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Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine: Working

Principle
Last Updated on November 12, 2018 by Amna Ahmad — Leave a Comment (Edit)

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In previous articles, you get to know about wind turbine and how it converts energy. We
discussed important parts of a horizontal axis wind turbine. This article is intended to
provide the function of each component in a wind turbine and the overall working of HAWT,
control mechanism and control strategies, factors affecting the efficiency of the wind turbine.

Outline:
Discuss working of horizontal axis wind turbine
How does a wind turbine produce an optimized power
The power curve

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

We consider HAWT upwind turbines with three blades. This configuration is the most
popular commercially.

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The more the number of blades, the slower the rotor speed. So, turbines with 3 blades are
relatively slower but will gain a high efficiency and a high torque. Wind turbines with a single
blade are high-speed wind turbines.

As we discussed in a previous article, in upwind turbines rotor blades and nose face towards
the wind. Wind vane detects the direction of air, while yaw mechanism is there to maintain
the position of the rotor as the direction of wind changes.

The figure shows simplified diagram of main components of wind turbine.

Main components of a horizontal axis wind turbine

Wind Energy Conversion

What happens when air strikes the wind turbine blades?

As the wind strikes the blades, it tends to rotate them due to aerodynamic forces. Blade
pitch control is an electronic control for blades. The power output of the turbine is
monitored every second. As the power output reaches the rated limit, then controller
immediately adjust (pitch) the blades a few degrees.

Angle of Attack
Now it’s time to introduce angle of attack. The angle at which the blades adjusted, to get
optimized wind energy, and hence maximize the power output.

Stall:
Stalling of turbine means increasing the angle of attack. As the angle of attack increases more
surface area is available for aerodynamic forces.

Furl:

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Furling of turbine means decreasing the angle of attack. Blades are adjusted in a way that
edges are facing towards the wind. It is applicable when there is strong wind and less wind
energy is enough to drive the turbine.

We don’t want to get maximum wind energy because wind turbines are designed to operate
in particular wind speed (the rated speed for most turbines are 5m/s to 25m/s). Strong winds
may damage the turbine, so mechanical and electrical brakes are provided, to stop the
turbines.

Wind Energy conversion inside the Nacelle:

Nacelle contains a low-speed shaft, a gear-box, a high-speed shaft, brakes and a generator
and braking mechanism. The rotor is attached to the nacelle. As the rotor blades move due to
aerodynamic forces, low-speed shaft attached to rotor hub moves as well. The gearbox
transforms slow rotations of low-speed shaft into high-speed rotation.

The high speed shaft connects gearbox and generator. The high speed is required to derive
the generator efficiently.

Braking system is there to limit over speed or it is used to stop turbine whenever it is needed.

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Wind turbine interconnection to a power system through transformer

How does a wind turbine generator produce power at rated

frequency?
Just think about it, wind speed never remains constant, so the output frequency changes
whenever wind speed changes (Read electrical generator in the previous article). Of course,
this is not going to happen. The electronic controller is there that keeps output within the
limited range. The output frequency can be maintained by employing these ways.

Pitch and yaw adjustment (discussed above)

Use frequency converters
Use of modern DFIG

Frequency converters:
It is a simple and easy method, requires less complicated gearing mechanism. The block
diagram of the frequency converter is given below.

In this method, blades rotate freely within the specified range of wind speed
The generator produces output according to the rotational speed of prime mover (blades).
The output frequency is variable as we have discussed in the previous article
This variable AC is then fed to frequency converters
Electronic frequency converter produces the output frequency which is matched with the
grid

Doubly Fed Induction Generator(DFIG):

It is a generator that can deal with unpredicted weather conditions and hence variable and
uneven wind energy. It can work with variable wind speed and produce constant output
frequency.

Power output of a wind turbine:

You must know about Betz law. It is the law by which you can determine the amount of power
you can generate, irrespective of the design. According to Betz law, maximum 59.3% of
kinetic energy of wind, a wind turbine could capture. The factor 59.3% is called Betz
coefficient. The output power of the wind turbine is:

Pin = ½ * ρAV3
Pout = CP*½*ρAV3
CP = Pout / Pin

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Where
ρ = air density
A = blades swept area
V = velocity of the wind
CP = power coefficient or efficiency of the wind turbine (CP is always less 59.3%. In practice,
this value wouldn’t achieve).

The Wind Turbine Power Curve

The power curve shows the relationship between wind speed and power output. Power output
obtained at various wind speed is plotted.

Turbines are designed to work within a limited range of wind speed. The lower limit is called
cut-in speed and the upper limit is called cut-out speed. In between these limits, there’s a
rated speed at which you can get rated output power (as shown in the graph).

The wind turbine power curve

Wind Turbine Operating Speeds

Cut-in speed is the minimum speed required to generate electricity from the turbine. Cut-in
speed is usually around 5 m/s.

Cut-out speed is the maximum speed for turbines. Beyond this limit, there is a risk of
damage. The braking system is there to stop the rotor. Cut-out speed is usually around 25
m/s.

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Rated speed and rated output power: As the wind speed increases beyond the cut-in
speed, the output power cubically increases with the wind speed (look at above equations).

The power output from the generator also has limits. There is a speed limit at which we can
get maximum output from the generator. This limit is called rated power output. Beyond this
speed limit, the output power is no more cubically increases because of the turbine design.
Look at the straight part of the curve.

Final Words
We hope you’ve found out about the basic functioning of a wind turbine and how they convert
wind energy into electric energy. There are other energy resources that have been discussed
in detail.

You may also want to read how electric energy is transmitted from generating stations to
consumers and Load flow analysis of a power network.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for video tutorials
and project descriptions. You can also find us on Facebook . Give us your feedback
in the comments section.

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Filed Under: Wind

Tagged With: Power Conversion, Renewable Energy, Wind Energy

About Amna Ahmad

Amna Ahmed is a passionate writer. She has been an educational blogger since 2012. She
belongs to Karachi, Pakistan. She has completed her B.E. electronics engineering from a
reputable institution in 2011. She loves electronics and loves to read and write anything related
to electronics. She is good at writing literature reviews, lecture notes, technology reviews. She
blogs at Basic Electronics Guide .

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