor does the aerofoil section), and this is a fertile area for the e perimenter to research. 4t is interesting to note that, if the blade was being designed as a propellor, the angle of attac' would be added to the twist angle. This is because, for a propellor, the conca"e side of the aerofoil is on the opposite side to that for a turbine blade. Thus, while a propellor with something li'e the right tip blade angle might be pressed into ser"ice for a wind turbine, it is not really designed for this tas', and will not e tract wind power as efficiently (unless designed with an !! of =ero). 4t should be noted that some studies ha"e shown that it is possible to achie"e good wind turbine blade performance without twisting the inner part of the blade, due to a phenomenon described as "stall delay". What this means is that the inner portion of the blade has been found to be contributing useful tor/ue, e"en though the angle of attac' to the theoretical incident air e ceeds #3 degrees. This is probably due to the more comple air flows associated turbine blades, which wing theory does not accommodate. While an untwisted blade would be simpler to set out, it will certainly be less inclined to self-start (see below), and may not be worth the trade-off. Blade taper and thickness - There are both aerodynamic and mechanical reasons for tapering the blade (i.e. reducing the width) towards the tip. ?oth relate to s/uare law effects. !s the width (chord) decreases, the thic'ness needs to reduce at least in proportion. The lift generated by any element of a turbine blade is proportional to the chord, and the s/uare of the incident air "elocity. 4f the width, or chord, remained constant, then the blade tip would de"elop four times the lift of the centre of the blade, and might bend. The force tending to cause parts of the blades to brea' off is also proportional to the s/uare of the rotational speed. 4f the mass of the blade tip is lower, then the inner parts of the blades do not need to be as strong. 4n addition to tapering the blade chord towards the tip, blade thic'ness (perpendicular to the chord) is generally increased towards the centre. This does not ha"e much ad"erse aerodynamic effect, but certainly creates stronger blade sections towards the root. Over speed and blade forces - ?ecause of the huge increase in wind power as the speed increases, wind turbines can spin to destruction e"en if loaded to the ma imum e tent capable from the alternator. !s noted abo"e, the force trying to rip the blades out of the hub increases with the s/uare of the rotational speed. To put some dimension to this, a + metre diameter blade weighing ('g and rotating at #,+$$ R-. de"elops a centrifugal force of about & tonnes. 8"en if only part of a blade brea's off, the resulting out of balance rotation of what remains will /uic'ly destroy the generator and support structure, This is an argument for 'eeping the blades as light as possible, yet strong. Wood (particularly the less

dense but straight grained type) is still a "ery suitable choice for this. >ou probably can6t get into too much trouble with a turbine of up to a metre or so in diameter, but don6t go for bro'e regarding si=e till you get some e perience with smaller ones, or you might do @ust that. Some wind turbines use pitch changing or wind spill techni/ues to safeguard the blades, while others rely on bra'es, or strength, or mutual air disturbance by the blades to limit the ultimate rotational speed. 8"en a piece of rope hanging from the wind "ane can permit the turbine to be turned out of the wind if all else fails. !s someone who has been there, my strong ad"ice is, don6t e pose your turbine to the wind until you ha"e a way of stopping it when you need to. Balance - ?ecause of the substantial centrifugal forces that can de"elop, the turbine must be well balanced. The simplest way to do this is to ta'e a nut and bolt of the same diameter as the turbine shaft, and to drill a small hole through the e act centre of the bolt. ! piece of string or fishing line is then fed through the hole, and the turbine is suspended with the blade hori=ontal. The nut is then used as the "sensiti"ity" setting (*igure %) The closer the top of the bolt comes to the centre of gra"ity of the turbine, the more sensiti"e the balance ad@ustment becomes. -ieces of paper can be used as test weights to "erify that accurate balance has been achie"ed. -ic' somewhere free of drafts to chec' the balance Blade attach ents - <on6t forget that the most highly stressed part of a turbine blade will be the root and its attachment point to the hub. This presents some challenges for a & bladed prop. ?e particularly careful to a"oid abrupt section changes or other stress raisers such as holes in this area. Remember also that the centrifugal forces produced by one blade are balanced by the other two, and the hub design must pro"ide ade/uate material section for the transfer of these forces. !atigue - ?ecause of pressure changes due to wind mas'ing by, say, the support tower, each rotation of the turbine produces stress changes which can lead to ultimate fatigue failure in some materials notably aluminium. The wind turbine has been described as a "ery good fatigue generator, in addition to anything useful that it might do, so 'eep up the inspections. Rotational Ha"ard - Aust li'e aeroplane propellors, rotating wind turbines are dangerous, and must be treated with caution. This is especially so in an o"er-speed condition, where anything brea'ing off becomes a dangerous missile. The apparently slow rotating turbines in a wind farm 'ill birds, who apparently do not realise that the tips are tra"elling at % or 3 times wind speed. Starting - When the turbine is stationary, the blades are in a deeply stalled condition, and re/uire a significantly higher wind speed that the minimum generating wind speed to start rotating. This results in lost power generating opportunities, and some generator controllers include a "bump" facility to 'ic' start rotation. 8"en a push helps. #ibration and $oise - Turbines dri"ing a single phase alternator are inherently noisy. The situation is much impro"ed with a multi-phase alternator. The blade tips can also generate noise, and some boat wind generators are notorious for this effect. The answer probably lies in an impro"ed tip design, but -roper balance of the turbine is also necessary to minimise noise. Resonances in the support structure can occur, and can be remedied by stiffening. %onventional charging circuitr& - ! typical wind turbine alternator connects to a (bridge) rectifier, which then connects to the battery under charge (*igure &). 0ote that current can only flow from the alternator to the turbine once its terminal "oltage e ceeds that of the battery "oltage, plus the diode bridge forward "oltage drop. The current wa"eform is therefore unli'ely to be a clean sinusoid, and some harmonics will be generated. To minimise losses in the diodes, these should be of the Shott'y type with the lowest a"ailable forward "oltage drop (so long as they operate within their re"erse "oltage rating). %onventional charging circuit shortco ings - !s noted abo"e, for the turbine to operate at ma imum efficiency, it must run at or near its design TSR. This re/uires that its turbine speed must linearly follow the wind speed. *or alternators with fi ed e citation, the no-load "oltage will be proportional to shaft speed. The problem is that, with con"entional circuitry, the alternator is more or less loc'ed to the battery "oltage, and the turbine will generally be operating below optimum speed as a conse/uence.

Switch ode charging circuit - 4n *igure (, the alternator is connected "ia a switch mode charging circuit, which can let the alternator operate at "oltages significantly abo"e the battery "oltage. The switch mode circuit wor's by connecting the alternator <5 output "oltage to the battery for a brief period. The current that flows is limited by the inductor, which also stores energy in the form of a magnetic field. When the switch opens, the polarity of the "oltage of the inductance re"erses, and current flow is maintained through the battery and the Shott'y diode while the magnetic field dissipates. The current burst flowing into the battery is thus longer than the current burst from the alternator side, while the "oltage is lower. !s "ery little energy is lost in this process, o"er a burst cycle, power in effecti"ely e/uals power out, and the system wor's as a <5 transformer. This permits the alternator to operate at a higher "oltage consistent with a higher turbine speed. Open 'oop %ontrol - The switch mode controller can be programmed to continually ma'e an incremental change to the alternator side "oltage reference (ie shorten the burst time to increase the alternator "oltage le"el), pause, and see if the current deli"ered to the battery increases. 4f it does, then it ma'es a further incremental change, pauses, and again chec's the current. Should the battery current reduce, it will decrement the "oltage reference. Bsing this techni/ue, the ma imum power a"ailable from the alternator under any wind conditions can be trac'ed by letting its output "oltage (and hence turbine speed) rise or fall to its optimum le"el. 4t should be pointed out that the wind is ne"er constant, so that the alternator side "oltage is always changing anyway.

%losed 'oop %ontrol - 4f the alternator speed and the undisturbed wind speed are 'nown, then the controller can be set to maintain a constant ratio between the two. 4f the wind should increase, the controller would shift to a higher reference "oltage consistent with the e pected higher turbine speed, thus unloading the turbine and assisting it to accelerate to its e pected speed. 4f the wind speed drops, the "oltage reference would lower, loading up the turbine and reco"ering energy from it while it slows to its new, more appropriate speed. (ind Speed Sensing - !lthough it has since succumbed to the effects of BC and birds, 4 made a "ery ser"iceable cup type anemometer out of three !ndronicus coffee measuring spoons. These dro"e an optical encoder built into the case of a small <5 motor shell with the magnetics and brushes remo"ed. 4 first tried a magnetic sensor, but found that e"en the small cogging from the magnet interfered with the operation. 5up type anemometers are great because their wind speed characteristics are linear, and their rotational speed is close to the wind speed di"ided by the radius to the cup centre. This being said, a reasonable si=e two bladed turbine dri"ing an unloaded <5 motor used as a generator can ser"e satisfactorily and with linear "oltage output as long as it starts before the power turbine. This will, of course, re/uire a pi"ot and a wind "ane. 0ote that the air stream upstream and particularly downstream of the turbine is affected by the turbine itself. !ir-speed sensing needs to be at least #.% diameters ahead or to the side of the turbine. Alternator speed sensing - The simplest way to do this is to set up a pulse counter to monitor the alternator output fre/uency. How uch better) - !s the wind is always changing, it is difficult to measure the e tent of any impro"ements that you thin' that you ha"e made unless you ha"e access to a wind tunnel. The solution is to ha"e two units identical in e"ery respect e cept for the feature that you are testing. ?y mounting them on a common pi"oting support and e posing them to an airflow that is as undisturbed as possible, they should see more or less the same air-flow. ?y measuring the amp-hours output from each into a common load, the benefit of any enhancement can soon be chec'ed. Bsing the amp-hours chec' with no enhancements fitted will also establish whether there is any difference before you start testing. ?y mounting two alternators on a common T shaped pi"oting brac'et it is also possible to pi"ot and spring load them such that they will automatically unload themsel"es in strong winds. Alternator suitabilit& !s noted abo"e, a + metre diameter turbine has a design speed of about +&$ to &$$ R-. in a % metre;sec wind (depending on its TSR). With this diameter turbine, at this wind speed, it should be possible to reco"er 3$W (or send % !mps into a #+ "olt battery). While it is certainly possible to design an alternator that will do this, at this shaft speed, most of the off the shelf de"ices would re/uire a step-

up gearbo , or similar. Denerally, a larger diameter alternator is needed to produce useful power at low shaft speeds. 4f the turbine diameter was reduced to # metre, then the shaft could turn at (3$ to 3$$R-., which is @ust getting into the ball-par'. Bnfortunately, though, the power e traction capability drops to #%W (s/uare law on the turbine diameter, remember)E :i'e the turbine blade itself, producing a low speed alternator to output, say, %! at #(C at &$$R-. is more fertile ground for e perimenters.