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WIND POWER

By: Roger Rivera

What is it? How does it work? Efficiency U.S. Stats and Examples

WIND POWER - What is it?

All renewable energy (except tidal and geothermal power), ultimately comes from the sun The earth receives 1.74 x 1017 watts of power (per hour) from the sun About one or 2 percent of this energy is converted to wind energy (which is about 50-100 times more than the energy converted to biomass by all plants on earth Differential heating of the earths surface and atmosphere induces vertical and horizontal air currents that are affected by the earths rotation and contours of the land WIND. ~ e.g.: Land Sea Breeze Cycle

Winds are influenced by the ground surface at altitudes up to 100 meters.

Wind is slowed by the surface roughness and obstacles.


When dealing with wind energy, we are concerned with surface winds. A wind turbine obtains its power input by converting the force of the wind into a torque (turning force) acting on the rotor blades. The amount of energy which the wind transfers to the rotor depends on the density of the air, the rotor area, and the wind speed. The kinetic energy of a moving body is proportional to its mass (or weight). The kinetic energy in the wind thus depends on the density of the air, i.e. its mass per unit of volume. In other words, the "heavier" the air, the more energy is received by the turbine. at 15 Celsius air weighs about 1.225 kg per cubic meter, but the density decreases slightly with increasing humidity.

A typical 600 kW wind turbine has a rotor diameter of 43-44 meters, i.e. a rotor area of some 1,500 square meters. The rotor area determines how much energy a wind turbine is able to harvest from the wind. Since the rotor area increases with the square of the rotor diameter, a turbine which is twice as large will receive 22 = 2 x 2 = four times as much energy. To be considered a good location for wind energy, an area needs to have average annual wind speeds of at least 12 miles per hour.

This document discusses some of the major components of a wind turbine you should monitor and which NI devices you can use to do this. Wind turbine monitoring encompasses monitoring for control applications as well as preventive measures. Preventive monitoring is necessary to extend turbine life cycle, schedule maintenance, and predict fault conditions. The following list of preventive monitoring types is not an all-encompassing list. Depending on your application, you may need to use other types of preventive monitoring.

1. Introduction 2. Hardware Overview 3. Vibration 4. Oil Quality 5. Strain 6. Acoustic 7. Temperature 8. Power Quality

Introduction
THE WIND ENERGY INDUSTRY FACES A CONSTANT STATE OF EVOLUTION BECAUSE OF CHALLENGES SUCH AS THE PRESSURE TO BE COMPETITIVE WITH OTHER TYPES OF ENERGY PRODUCTION AND THE GROWING NEED TO REDUCEOPERATING AND MAINTENANCE

COSTS. CONDITION MONITORING OFFERS YOU A WAY TO REDUCE THE COST OF OWNERSHIP FOR THESE CRITICAL MACHINES BY PREDICTING FAILURES BEFORE THEY OCCUR, WHICH HELPS YOUEFFECTIVELY SCHEDULE PROPER MAINTENANCE

A wind turbine monitoring system is built around the asset being

monitored, with the measurements chosen based on the


parameters most likely to indicate failure. A typical block diagram for awind turbine monitoring system is shown in Figure 1. Sensors and hardware are used to acquire physical signals, and then software is used to analyze these signals into a meaningful machinecondition and predict failure

Hardware Overview

You can measure a variety of physical signals based on your assets of interest, from vibration and strain to temperature and oil quality. By measuring these different signals together, you can generate a better picture of the assets state. National Instruments offers two main platforms for reading the signal from these different sensors: C Series and PXI. C Series is an industrial, portable form factor that is ideal for distributed monitoring or portable diagnostics. PXI offers a higher-performance, higher-channel-count system for use in test setups or much larger monitoring systems.

vibration

Vibration monitoring is one of the most important aspects in wind turbine monitoring because it helps determine the condition of rotating equipment. In a wind turbine, this equipment consists of the main bearing, gearbox, and generator. Figure 1 shows where you can place vibration sensors to read data in the axial and radial directions. Depending on the applicable frequency range, you can use either position sensors (low range), velocity sensors (mid range), or accelerometers (high range) for this measurement. These vibration sensors are rigid mounted to the component of interest and return an analog signal proportional to the instantaneous local motion. An acquisition device that has a high sampling rate, high dynamic range, and antialiasing is ideal for this type of measurement. For more information on accelerometers, read the Sound and Vibration Transducers Guide.

You also can monitor vibrations on the turbine structure at the base and on the nacelle. This provides information concerning structural bending and the aerodynamic effect of the wind. From this sensor data, you can determine if any monitored components have problems before they are damaged (for example, cracked gear tooth, broken bearing, and so on). For rotating equipment, the sensor data must undergo order analysis to display the data harmonics. These harmonics provide insight into the component performance and allow for easier diagnosis. Consult the Order Analysis Fundamentals and Performing Order Analysis documentation for more information. Note that you must have NI sound and vibration analysis software to perform order analysis

Oil Quality
OIL IS A KEY COMPONENT IN WIND SYSTEMS BECAUSE IMPROPER LUBRICATION CAN REDUCE EFFICIENCY AND CAUSE MECHANICAL FAILURES. MOST BEARING AND GEAR WEAR RESULTS FROM INCORRECT OIL LUBRICATION AND CANLEAD TO MORE SERIOUS PROBLEMS IN THE TURBINE DRIVE TRAIN. THIS MONITORING CONSISTS OF OIL PARTICLE COUNTING AND MOISTNESS MEASUREMENTS. BY USING AN INSTRUMENT SUCH AS A PARTICLE COUNTER, YOU CAN DETERMINE THE QUALITY OF THE OIL AND VERIFY THE EXISTENCE OF CONTAMINANTS. WATER CONTAMINATION OF INDUSTRIAL OILS PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN THISCONTAMINATION. HIGH MOISTURE LEVELS CAN CAUSE COMPONENTS TO OVERHEAT, CORRODE, OR FATALLY MALFUNCTION. MANY MOISTURE SENSORS COMMUNICATE THEIR DATA THROUGH ANALOG VOLTAGE AND CURRENT AS WELL AS THE RS232 PROTOCOL

Strain
STRAIN MONITORING, A COMMON TECHNIQUE FOR DETERMINING STRUCTURAL HEALTH, IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY MORE IMPORTANT IN THE WIND TURBINE INDUSTRY. STRESS MEASUREMENTS ARE COMMONLY MADE IN ALABORATORY SETTING FOR BLADE LIFETIME TESTING. THESE STRESS MEASUREMENTS ARE MADE WITH SENSORS CALLED METAL FOIL STRAIN GAGES. AN ACQUISITION DEVICE THAT CAN PROVIDE VOLTAGE EXCITATION AND BRIDGE COMPLETION FOR THE STRAIN GAGE IS IDEAL FOR THIS MEASUREMENT. YOU CAN PLACE THE STRAIN GAGES ANYWHERE ON THE BLADE, BUT THE DISTRIBUTION VARIES WITH THE AMOUNT OF SENSORS

. Place the sensors in aconfiguration to optimally model the stress on the blade and take both the flapwise and edgewise directions into account. Figure 2 illustrates the difference between the flapwise and edgewise directions. For more information on measuring with strain gages, consult Strain Measurements with Strain Gages: How-To Guide. Some turbine blade manufacturers embed fiber-optic sensors within the blade to simplify connections from the blade to the data logger and allow little to no degradation of the signal over a long distance. By using new fiber-optic sensing technology, monitoring the stress on the blade while rotating is easier and more accurate.

Acoustic
WIND TURBINE NOISE IMPACT MEASUREMENTS ARE MOST COMMONLY USED TO ENSURE THAT THE WIND SYSTEM COMPLIES WITH STANDARDS SUCH AS IEC 61400-11:2002 (INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION). ACOUSTIC MONITORING USES MICROPHONES TO MEASURE THE NOISE FROM THE TURBINE BOTH INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY. AN ACQUISITION DEVICE THAT HAS ANTIALIASING AND BOTH A HIGH SAMPLING RATE AND DYNAMIC RANGE IS IDEAL FOR THIS TYPE OF MEASUREMENT. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MICROPHONE TYPES, REFER TO THE MICROPHONE HANDBOOK AND THE SOUND AND VIBRATION TRANSDUCERS GUIDE.

The gearbox and the main bearing are important when monitoring internally, while the overall turbine noise is monitored externally. From the noise readings, you can determine the higher-frequency components to predict possible faults. You can validate the noise compliance of the turbine by measuring signals like the sound power level and by sending the acoustic data through third-octave analysis. For more information on third-octave analysis and acoustic monitoring, read Measurement of Sound Intensity. Note that you must have NI sound and vibration analysis software to perform third-order analysis

Temperature
TEMPERATURE IS ANOTHER MEASUREMENT THAT YOU CAN USE FOR PREVENTIVE AND PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE. YOU CAN MEASURE IT WITH A VARIETY OF SENSORS, BUT THE MOST COMMONLY USED SENSORS FORTEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT ARE THERMOCOUPLES OR RESISTANCE TEMPERATURE DETECTORS (RTDS). AN ACQUISITION DEVICE THAT HAS A NARROW INPUT RANGE AND COLDJUNCTION COMPENSATION IS IDEAL FOR THIS MEASUREMENT. INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL AMBIENT TEMPERATURES ARE COMMON STRUCTURAL HEALTH MEASUREMENTS. MORE IMPORTANTLY, TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS OF INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS, SUCH AS THEGENERATORS ROTOR AND STATOR, ARE IMPORTANT TO DIAGNOSE AND PREVENT ISSUES IN THE TURBINE. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS, READ TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT WITH A THERMOCOUPLE OR RTD

Power Quality
POWER QUALITY IS A HIGH-INTEREST AREA FOR WIND TURBINE MONITORING BECAUSE QUALITY CAN DEGRADE AS A RESULT OF WIND SPEED, TURBULENCE, AND SWITCHING EVENTS. WHILE RUNNING THE WIND ENERGY SYSTEM, YOU MUST MEET CERTAIN VOLTAGE AND CURRENT REQUIREMENTS. MAINLY, YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE ALTERNATING VOLTAGE AND CURRENT MOVE IN STEP. TRANSFORMERS ARE OFTEN PLACED BETWEEN THE GENERATOROUTPUT AND THE DATA ACQUISITION DEVICE TO SCALE DOWN THE VOLTAGE TO AN ACCEPTABLE LEVEL. CURRENT CLAMPS OR CURRENT SENSORS THAT CAN CONVERT HIGH AMPERAGE INTO PROPORTIONAL LOWVOLTAGE OUTPUTS AREUSED TO MEASURE THE OUTPUT CURRENT. ACQUISITION DEVICES WITH HIGH VOLTAGE AND CURRENT INPUTS AS WELL AS ISOLATION ARE IDEAL FOR THESE MEASUREMENTS.

THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF ANALYSIS MOST GREATLY INFLUENCE POWER QUALITY: PEAK POWER OUTPUT, REACTIVE POWER, VOLTAGE FLUCTUATIONS, AND HARMONICS. YOU CAN MAKE MEASUREMENTS ON THE LOW-VOLTAGE SIDE OF THE TURBINES TRANSFORMERS TO ACQUIRE THE NECESSARY DATA FOR THE REQUIRED ANALYSIS. THE PURPOSE OF MEASURING THE REACTIVE POWER COMPONENT IS TO DETERMINE IF THE VOLTAGE AND CURRENT ARE IN PHASE. THE HARMONICS PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO ALL OF THE SIGNALS THAT EXIST IN THE OUTPUT. ALSO, VOLTAGE FLUCTUATIONS, OR FLICKERS, CAN BE TRIGGERED BY SHORT-LIVED WIND VARIATIONS THAT HAVE THE ABILITY TO CAUSE THE POWER OUTPUT TO FLUCTUATE AS WELL. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HIGH VOLTAGE OR CURRENT MEASUREMENTS, REFER TO THE HIGH-VOLTAGE MEASUREMENTS AND ISOLATION AND MEASURING HIGH CURRENT WITH NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS DAQ DEVICES DOCUMENTS

WINDMILL DESIGN

A Windmill captures wind energy and then uses a generator to convert it to electrical energy. The design of a windmill is an integral part of how efficient it will be. When designing a windmill, one must decide on the size of the turbine, and the size of the generator.

LARGE TURBINES:

Able to deliver electricity at lower cost than smaller turbines, because foundation costs, planning costs, etc. are independent of size. Well-suited for offshore wind plants. In areas where it is difficult to find sites, one large turbine on a tall tower uses the wind extremely efficiently.

SMALL TURBINES: Local electrical grids may not be able to handle the large electrical output from a large turbine, so smaller turbines may be more suitable. High costs for foundations for large turbines may not be economical in some areas. Landscape considerations

Wind Turbines: Number of Blades


Most common design is the three-bladed turbine. The most important reason is the stability of the turbine. A rotor with an odd number of rotor blades (and at least three blades) can be considered to be similar to a disc when calculating the dynamic properties of the machine. A rotor with an even number of blades will give stability problems for a machine with a stiff structure. The reason is that at the very moment when the uppermost blade bends backwards, because it gets the maximum power from the wind, the lowermost blade passes into the wind shade in front of the tower.

Wind power generators convert wind energy (mechanical energy) to electrical energy. The generator is attached at one end to the wind turbine, which provides the mechanical energy. At the other end, the generator is connected to the electrical grid.

The generator needs to have a cooling system to make sure there is no overheating.

SMALL GENERATORS: Require less force to turn than a larger ones, but give much lower power output. Less efficient

i.e.. If you fit a large wind turbine rotor with a small generator it will be producing electricity during many hours of the year, but it will capture only a small part of the energy content of the wind at high wind speeds.
LARGE GENERATORS: Very efficient at high wind speeds, but unable to turn at low wind speeds.

i.e.. If the generator has larger coils, and/or a stronger internal magnet, it will require more force (mechanical) to start in motion.

Advantages of Wind Power


The wind blows day and night, which allows windmills to produce electricity throughout the day. (Faster during the day)

Energy output from a wind turbine will vary as the wind varies, although the most rapid variations will to some extent be compensated for by the inertia of the wind turbine rotor.
Wind energy is a domestic, renewable source of energy that generates no pollution and has little environmental impact. Up to 95 percent of land used for wind farms can also be used for other profitable activities including ranching, farming and forestry. The decreasing cost of wind power and the growing interest in renewable energy sources should ensure that wind power will become a viable energy source in the United States and worldwide.

Wind Turbines and the Landscape


- Large turbines dont turn as fast attract less attention - City dwellers dwell on the attention attracted by windmills Sound from Wind Turbines - Increasing tip speed less sound - The closest neighbor is usually 300 m experiences almost no noise Birds often collide with high voltage overhead lines, masts, poles, and windows of buildings. They are also killed by cars in traffic. However, birds are seldom bothered by wind turbines. The only known site with bird collision problems is located in the Altamont Pass in California. Danish Ministry of the Environment study revealed that power lines are a much greater danger to birds than the wind turbines. Some birds even nest on cages on Wind Towers.

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