4

Wind Turbine

4.1 INTRODUCTION
The extraction of power from wind with modern wind turbines and energy conversion system is
an established industry. Machines are manufactured with a capacity from a few kilowatt to several
megawatt. Most machines are built for electricity generation, either linked to a grid or in an
autonomous mode. The wind turbine has evolved into a highly specialized device whose
configuration, size, and technological sophistication are application-dependent. The horizontal
axis orientation continues to be dominant in wind power production, as it has been for most of the
modern era. Large-scale wind turbines, with rotor diameter larger than 45 m and/or power ratings
of 1,000 kW or more, offer advantages that include: the ability to extract more wind energy per
unit of land area when topography consists of one or more ridges and the wind blows predominantly
from one direction, improved aerodynamic performance, because of higher Reynolds numbers
associated with larger blade chord dimensions; and lower sensitivity of larger blades to dirt, rain
and insects, because of larger blade thickness dimensions and potential economies of scale of some
components, such as control system cost per unit of installed power.
Beginning with the birth of modern wind-driven electricity generators in the late 1970s, wind
energy technology has improved dramatically upto the present. Capital costs have decreased,
efficiency has increased, and reliability has improved. High-quality products are now routinely
delivered by major suppliers of turbines around the world and complete wind generation plants
are being engineered into the grid infrastructure to meet utility needs.
110
 Wind Turbine 111

4.1.1 Historical Aspects

Some milestones in the history of wind machines are given in Table 4.1. Conceptual understanding
of aerodynamic shape and position of centre of forces or zero moment reduced the structural
problem of supporting the blade. This was in the second decade of twentieth century. This is an
important milestone in the history of wind machines. Thereafter, longer blades of aerodynamic
shape could be designed and used.

TABLE 4.1 Historical development of wind energy conversion system

Period Machine Application

640 AD Persian wind mills Grinding, etc.

Before 1200 AD Chinese sail type wind mill Grinding, water pumping, etc.
12th century AD Dutch wind mills Grinding, water pumping, etc.
1700 AD Dutch wind/mill to America Water pumping, etc.
1850–1930 AD American multi-bladed Water pumping, 35V DC power
1888 AD Brush wind turbine; dia.17 m, tower l8.3 m Electrical power
1925 AD Jacob’s 3-bladed propeller; Dia. 5 m, Electrical power
125 to 225 RPM
1931 AD Yaha propeller, Russia; 2-bladed, dia. 30 m Electrical power
1941 AD Smith–Putnam propeller 2-bladed, dia.58 m, Electrical power
28 RPM
1925 AD Savonius machine Mechanical or electrical power
1931 AD Darrius machine Electrical power
1980s AD 2-bladed propeller 225 kN Electrical power
2000 AD HAWT, VAWT; 3 MW machine or more Electrical power

4.1.2 Modern Wind Turbine

Modern wind turbines, which are currently being deployed around the world, have three-bladed
rotors with diameter of 80 m or more mounted atop 80 m or more high towers as illustrated in
Figure 4.1 and Figure 4.2. Turbine power output is controlled by rotating the blades about their
long axis to change the angle of attack with respect to relative wind as the blades spin about the
rotor hub. This is called controlling the blade pitch. The turbine is pointed towards the wind by
rotating the nacelle about the tower. This is called controlling the yaw. Wind sensors on the
nacelle tell the yaw controller where to point the turbine These wind sensors, along with sensors
on the generator and drive train, also tell the blade pitch controller how to regulate the power
output and rotor speed to prevent overloading the structural components. Generally, a turbine
starts producing power in winds of about 3.0 m/s and reaches maximum power output at about
11.0 m/s. The turbine with pitch or feather the blades to stop power production and rotation at
about 25.0 m/s. Figure 4.3 shows typical power output of a wind turbine versus wind speed with
cut-in speed, rated speed and cut-out speed. The power output from cut-in wind speed to rated
wind speed follows a cubic curve and from rated speed to cut-out speed, a constant power output
by a variety of control mechanisms.
112 Wind Energy: Theory and Practice

Rotor diameter
Rotor blade

Gearbox
Generator
Rotor Nacelle
diameter Rotor
height

Fixed pitch
rotor blade

Tower

Gearbox Generator

Horizontal axis Vertical axis

FIGURE 4.1 Wind turbine configurations.

FIGURE 4.2 Typical modern wind turbine curve.

Most of the rotors on large-scale machines have an individual mechanism for pitch control;
that is, the mechanism rotates the blade about its long axis to control the power in high winds.
Blades can be rotated by pitch mechanism in high winds to feather them out of the wind. This
reduces the maximum loads on the system when the machine is parked. Pitching the blades out of
high winds and reduces operating loads, and the combination of pitchable blades with a variable-
speed generator allows the turbine to maintain generation at a constant-speed power output.
 Wind Turbine 113

FIGURE 4.3 Typical power output versus wind speed characteristics of wind turbine.

Most utility-scale turbines are upwind machines, meaning that they operate with the blades
upwind of the tower to avoid the blockage created by the tower.
The amount of energy in the wind available for extraction by the turbine increases with the
cube of the wind speed; thus, a 10 per cent increase in wind speed creates a 33 per cent increase in
the available energy. A turbine can capture only a portion of this cubic increase in energy, because
power above the level for which the electrical system has been designed, referred to as the rated
power, is allowed to pass through the rotor.
In general, the speed of the wind increases with height
above the ground, which is why engineers have found ways Rotation
to increase the height and the size of the wind turbines while
minimizing the costs of materials. But land-based turbine
size is not expected to grow as dramatically in the future as
it has in the past. Larger sizes are physically possible;
however, the logistical constraints of transporting the
components via highways and of obtaining cranes large Wind flow
enough to lift the components present a major economic
barrier that is difficult to overcome. The principle of wind
Lift
turbine rotation is based on aerodynamic lift as shown in
Figure 4.4. ag
Dr
The wind passes over both surfaces of the aerofoil shaped
blade, but it passes more rapidly over the longer (upper)
side of the airfoil, thus creating a lower-pressure area above
the airfoil. The pressure differential between top and bottom
surfaces results in aerodynamic lift. In an aircraft wing, FIGURE 4.4 Principles of wind turbine
aerodynamic lift.
this force causes the airfoil to rise, lifting the aircraft
114 Wind Energy: Theory and Practice

off the ground. Since the blades of a wind turbine are constrained to move in a plane with hub as
its centre, the lift force causes rotation, about the hub. In addition to the lift force, a drag force
perpendicular to the lift force impedes rotor rotation. A prime objective in wind turbine design is
for the blade to have a relatively high lift-to-drag ratio. This ratio can be varied along the length
of the blade to optimize the turbine’s energy output at various wind speeds.

4.1.3 Current Wind Turbine Size

In the recent past average wind turbine ratings have grown almost linearly, as illustrated by
Figure 4.5. Each group of wind turbine designer has predicted that its latest machine is the largest
a wind turbine can ever be. But with each new generation of wind turbines (roughly every five
years), the size has grown along the linear curve and has achieved reductions in life-cycle cost of
energy. This long-term drive to develop larger turbines is a direct result of the desire to improve
energy capture by accessing the stronger winds at higher elevation. The increase in wind speed
with elevation is referred to as wind shear. Although increase in turbine height is a major reason
for increase in capacity factor over time, there are economic and logistic constraints to this continued
growth to larger size.
The primary argument for limiting the size of the wind turbine is based on the square-cube
law. This law roughly states that “as a wind turbine rotor grows in size, its energy output increases
as the rotor swept area (the diameter squared), while the volume of material, and therefore its
mass and cost, increases as the cube of the diameter. In other words, at some size, the cost for a
larger turbine will grow faster than the resulting energy output revenue.

FIGURE 4.5 The development path and growth of wind turbines.

 Wind Turbine 115

Turbine performance has clearly improved and the cost per unit of output has been reduced.
The continued infusion of new technology will result in better design.

4.2 CLASSIFICATION OF WIND TURBINES

A classification of wind energy conversion systems (WECS) is given in Figure 4.6. This includes
main types, but numerous other designs and adaptations occur.

4.2.1 Horizontal Axis Machines

The dominant driving force is lift. Blades on the rotor may be in front (upwind) or behind
(downwind) the tower. Upwind turbines need a tail or some other mechanism to maintain
orientation, such as side-facing fan tail rotors. Downwind turbines may be quite seriously affected
by the tower, which produces wind shadow and turbulence in the blade path. Perturbations of this
kind cause cyclic stresses on the structure, noise and output fluctuations. Wind may be expected to
veer frequently in horizontal plane, and the rotor must turn (yaw) to follow the wind without
oscillations.
Three-bladed rotors are common for electricity generation. The three-bladed rotors operate
smoothly and may be cross-linked for greater rigidity. Gearing and generators are usually at
the top of the tower in a nacelle as shown in Figure 4.7. It is possible to run a shaft down the
tower for power generation at the ground level, but the complications are usually thought to
outweigh the advantages. Multi blade rotors, having high starting torque in light wind, are
used for water pumping and other low frequency mechanical power.

4.2.2 Vertical Axis Machines

By turbing with vertical axis, a machine can accept with from any direction without adjustment.
The other main benefit is that gearing and generators can be directly coupled to the axis at the
ground level. The principal disadvantages are: many vertical axis machines have suffered from
fatigue failuers arising from the many natural resonances in the structure, and the rotational torque
from the wind varies periodically within each cycle, and thus unwanted power periodicities appear
at the output. As a result, a greater majority of working machines are horizontal axis, not vertical.
In Figure 4.6, different vertical axis machines are shown.
• Cup anemometer: This device rotates by drag force. The shape of this cup produces a
nearly linear relationship between rotational frequency and wind speed, see Figure 4.6.
• Savonious rotor: There is a complicated motion of the wind through and around the
two-curved sheet airfoils. The driving force is principally drag. The construction is simple
and inexpensive. The high solidity produces high starting torque, so savonious rotors are
used for water pumping, see Figure 4.6.
• Darrieus rotor: This rotor has two or three thin curved blades with an airfoil
section. The driving forces are lift, with maximum torque occurring when a blade is moving
across the wind at a speed much greater than the wind speed. Its uses are for electricity
generation. The rotor is not usually self-starting. Therefore, movement may be initiated
with the electrical generator used as a motor. A modern vertical axis machine is shown in
Figure 4.8.
116 Wind Energy: Theory and Practice

FIGURE 4.6 Classification of wind turbines.

 Wind Turbine 117

Teeter
angle Coning
Rotor angle
Nacelle structure
diameter
enclosing the
Tilt
power train
angle Rotor hub
Rotation
Wind
Rotor
blades
Teeter Tower
hinge
Hub
elevation

Ground
Lift
Ground equipment
clearance station

Foundation
(a) (b)
FIGURE 4.7 Principal subsystems of a HAWT. (a) Upwind rotor, (b) Downwind rotor.

Upper bearing
Upper hub
Rotor column

Cables

Rotor
height
Rotor
diameter

Lower hub
Lower bearing
Tensioner Support stand
Power train
Ground Ground
clearance level Ground equipment
station

Cable Central
foundation foundation
FIGURE 4.8 Schematic views of the principal components of a modern VAWT.

• Concentrators: Turbines draw power from the intercepted wind, and it may be
advantageous to funnel or concentrate wind into the turbine from outside the rotor section.
Various systems have been developed or suggested for horizontal axis propeller turbines.
Various blade designs and adaptations are able to draw air into the rotor section, and hence
118 Wind Energy: Theory and Practice

harness power from a cross-section greater than the rotor area. Funnel shapes and deflectors
fixed statically around the turbine draw the wind into the rotor. A typical concentrator is
shown in Figure 4.9.

FIGURE 4.9 A typical concentrator.

The wind turbines are classified, as shown in Table 4.2, according to their diameter and/or
their rated power.
TABLE 4.2 Scale classification of wind turbine

Scale Rotor diameter Power rating

Small Less than 12 m Less than 40 kW
Medium 12 m–45 m 40 kW–999 kW
Large 46 m and larger 1.0 MW and larger

Figure 4.8 presents the general configuration of a modern VAWT of the Darrieus type. Its
principal subsystems are: (i) the rotor, (ii) the power train, (iii) the support structure, (iv) the
foundations, and (v) the ground equipment station. Symmetry about its vertical axis allows a
VAWT to receive winds from any direction, so no yaw mechanism is needed. This is one of its
primary advantages. The rotor consists of curved blades with ends fastened to rigid upper and
lower hubs separated by the rotor column. To minimise internal bending stresses during rotation,
blades are shaped to approximate a troposkien (turning rope), a shape with zero bending stress.
VAWT rotor contains two or three fixed-pitch blades, usually symmetrical in cross-section and
without twist or taper. As with a HAWT, the swept area of a VAWT is defined by the projection
on a vertical plane of the surface generated by the moving blades. Rotor diameter is the width of
the swept area at its equator. Rotor height is the distance between upper and lower hubs and is
usually 15 per cent–30 per cent larger than the diameter.
Darrieus rotors are stall-controlled, because pitch-change mechanism has not been found to be
cost-effective. Motoring of the generator is the usual method for starting Darrieus rotors, since the
blades develop lift and torque only through a superposition of the rotational (forward) speed and
the wind speed and, therefore, are not normally self-starting. VAWT rotors are usually stopped by
applying a rotor brake in the power train, although trailing edge flaps have also been used for this
purpose.

4.3 TURBINE COMPONENTS

Rotor: The number one targets for advancement is the means by which the energy is initially
captured—the rotor. There are considerable incentives to use better materials and innovative
controls to build enlarged rotors that sweep a greater area for the same or lower loads.
 Wind Turbine 119

Blades: Larger rotors with longer blades sweep a greater area, increasing energy capture. Simply
lengthening a blade without changing the fundamental design, however, would make the blade
much heavier. In addition, the blade would incur greater structural loads because of its weight and
longer moment arm. Blade weight and resultant gravity–induced loads can be controlled by using
advanced materials with higher strength-to-weight ratios. Because high-performance materials
such as carbon fibres are more expensive, they would be included in design only when the pay-off
is maximized. These innovative airfoil shapes hold the promise of maintaining excellent power
performance, but have yet to be demonstrated in full-scale operation.
· Rotor blade fabrication process requires signifcant hand labour. Due to this, it gives lot of
opportunity of deviation to fibre placement.
· Due to pressure of composite and sandwiched materials in blade making, it is prone to
structural instabilities of buckilng and wrinkling.
· Buckling of blade leads to delamination which reduces the fatigue life and ultimately
collapse the structure.
Rotor blades account for about quarter of total cost of a wind turbine. Currently blades are
built by vacuum infusion process. In this process, two blade halves are reinforced with fibre glass
or matting of carbon fibre in a vacuum environment. It is entirely manual process. Resin is
injected to bond the material by hardening. Blades are varnished afterwards. Increased electricity
production is ensured by making blades larger and tower of wind turbine taller to capture more
wind at low speeds. For profetibilty bigger swept area offers more energy capture.
One of the concepts is to build passive means of reducing loads directly into the blade structure.
By tailoring the structural properties of the blade using the unique attributes of composite materials,
the internal structure of the blade can be built in a way that allows the outer portion of the blade
to twist as it bends. ‘Flab-pitch’ or ‘bend-twist’ coupling, illustrated in Figure 4.10, is accomplished

3.000

2.000
Position (m)

1.000

0000

–1000

–2000
–3000
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Station (m)
FIGURE 4.10 Curvature-based twist coupling.

by orienting the fibreglass and carbon plies within the composite layer of the blade. If properly
designed, the resulting twisting changes the angle of attack over much of the blade, reducing the
lift as wind gusts begin to load the blade and thus passively reducing the fatigue loads. Yet another
approach to achieve flap-pitch coupling is to build the blade in a curved shape, as shown in
Figure 4.11, so that aerodynamic loads apply a twisting action to the blade, which varies the angle
120 Wind Energy: Theory and Practice

of attack as the aerodynamic loads fluctuate. To

reduce transportation costs, concepts such as on-
site manufacturing and segmented blades are also
being explored. The length of blade increase in
recent years is shown in Figure 4.12.
Towers: Turbines could sit on even taller towers
than those in current use if it can be figured out
how to make them with less steel. Using other
materials (e.g. carbon fibre) in place of steel could
be a better option if there are no significant
increase in costs. Active controls that damp out
tower vibrations might be another enabling
technology. Tower diameter greater than 4 m
would incur sever overland transportation costs.
FIGURE 4.11 Twist-flap coupled blade design
Tower diameter and material requirements
(material based twist coupling).
conflict directly with tower design goals—a
larger diameter is beneficial because it spreads out the load and actually requires less material
because its walls are thinner. The main design impact of taller tower is not on the tower itself, but
on the dynamics of a system with the bulk of its mass atop a longer, more slender structure.
Reducing tower-top weight improves the dynamics of such a flexible system.

FIGURE 4.12 Blade length increase in recent years.

4.3.1 Power Train Subsystem

The power train of a wind turbine consists of the series of mechanical and electrical components
required to convert the mechanical power received from the rotor hub to electrical power. In a
HAWT, this equipment is atop the tower, so low maintenance is an important design requirement.
Examples of small power train are given in Figure 4.13 and examples of power train for medium
and large HAWT are given in Figure 4.14 and Figure 4.15. A typical HAWT power train consists
 Wind Turbine 121
Blade
of a turbine shaft assembly (also called a
low-speed or primary shaft), a speed Nacelle cover
increasing gear box, a generator drive shaft
(also called a high-speed or secondary shaft), Tail assembly
a rotor brake, and an electrical generator, Spinner
plus auxiliary equipment for control,
lubrication and cooling functions. In some
small-scale and with permanent magnet type
Slipring and
generator with medium- and large-scale brushes Alternator
HAWT have a direct-drive from the turbine Mainframe
to the generator, with no gear box, turbine Yaw bearing
shaft, or generator-drive shaft. Furling winch
FIGURE 4.13 Typical small HAWT power train.

Generator Slip coupling

Gearbox shaft
Rotor Generator
Turbine brake
shaft

Oil cooler
Hydraulic
Pitch-change supply
mechanism Yaw drive
Main Torsional
bearings springs
Bedplate
FIGURE 4.14 Typical medium scale HAWT power train.
Rotor brake
Generator shaft

Epicylic gearbox

Aft bearing

Generator
Forward Turbine
bearing shaft
assembly Flex mount

Removable coupling
Quill shaft

Rotor support
Fixed shaft
coupling
Teeter bearing
interface
FIGURE 4.15 Typical large scale HAWT power train.
122 Wind Energy: Theory and Practice

The turbine shaft assembly is one of the most critical components in a HAWT because of its
dual structural/mechanical function. Rotor weight, thrust, torque, and lateral forces all cause
fatigue loading on this component whose design lifetime usually equals or exceeds that of the total
system.
A HAWT speed-increasing gear box has a step-up ratio (equal to the generator shaft speed
divided by turbine shaft speed) that may vary from 1.0 (in a direct-drive power train) to 100 (in
a large scale HAWT). Blade tip speed, rotor diameter and generator design determine the step-up
ratio. Parallel axis, epicyclic or planetary, and hybrid designs are used. The generator drive shaft
is a conventional machine element with bolted flange on both ends. If there is a pitch control
mechanism for stopping the rotor, the rotor brake is usually used only for parking and maintenance.
The function of the low-speed shaft is the transmission of the drive torque from the rotor hub
to the gear box, and the transfer of all other rotor loadings to the nacelle structure. The mounting
of the low-speed shaft on fore and aft bearing has allowed these two functions to be catered for
separately; the gearbox is hung on the rear end of the shaft projecting beyond the rear bearing and
the drive torque is resisted by a torque arm. The front bearing is positioned as close as possible to
the shaft/hub flange connection, in order to minimize the gravity moment due to cantilevered
rotor mass, which usually governs shaft fatigue design. As illustrated in Figure 4.16, the spacing
between the two bearings will normally be greater than that between front bearing and rotor hub
in order to moderate the bearing loads due to shaft moment.
Gearbox
Front- Rear- reaction arm
bearing bearing
housing housing
Gearbox
Rotor
brake

Rotor hub

Generator

Low-speed shaft

FIGURE 4.16 View of nacelle showing drive shaft arrangement.

In other configuration, shown in Figure 4.17, only the rear-low speed shaft bearing is absorbed
into the gearbox. The gearbox is usually set well back from the front bearing in order to reduce the rear
bearing loads, and is rigidly fixed to supporting pedestals positioned on either side of the nacelle.
Direct drive systems include innovative power electronics architectures and large scale use of
permanent–magnet generators to eliminate gear box. The use of rare-earth permanent magnets in
 Wind Turbine 123

Hub mounting flange Low-speed shaft Gearbox

mounting High-speed
Rotor Front-bearing Gearbox shaft Cooler
hub Brake
housing

Front
bearing Generator
Yaw drive
Safety
Nacelle bedplate coupling
Yaw brake
FIGURE 4.17 Nacelle arrangement for a large modern turbine.

generator rotors eliminates much of the weight associated with copper windings, eliminates problems
associated with insulation degradation and shorting, and reduces electrical losses. Rare-earth magnets
cannot be subjected to elevated temperatures, however, without permanently degrading magnetic
field strength, which imposes corresponding demands on generator cooling reliability. Power
electronics has already achieved elevated performance and reliability levels, but opportunities for
significant improvement remain. New Silicon Carbide (SiC) devices allow operation at higher
temperature and higher frequency, while improving reliability, lowering cost, or both. New circuit
topologies could furnish better control of power quality, enable higher voltages to be used and
increase overall converter efficiency.
In the case of wind turbines with direct-drive generators, the low-speed shaft arrangement is
different. It is illustrated in Figure 4.18. The low-speed shaft, which now connects the rotor hub
to the rotor of the generator, is hollow, so that it can be mounted on a concentric fixed shaft
cantilevered out from the nacelle bedplate.

Generator rotor

Fixed shaft

Low-speed shaft

Generator stator

FIGURE 4.18 Direct-drive generator arrangement.

124 Wind Energy: Theory and Practice

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Write a short essay covering materials used for construction of wind turbine blades of
various wind turbines.
2. Write a short essay on historical development of wind mills and turbines. Draw sketches of
various designs of wind energy conversion systems.
3. Write the chronological development of wind technology development starting from historical
wind mill to modern wind turbine.
4. Explain with a line diagram the principal subsystems of a HAWT. Draw the diagram of a
nacelle of a modern wind turbine and show the arrangement of different components.
5. Explain with a line diagram the principal subsystems of a VAWT (Darrius type and
Savonious type wind turbines).
6. Explain the chronology of development and application of rotor blade materials for wind
mills and turbines.
7. Write the classification of wind energy conversion systems with the help of sketches and
classification tree.
8. Go to three leading manufacturers’ websites and find out what is their largest commercial
wind turbine state diameter rated power and other major specifications and generator type.
9. What are the applications for small wind turbines?
10. Explain the following mechanisms with sketches:
(i) Yaw mechanism, (ii) Aerodynamics braking,
(iii) Teetering mechanism, and (iv) Pitch mechanism.