How fast does a wind turbine need to be to work?
What is the wake of a wind turbine?
How many Newton meters does a wind turbine use?
Why don't farmers like turbines?
What happens when a generator is spun?
Can wind turbines be optimized?
Can control software optimise wind turbine output?
See 4 more
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Does a windmill face into the wind?
Upwind turbines—like the one shown here—face into the wind while downwind turbines face away. Most utility-scale land-based wind turbines are upwind turbines.
Do old windmills rotate to face the wind?
Wind turbines can rotate about either a horizontal or a vertical axis, the former being both older and more common. Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) have the main rotor shaft and wind generator electrical generator at the top of a tower, and must be pointed into the wind.
Do windmills always face the same direction?
Why do they always face in the same direction? Like a field of sunflowers, wind turbines are always oriented in the same direction so that, instead of following the sun, they may follow the wind and harness its potential energy. This is achieved thanks to a weather vane that they all have on top of the nacelle.
Do windmills turn counterclockwise?
All current-day wind-turbine blades rotate in clockwise direction as seen from an upstream perspec- tive. The choice of the rotational direction impacts the wake if the wind profile changes direction with height.
Which way should a windmill turn?
Modern industrial wind turbines usually rotate in a clockwise fashion from the perspective of an observer located upwind and looking downwind at the turbine.
Why don t windmills run all the time?
Why do the turbines not spin at times? The most common reason that turbines stop spinning is because the wind is not blowing fast enough. Most wind turbines need a sustained wind speed of 9 MPH or higher to operate. Technicians will also stop turbines to perform routine maintenance or repairs.
What happens if a wind turbine spins backwards?
Generally a windmill rotates in the clockwise direction. If it rotates anti-clockwise, it will consume energy, so that it does not produce power.
Why do windmills have 3 blades?
This is because their angular momentum in the vertical axis changes depending on whether the blades are vertical or horizontal. With three blades, the angular momentum stays constant because when one blade is up, the other two are pointing at an angle. So the turbine can rotate into the wind smoothly.
How long does it take for a wind turbine to break even?
In medium winds, our V136-4.2 MW turbine hits this breakeven period within 6.1 months and in low winds, the V150-4.2 MW turbine will hit energy neutrality within 7.6 months. As this graph illustrates, a Vestas wind turbine (V117-4.2 MW, 136-4.2 MW, V150-4.2 MW) pays back more energy than it uses after 5 to 8 months.
In what country do windmills turn clockwise?
"Windmills always turn counter-clockwise. Except for the windmills in Ireland."
How do windmills rotate?
Turbines catch the wind's energy with their propeller-like blades, which act much like an airplane wing. When the wind blows, a pocket of low-pressure air forms on one side of the blade. The low-pressure air pocket then pulls the blade toward it, causing the rotor to turn.
Why do turbines turn clockwise?
Wind turbines rotate in clockwise direction because that's how the blades are designed. Imagine having an aircraft with the wings placed upside down.
Do giant windmills pivot?
Most commonly, they have three blades and operate "upwind," with the turbine pivoting at the top of the tower so the blades face into the wind.
How does a windmill tail work?
When wind pushes on one side of the tail, it turns the blades and rotor into the wind to collect its energy. The furling design of the tail helps protect the turbine from excessive winds.
Why do all wind turbines rotate clockwise? - Quora
Answer (1 of 12): I once met one of the blade-makers of the Tvind turbine. He said that there's rotated "to the left" (being anti/counter-clockwise) and that the first commercial turbine manufacturer wanted to rotate "to the right" owing to personal politics. Apocryphal? Perhaps, but we enjoyed t...
The Effect Of Wind Direction On Wind Turbines - UKEssays.com
I expected to learn from this project what the effect wind source direction had on a horizontal wind turbine. I found out that going from one side to the other, depending on how the pinwheel was shaped, that the power generated would increase or decrease.
How Wind Turbines Alignment to Wind Direction Affects Efficiency? A ...
SCADA control systems are the keystone for reliable performance optimization of wind farms. Processing into knowledge the amount of information they spread is a challenging task, involving engineering, physics, statistics and computer science skills.
How fast does a wind turbine need to be to work?
Typically, winds will need to be over 50 mph to make this necessary.
What is the wake of a wind turbine?
The wake of a turbine consists of slower, more turbulent air, which reduces the generation from any downwind turbine receiving it.
How many Newton meters does a wind turbine use?
A small wind turbine of 3 kW will require about 70 Nm (Newton meters). For comparison, a hand crank usually works with 0.8 to 1 Nm. One newton is the force needed to accelerate one kilogram of mass at the rate of one meter per second squared in direction of the applied force, or equivalent to holding a weight of 1/10 of a kg. For a typical large turbine of 2 MW you need 12800 Nm.
Why don't farmers like turbines?
Now, for farmers who don’t have turbines on their land, why don’t they like them in general? The reasons that are given are varied, and almost universally highly dubious. Some say it spoils the view (a matter of opinion, and not usually how we make infrastructure decisions), others claim that installing and maintaining them is disruptive to the community (possibly, but unlikely to be a serious problem), and some are sure that could fall down or explode at any moment (incidents have happened, but are rare, and are extremely unlikely to harm anyone). Others claim that they cause a lot of noise (not really), or cause cancer (huh?) or are satanic (okay, this is getting ridiculous).
What happens when a generator is spun?
When a generator is spun, the energy to make that amount of electricity came from you, or whatever was spinning it.
Can wind turbines be optimized?
The optimisation can either be done statically in advance for all wind directions, or dynamically during operation. Some similar calculations will be performed to determine the turbine placement at the wind farm design stage, which take into account the prevailing (most common) wind directions.
Can control software optimise wind turbine output?
Further, in the most sophisticated modern wind farms being designed, the control software can optimise the total output from the wind farm as a whole, and not just the output from each turbine individually.
Why do windmills have only two blades?
However, less than three blades generates a lot of vibration and thus associated mechanical issues. Windmills therefore most often have three blades because they make much less noise than two-bladed ones.
Why is a wind turbine one blade?
In very simple terms, this can be explained because the turbine blade sweeps 360 degrees before encountering its wake. However, only having one blade causes many problems structurally and dynamically, so it is not very feasible on a large scale.
Why is the blade count important in wind turbines?
A turbine is efficient because the blades generate lift, and lift allows the blades to move much faster than the wind speed. The Tip Speed Ratio is
What is the name of the motor that turns a wind turbine?
It is called the yaw drive.
What is a three blade wind turbine?
A three-bladed wind turbine has infinite principle axes in the plane swept by the blades, which makes it the most efficient turbine design without having any dynamic issues. This is why pretty much all large wind turbines these days are three bladed.
How to avoid active control in wind turbines?
For small turbines this is too complex and takes too much energy. A way to avoid an active control is to design downwind turbines. Downwind types produce more vibration in the blades. For small ones, often a furling tail concept is used, in order to reduce the power and force on the pylon. A symmetric furling tail type was used in this:
Which is more efficient, a two bladed turbine or a single blade turbine?
A two-bladed turbine is the next most efficient because each blade sweeps 180 degrees before reaching the w
How does a wind turbine work?
Wind turbines work on a simple principle: instead of using electricity to make wind—like a fan—wind turbines use wind to make electricity. Wind turns the propeller-like blades of a turbine around a rotor, which spins a generator, which creates electricity. Wind is a form of solar energy caused by a combination of three concurrent events:
How does wind energy work?
A wind turbine turns wind energy into electricity using the aerodynamic force from the rotor blades, which work like an airplane wing or helicopter rotor blade. When wind flows across the blade, the air pressure on one side of the blade decreases. The difference in air pressure across the two sides of the blade creates both lift and drag.
What is horizontal axis wind turbine?
Horizontal-Axis Turbines. Horizontal-axis wind turbines are what many people picture when thinking of wind turbines. Most commonly, they have three blades and operate "upwind," with the turbine pivoting at the top of the tower so the blades face into the wind.
What is a small wind turbine?
Many turbines used in distributed applications are small wind turbines. Single small wind turbines—below 100 kilowatts—are typically used for residential, agricultural, and small commercial and industrial applications. Small turbines can be used in hybrid energy systems with other distributed energy resources, such as microgrids powered by diesel ...
What is distributed wind?
When wind turbines of any size are installed on the "customer" side of the electric meter, or are installed at or near the place where the energy they produce will be used, they're called "distributed wind. Many turbines used in distributed applications are small wind turbines.
What is wind energy?
The terms "wind energy" and "wind power" both describe the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. This mechanical power can be used for specific tasks (such as grinding grain or pumping water) or a generator can convert this mechanical power into electricity.
What are small turbines used for?
Small turbines can be used in hybrid energy systems with other distributed energy resources, such as microgrids powered by diesel generators, batteries, and photovoltaics.
Why are windmills turning?
It could be just slightly windy; it only takes a slight breeze of to turn a turbine. Once a turbine is going, it can take hours to slow back down, and that could explain why they are turning without wind. They could also be drawing power from the grid to rotate the blades during cold periods of the year to prevent the blades and gears freezing up.
Why do turbines turn without wind?
Once a turbine is going, it can take hours to slow back down, and that could explain why they are turning without wind. They could also be drawing power from the grid to rotate the blades during cold periods of the year to prevent the blades and gears freezing up.
What minimum amount of wind speed do wind turbines need for power generation?
While just a slight breeze can eventually get a turbine moving and creating a small amount of electricity, sustainable energy experts say that a location should have an average annual wind speed of at least 9 mph. Industry experts say that only with average speeds of 15 -25 mph can wind turbines make a profit.
How do wind turbines store energy?
That doesn’t mean the energy can’t be stored though. Much of the energy can be simply sold back to the utility company and used immediately on the power grid . With power lines running all across entire continents, if there is too much power locally, it can always be sold to far off places. When power is in high demand, it can also be bought from far away sources.
Do wind turbines supply consistent energy without needing all that storage?
Hydroelectric energy, or dams, can hold off on releasing water on windy days and save it for times when the wind turbines are not producing, sort of covering for each other.
Can wind turbines change the weather?
In order for a wind turbine to work, the same amount of air entering the fan must also leave the fan. The most efficient turbine possible might only use up 50% of the wind’s energy, and the turbines only cover a small fraction of the total space in a wind farm. So, the wind entering a wind farm leaves with nearly the exact same strength as it enters it.
Why is wind power so popular?
In the search for clean energy, wind power might be the best option. Creating no pollution and requiring minimal materials, there is little downside to wind power. Compared this to coal and natural gas plants which not only pollute the environment, but contribute to global warming. Nuclear power comes with the risk of catastrophe. Even hydroelectric dams effect endangered fish.
What is the tail vane of a windmill?
If its a scaled-down model of a classic ranch/farm type windmill, he tail vane of the windmill is what aims it into the wind. The tail vane is usually behind the " turbine" so that the blades aren't shadowed by the tower, in other words it rotates the turbine face-on into the wind.
Why is the tail vane offset?
Further, the tail vane is offset and spring-loaded so that in very high winds, it will start to slew the turbine wheel sideways and out of the direct wind as a sort of crude governor or self-protection. The image below shows a windmill that has been shut down by manually flipping the tail vane sideways to the rotor:
Does it matter which way the wheel rotates?
Yes - by simple observing it on a windy day, on can deduce it's operating parameters. BTW, it doesn't matter which direction the wheel rotates (CW or CCW)
How fast does a wind turbine need to be to work?
Typically, winds will need to be over 50 mph to make this necessary.
What is the wake of a wind turbine?
The wake of a turbine consists of slower, more turbulent air, which reduces the generation from any downwind turbine receiving it.
How many Newton meters does a wind turbine use?
A small wind turbine of 3 kW will require about 70 Nm (Newton meters). For comparison, a hand crank usually works with 0.8 to 1 Nm. One newton is the force needed to accelerate one kilogram of mass at the rate of one meter per second squared in direction of the applied force, or equivalent to holding a weight of 1/10 of a kg. For a typical large turbine of 2 MW you need 12800 Nm.
Why don't farmers like turbines?
Now, for farmers who don’t have turbines on their land, why don’t they like them in general? The reasons that are given are varied, and almost universally highly dubious. Some say it spoils the view (a matter of opinion, and not usually how we make infrastructure decisions), others claim that installing and maintaining them is disruptive to the community (possibly, but unlikely to be a serious problem), and some are sure that could fall down or explode at any moment (incidents have happened, but are rare, and are extremely unlikely to harm anyone). Others claim that they cause a lot of noise (not really), or cause cancer (huh?) or are satanic (okay, this is getting ridiculous).
What happens when a generator is spun?
When a generator is spun, the energy to make that amount of electricity came from you, or whatever was spinning it.
Can wind turbines be optimized?
The optimisation can either be done statically in advance for all wind directions, or dynamically during operation. Some similar calculations will be performed to determine the turbine placement at the wind farm design stage, which take into account the prevailing (most common) wind directions.
Can control software optimise wind turbine output?
Further, in the most sophisticated modern wind farms being designed, the control software can optimise the total output from the wind farm as a whole, and not just the output from each turbine individually.
