Introduction to

DESIGN OF WIND POWER GENERATING STATIONS

presented to

ME 195-3 Senior Design Projects Class

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
San Jose State University
by
Tai-Ran Hsu, Professor
on
October 28, 2009
Overview of Wind Power Station
 A Promising Fast Growing Clean Power Source

121.2 GW = 1.5%
worldwide electricity
Total solar PV power
generation = 6 GW
in 2008

Source: Wikipedia 2009

 The Top Ten Wind Power Producing Countries
P ow er G eneration in the World 2008

30000
25000
20000
(M W )

15000
10000
5000
0

dia
ina
ai n

UK
ly
A

ce

l
y

k
ga
an

ar
US

I ta
an
In
Sp

Ch

rt u
nm
rm

Fr

Po
Ge

De
Countries

Source: Wikipedia 2009

 Wind Industry Growth Trends
Larger multi-MW turbines
Demand for new innovative technologies
Led by Europeans
Offshore & low wind regime focus in U.S.

Altamont
Region
10 m,
26 ft
0.15 MW
 Large Wind Turbines
450 base to blade
Each blade 112
Span greater than 747
163+ tons total
Foundation 20+ feet
deep
Rated at 1.5 5
megawatt
Supply at least 350
homes
 Wind 2030
A goal set by

US Department of Energy in July 2008:

20% of US electricity generation by wind energy

by Year 2030

Total US electricity generation in 2005 was 4017 GW

 Major Components in Wind Power Plants

Wind Turbogenerator
WIND Wind
Gear Box Electric
Turbine Generator

Horizontal axis wind turbine

Power Power
Electronics Storage

Vertical axis wind turbine Batteries

Capacitor banks
Grid power system
Pumped water
Flywheel
Thermal

Superconducting magnetic
Design of Wind Power Station
 Major Tasks in Design and Construction of
Wind Power Generating Stations

A. Site selection

B. Local wind resource survey

C. Selection of wind turbogenerators or wind farm

with multiple wind turbines

D. Power transmission and storage

E. Public safety and liability

F. Environmental impacts wildlife protections

G. Construction of power generating stations

 A. Site Selection
Possible sites:

Flat Plain Hill tops

Rooftops of (high rise)

buildings and structures

Offshore
In North
Sea
Site Visits:

The purpose of site visits is to look for the following facts:

Available open space for wind power generating station

Consistently bent trees and vegetation as a sure sign of strong winds.

Accessibility for construction, monitoring and maintenances, and power transmission

Check for potential site constraints:

Competing land uses

Permission for the wind plant or its transmission lines,
Probable local land owners resistance to selling the necessary land and easements.

Availability of possible location for a wind monitoring station.

 B. Wind Resource Survey
- A major task in wind power generating station design
Wind contains energy that can be converted to electricity using wind turbines

The amount of electricity that wind turbines produce depends upon the amount
of energy in the wind passing through the area swept by the wind turbine blades
in a unit of time.

Wind resource is expressed in terms of the wind power density and

wind speed in the locality

Wind Power Density is a useful way to evaluate the wind resource available at a
potential site.

The wind power density, measured in watts per square meter, indicates
how much energy is available at the site for conversion by a wind turbine

Viable wind speed for power generation:

Minimum threshold speed: 4 m/s
Viable speed: 11 m/s
Average World Wind Energy Resources
(wind velocity at m/s)
 Wind resource in Wind speed in
various parts of SF Bay Area (m/s):
USA is
available from US 5.0 -5.5
Geological survey 5.5 -6.0
6.0 -6.5

6.5 -7.0
 Wind velocity Why it is important?
Wind power generation: W AV 3
Wind Power vs. Wind Speed:

2500
Power/Area (W/m^2)
2000

1500

1000

500

0
0 5 10 15 20
Wind Speed (m/s)

High power output is possible with:

High tower for higher wind speed

Long blades for large swept area
 Classes of Wind Power Density at 10 m and 50 m - for evaluation

10 m (33 ft) 50 m (164 ft)

Wind Wind Speed(b) Wind Speed(b)

Power Power m/s (mph) Power m/s (mph)
Class Density Density
(W/m2) (W/m2)
1 <100 <4.4 (9.8) <200 <5.6 (12.5)
4.4 (9.8)/5.1 5.6 (12.5)/6.4
2 100 - 150 200 - 300
(11.5) (14.3)
5.1 (11.5)/5.6 6.4 (14.3)/7.0
3 150 - 200 300 - 400
(12.5) (15.7)
5.6 (12.5)/6.0 7.0 (15.7)/7.5
200 - 250 400 - 500
Preferred for large scale

4
(13.4) (16.8)
wind power stations

6.0 (13.4)/6.4 7.5 (16.8)/8.0

5 250 - 300 500 - 600
(14.3) (17.9)
6.4 (14.3)/7.0 8.0 (17.9)/8.8
6 300 - 400 600 - 800
(15.7) (19.7)
7 >400 >7.0 (15.7) >800 >8.8 (19.7)
(a) Vertical extrapolation of wind speed based on the 1/7 power law
(b) Mean wind speed is based on the Rayleigh speed distribution of equivalent wind power density. Wind speed is
for standard sea-level conditions. To maintain the same power density, speed increases 3%/1000 m (5%/5000 ft)
of elevation.
(from the Battelle Wind Energy Resource Atlas)
 Available Wind Energy Density and Wind Speed

Distribution of wind speed (red)

and energy (blue) for all of 2002
at the Lee Ranch facility in Colorado
(Ref: Wikipedia 2009)

2500
Power/Area (W/m^2)

2000

1500

1000

500

0
0 5 10 15 20
Wind Speed (m/s)
 Wind speed increases with the height (altitude)
Reason for high tower for wind turbine

v
Formula for extrapolation: ln
n vo
z n=
v( z ) = v( zo )
where
z
zo ln
zo
v(z) = Extrapolated wind velocity at elevation z
v(zo) = measured wind velocity at elevation zo
n = wind shear factor ground cover n
smooth surface ocean, sand 0.1
Extrapolated wind velocity measured at IBM-ARC site low grass or fallow ground 0.16
By SJSU student team in 2009 high grass or low row crops 0.18
tall row crops or low woods 0.2
high woods with many trees suburbs, small
towns 0.3
Wind speed measurements:
Conduct wind resource survey on specific site using tower with anemometers
: for measuring wind speed:

Wind vane Cup anemometers

Data logger Data logger by solar power

Thermal sensor

Wind profile measured by Sodar transmitters using Doppler effects associate

with the shift of the frequencies of the acoustical waves of the transmitted and
received at various altitude in the atmosphere.

Sodar units manufactured by Atmospheric Systems

Corporation (ASC) can detect wind profile from 15
to 250m in elevation using acoustic waves at
4-6 kHz frequencies.
 Intermittent Nature of Wind Power
Wind power varies randomly in:
(a) time of the days, (b) months of the year, (c) by the years

January 6, 2005 California Wind Generation

TOTAL Load, MW

400 34000

350
32000

300
30000

Watts
250
28000
MW

200

26000
150

24000
100

22000
50

0 20000
0:00:00

1:00:00

2:00:00

3:00:00

4:00:00

5:00:00

6:00:00

7:00:00

8:00:00

9:00:00

10:00:00

11:00:00

12:00:00

13:00:00

14:00:00

15:00:00

16:00:00

17:00:00

18:00:00

19:00:00

20:00:00

21:00:00

22:00:00

23:00:00
Hours in the Day
Required wind energy resource data for wind power generating station design:

Average Wind Speed, m/s

Hours of the Day

Wind speed, m/s

Month of the Year

Wind Energy on a Selected Site

C. General Design Parameters for Wind Power Generating Station Design
Principal selection criteria of wind turbogenerators:
The available wind energy on the site
Site visit findings
Other considerations:

Input Variables Output-side

Average annual wind speed Optimal rotor diameter
Total available wind energy on the site Optimal generator capacity
Capital investment Optimal RPM of rotor
Suitable wind turbine types Optimal blade angle at each wind speed
Fixed or variable speed wind turbine Torque on gear box at each wind speed
Blade coefficients of lift and drag at each Power produced at each wind speed
wind speed
Gear box efficiency Maximum total annual energy production
Generator efficiency
Power electronics efficiency

(Ref: Wind Turbine Design Optimization, Michael Schmidt, Strategic Energy Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology,
www.energy.gatech.edu)
Available Wind power on the Site:
Annual Wind Energy on a Selected Site
Wind power by the turbine:
P = AV 3 (cb ) kW
1
2
where = mass density, kg/m3
A = rotor swept area, m2
V = wind speed, m/s
Cb = Betz limit < 0.59
(1 + Vr )(1 Vr2 )
cb = with Vr = Vout/Vin
2
Rotor selection:
% of Available wind
energy captured 100%
Variable speed rotor

Fixed speed rotor

9 10 m/s Wind speed

 Selection of Wind Turbogenerator
Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

Vertical Axis
Wind Turbine
 Horizontal Wind Turbines
Advantages:

1) Variable blade pitch, which gives the turbine blades the optimum angle of attack.
Allowing the angle of attack to be remotely adjusted gives greater control,
so the turbine collects the maximum amount of wind energy for the time of day and season.
2) The tall tower base allows access to stronger wind in sites with wind shear.
In some wind shear sites, every ten meters up, the wind speed can increase by 20%
and the power output by 34%.

Disadvantages:

1) HAWTs have difficulty operating in near ground because of turbulent winds.

2) The tall towers and blades up to 90 meters long are difficult to transport.
Transportation can now cost 20% of equipment costs.
3) Tall HAWTs are difficult to install, needing very tall and expensive cranes and skilled operators.
4) Massive tower construction is required to support the heavy blades, gearbox, and generator.
5) Tall HAWTs may affect airport radar.
6) Their height makes them obtrusively visible across large areas, disrupting the appearance
of the landscape and sometimes creating local opposition.
7) Downwind variants suffer from fatigue and structural failure caused by turbulence.
8) HAWTs require an additional yaw control mechanism to turn the blades toward the wind.
 Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

Advantages:

1) Does not need to be pointed into the wind to be effective

2) The generator and gear box can be placed near ground
no need to be supported by a tower, and for easy maintenance
3) Does not need a yaw mechanism to turn the rotor against the wind

Disadvantages:

1) Difficult to be mounted on a tower. So it is almost all installed on the ground

- low wind speed in low attitude with low efficiency
2) Air flow near ground level with high turbulence
- cause excessive vibration, noise and bearing wear a serious maintenance problem
3) May need guy wires to hold the turbine vertical guy wires are not practical solutions
4) Major load on thrust bearings need frequent replacement not an easy job

Unique advantages:

1) More suited for roof-top installation

2) Optimum height of turbine 50% of building height
 Design of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines

Rotor
& Blades

Basic Structure:
Nacelle
The rotor typically has Hub
three blades.
Blade diameter can be as large
as 40 m

The nacelle yaws or rotates to keep Tower

the turbine faced into the wind

The nacelle also houses the gear Controls, Transformer and

box and generator Power Electronics
Interior of a Nacelle
 Design of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines

Odd number of rotor blades

(= 3, the optimum number from aerodynamics principle)

A large rotor captures more energy but cost more

Blades have slight twist optimized to capture the max.

amount of wind power

The power captured by a horizontal axis wind turbine is:

1
W = AV 3 cp
2
where = mass density of air
A = rotor swept area
V = wind velocity
cp = coefficient relating to efficiency
The coefficient cp is:
Vout
2
Vout
1 + 1
Vin Vin 16
cp = = = 0.592 = Betz limit
2 27 meaning the efficiency of HAWT
cannot exceed 59%
Other design considerations:

1) Synchronous or asynchronous electric generator

2) Fixed speed or variable speed

3) A large rotor-to-generator ratio captures more energy at low wind speeds

4) A small rotor-to-generator ratio captures more energy at high wind speed

5) So, this ratio must be optimized for site specific wind speed distribution

6) The variable speed captures more energy at almost all wind speeds.
- cost more in hardware and power electronics control system
Mechanical Engineering Design of
Wind Power Generating Station

Performance Design

Structural Design
 Performance Design

Design Objectives:

Design for maximum LIFT and minimum drag for the airfoil
cross-section of the turbine blades using aerodynamics
principle

Design the yaw mechanism that provides fast response to

change of wind direction using mecahtronics principle
 Lift & Drag Forces
The Lift Force is
perpendicular to the = low
direction of motion. We
want to make this force
BIG. = medium
<10 degrees

The Drag Force is = High

parallel to the direction Stall!!
of motion. We want to
make this force small.
Airfoil Shape
Just like the wings of an airplane,
wind turbine blades use the airfoil
shape to create lift and maximize
efficiency.
 Tip-Speed Ratio
Tip-speed ratio is the ratio of the R
speed of the rotating blade tip
to the speed of the free stream
wind. R
There is an optimum angle of
attack which creates the
highest lift to drag ratio.
Because angle of attack is
dependant on wind speed,
there is an optimum tip-speed
ratio
R
TSR =
Where,
V
= rotational speed in radians /sec
R = Rotor Radius
V = Wind Free Stream Velocity
 PerformanceOverRangeofTip
SpeedRatios
PowerCoefficientVarieswithTipSpeedRatio
CharacterizedbyCpvs TipSpeedRatioCurve

0.4
Cp
0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Tip Speed Ratio
 Wind Turbine Structural Design

Loading

STATIC LOADING Constant in time, e.g. weight

CYCLIC LOADING Structural vibration induced

STOAHASTIC LOADING Load varying with time

e.g. aerodynamic induced loading with varying wind velocity

DYNAMIC LOADING Inertia forces induced by

varying rotor speed, and Coriolis forces.

Common Structural Failure Modes

Over-stress Stress concentration near abrupt geometry

change areas

Vibration-induced fatigue failure

Failure due to resonant vibration

 Loading on Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines

A. Loading on Blades

Aerodynamic load:
Intermittent with varying magnitudes along the BLADES
blade length stochastic loads
Lift forces for bending
Drag forces for torsion

Centrifugal forces from rotation at high speed

Gravitation load in large blades ROTOR

MAIN SHAFT
B. Loading on Rotor

Weight of blades bending TOWER

Aerodynamic forces on blades bending
Coriolis force axial thrust
Centrifugal forces on blades bending
Electromagnetic forces by the generator torsion vibration
Yaw forces bending

C. Loading on Main Shaft

Weight of blades shear
Electromagnetic force of generator torsion vibration
D. Loading on Tower

Uneven centrifugal forces

Aerodynamic forces Cyclic tension/compression

Aerodynamic forces
Intermittent bending

Uneven centrifugal forces

Rotor weights

Intermittent shearing
 Loading on Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

Stochastic aerodynamic loading

cyclic bending & torsion

Weights buckling

Friction wear
 DESIGN ANALYSIS
Componenets
Geometry
& Dimen-
sions
CAD Solid models
Material handbook
Lab test data
Aerodynamic analysis
Flow patterns CFD Analysis Material
Fluid-induced forces
Fluid-induced forces Characteriza- (e.g., fatigue failure models)
Lift/drag coefficients
tion

Phenomino-
Other Input Stress Analysis
logical Models
Loads using FEM
Fatigue

Safe/Fail? Over-stress

Resonant vibration
 Fatigue Failure of Wind Turbine Blades by Cyclic Stresses:
max + min max min Stress range: r = max min

Mean stress: m = Stress amplitude : a =
2 2

Fluctuating stress
Sinusoidal fluctuating stress

Non-sinusoidal fluctuating stress Repeated stress

Non-fluctuating sinusoidal stress Completely reversed sinusoidal stress

Typical Fatigue (S-N) Curves for Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Metals
(Laboratory Test Data for Specific Materials)

Note: Calculated stress can be: m, or a, or r

 D. Power Transmission and Storage

Two Major Cost Factors of Wind Power:

Power transmission involves hundreds miles of transmission from power generating
stations to the consumers. Transmission often require over
rugged terrains or over waters.
Power storage wind power is intermiitent in nature, There is rarely matching between
the time of power generations and that of the needs for power
January 6, 2005 California Wind Generation
TOTAL Load, MW

400 34000

350
Wind Power 32000

300
30000

250
28000
MW

200

26000
150

24000
100

22000
50

0 20000
0:00:00

1:00:00

2:00:00

3:00:00

4:00:00

5:00:00

6:00:00

7:00:00

8:00:00

9:00:00

10:00:00

11:00:00

12:00:00

13:00:00

14:00:00

15:00:00

16:00:00

17:00:00

18:00:00

19:00:00

20:00:00

21:00:00

22:00:00

23:00:00
Mid-day
Peak needs by business
& industry

Power storage systems are essential parts of wind power generation

 A Pumped-Storage Plant

Generated wind power is used to pump water to a higher elevation for energy storage
The high elevation water is released to drive hydraulic turbogenerator to generate
electricity to consumers when power is needed
 A Viable Energy Storage System
- Net metering with local utility power generator

To and from
utility, e.g. PG&E
Excess energy fed to the grid for credit

Customers
Distribution
Panel

Synchronous Utility
Inverter Meter

Power generator IBM-ARC

and user Campus

Additional power requirements satisfied by the utility

Most utility generators impose limit on how much power may be swapped with
the generators a major design consideration
 E. Environmental Impact Study

Environmental impacts by wind power generation are minor in comparison to

other means of power generations.

Major concerns are:

Noise and vibration

Avian/Bat mortality
Avian fatality < 1 in 10,000

Visual impacts

shadow flicker
 Construction of Wind Power Stations

Turbine blade convoy passing

through Edenfield in the UK

Construction
sites
Principal References

Rand, Joseph Wind Turbine Blade Design, joe@kidwind.org

Ragheb, M. Dynamics and Structural Loading in Wind Turbines

Wind turbine Design, Wikipedia,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wki/wind_turbine_design

Schmidt, Michael Wind Turbine Design Optimization,

www.energy.gatech.edu

Basic Principles of Wind Resource Evaluation,

http://www.awea.org/faq/basicwr.html

Mechanical Engineering Systems Design,

Printed lecture notes by T.R. Hsu, San Jose State Unvierasity
San Jose, California, USA