MODULAR WIND TURBINE

Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree
Bachelor of Technology
In

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Submitted by

HARIHARA RAO BAGATHI

ID No: R111040

Under the esteemed guidance of

Mr. Dheeraj Chandra

RAJIV GANDHI UNIVERSITY OF KNOWLEDGE TECHNOLOGIES

R.K.VALLEY,KADAPA, ANDHRA PRADESH

ABSTRACT:In this MODULAR WIND TURBINE process is one of the alternative process
of producing electricity. This s the process that converts kinetic energy into mechanical
energy and after electrical energy. In this two types of process is followable. In this discuss
the topics: types,process,advantages,disadvantages,future scope,impacts.

KEY-WORDS:Wind power , Solar energy ,Geothermal heat ,Turbine ,Hydro-electricity ,Bio-fuels ,

Rotor ,Gear box ,Generator ,Tower.

INTRODUCTION:WHAT IS WIND TURBINE:The definition of a wind turbine

is a machine that converts the winds kinetic energy into
rotary mechanical energy and this rotary mechanical
energy is then converted by the generator into electricity.

HISTORY:Wind mills were used in Persia as early as 200 B.C.

Alexandria makes one of the first known instances of wind
powering a machine in the history. The first electricitygenerating wind turbine was a battery charging machine
installed in July 1887 by Scottish academic James Blyth to light his holiday home in
Marykirk, Scotland. Some months later American inventor Charles F. Brush built the first
automatically operated wind turbine for electricity production in Cleveland Ohio. A
forerunner of modern horizontal-axis wind generators was in service at Yalta, USSR in
1931. and Danish company Vestas is the world biggest wind turbine manufacturer as of
2012.
Thousands of wind turbines are being invested and installed
everywhere worldwide. Thus, many questions arise. What is a wind turbine? What are

the different types of design? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
And what are impacts of wind turbine in our environment? These are the
questions that I will attempt to answer.

OBJECTIVE:The purpose of wind turbine is we have heard more and more about the need
of renewable clean energy, but not much has been done. Today, pollution and greenhouse
gases are at its peak all over the world and the price of oil is higher than ever. Our earth is
getting very sick, and it is time that we start contributing in fighting pollution by exploiting
renewable clean energy. These clean energy consist of solar energy, wind power,
geothermal heat, hydroelectricity, Bio-fuels, and more. Currently, the wind power energy is
the most popular of all of these green technologies.

METHODOLOGY:WIND TURBINE COMPONENTS:1) ROTOR:-The rotor takes the wind and aerodynamically converts its energy into
mechanical energy through a connected shaft.
2) GEARBOX:-The gearbox increases the rotational velocity of the shaft for the
generator. In some turbines, the gearbox is not needed because the rotational velocity
or the torque from the shaft high enough.
3) GENERATOR:-The generator is a device that produces electricity when
mechanical work is given to the system.
4) CONTROL AND PROTECTION SYSTEM:-The protection system is like a
safety feature that makes sure that the turbine will not be working under dangerous
condition.
5) TOWER:-The tower is the main shaft that connects rotor to the foundation. It also
raises the rotor high in the air where we can find stronger winds.
6) FOUNDATION:-The foundation or the base supports the entire wind turbine and
make sure that it is well fixed onto the ground.

TYPES OF WIND TURBINES:There are mainly two types of wind turbine: horizontal axis and vertical
axis. The horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) and the vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT)
are classified or differentiated by the axis of rotation the rotor shafts.

They are:a) Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

b)Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
a) HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINE(HAWT):-The wind turbine
shown in figure below is a horizontal axis wind turbine. It is the most
popular wind turbine used and it can be seen all around the world because
of its higher efficiency than vertical axis turbines. The HAWT usually have
their generator place on the top and they have a propeller-type rotor.
b) VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE(VAWT):-The vertical axis
wind turbine however isnt as popular as HAWT, but because the axis of
rotation is vertical, it allows a better originality or creativity in the design of
the configuration of the blades. There are many VAWT sub-types:
Darrius (shown in figure below), Neo-aerodynamic, Novel, Savonius,
Zephyr, etc. These sub-types all have different blade configuration.
The VAWT have their gearbox near the ground.

WORKING PROCESS:Wind turbines operate on a simple principle. The energy in the wind
turns two or three propeller-like blades around a rotor. The rotor is
connected to the main shaft, which spins a generator to create
electricity.
The majority of wind turbines consist of three blades
mounted to a tower made from tubular steel. There are less common varieties with two
blades, or with concrete or steel lattice towers. At 100 feet or more above the ground, the
tower allows the turbine to take advantage of faster wind speeds found at higher altitudes.
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 lowpressure air forms on one side of the blade. The low-pressure air pocket then pulls the blade
toward it, causing the rotor to turn. This is called lift. The force of the lift is much stronger
than the wind's force against the front side of the blade, which is called drag. The
combination of lift and drag causes the rotor to spin like a propeller.
A series of gears increase the rotation of the rotor from
about 18 revolutions a minute to roughly 1,800 revolutions per minute a speed that allows

the turbines generator to produce AC electricity.

A streamlined enclosure called a nacelle houses key
turbine components -- usually including the gears, rotor and generator are found within a
housing called the nacelle. Sitting atop the turbine tower, some nacelles are large enough for
a helicopter to land on.
Another key component is the turbines controller, that
keeps the rotor speeds from exceeding 55 mph to avoid damage by high winds. An
anemometer continuously measures wind speed and transmits the data to the controller. A
brake, also housed in the nacelle, stops the rotor mechanically, electrically or hydraulically
in emergencies. Explore the interactive graphic above to learn more about the mechanics of
wind turbines.

ADVANTAGES:ADVANTAGE OF HAWT:An advantage that most HAWT have is a wind vane attached on the
rotor blades which would orient the blades towards the wind, allowing thus the best angle of
attack for the blades. In doing so, this would give the wind turbine the maximum amount of
wind energy possible. Another advantage is the towers of HAWT are relatively taller than
VAWT, which allows the blades to face much higher velocity winds in high altitude. In
some places, the power output of the wind turbine could increase up to 34% every ten
meters in altitude because the wind speed is increased by 20%. Taller towers wind turbine
can also be placed on uneven land or in offshore sites. Some financial benefits of HAWT is
that it becomes cheaper at high production volumes and larger sizes. They are also more
efficient and have higher capacity factors than VAWT.

ADVANTAGE OF VAWT:The advantage of VAWT is that it doesnt need to always be faced against the
winds direction like the HAWT. The blades of the vertical axis wind turbine can intercept
the wind from any directions because of the blade design. The VAWT are usually of
smaller scale turbine than most HAWT and therefore it is easier to be transported and
installed. The VAWT can also be use in residential area on roofs because of its smaller size.
It is also easier to repair VAWT because the gearbox and generator are placed at the bottom
of the turbine.

DISADVANTAGES:-

DISADVANTAGE OF HAWT:For the disadvantages of the HAWT, most turbines are not efficient
when it is installed close to the ground where there isnt much wind. Also, the tall tower
and long blades are very expensive and difficult to transport and install. Another
disadvantage of HAWT is that it is difficult to perform repairing operations to HAWT
because the gearbox, generator and the rotor are all placed at the top of the tower.
DISADVANTAGE OF VAWT:The disadvantage of the vertical wind turbine comparatively to the
horizontal wind turbine is the efficiency. In some cases, the efficiency of the energy
produced of a VAWT can be less than the half of the production of a HAWT. The VAWT
designs are also limited in height because of the sweep area available. The VAWT can only
be installed on flat surfaces. Many VAWT types need to be started manually by giving an
initial momentum or by an automatic starting mechanism because they have low starting
torque.

DISCUSSIONS:ECONOMY:Wind power is the worlds fastest-growing energy source and has an average
annual growth rate of 29% over the last decade. There are many thousand of wind turbines
operating in different parts of the world.

ENVIRONMENT:This green energy has no negative effects on our environment in short or in

long term since it is a renewable and pollution-free form of energy. When the wind hits the
wind turbine, a part of its kinetic energy is transformed into mechanical and electrical
energy. This energy is environment-friendly because the fuel it uses to produces electricity,
the wind, is produced from the sun. About 1 to 3% of the sun energy that hits the earth is
converted into wind energy and this energy is replenished everyday. It also doesnt need to
be mined, treated, transported or burned to the atmosphere.

IMPACTS:a) AIR IMPACTS:-In short term, wind energy has a positive effect on the air because it
does not produce any air pollutants or greenhouse gases like other energy sources such as

fossil fuel, coal, natural gas and oil. Wind power can therefore help attaint and meet the
goals of Kyoto Protocol. Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement among
industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in
December 1997. Canada is committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent
of 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. In long term, the environment impacts it can have
on the air are slowing down of climate change and global warming or even completely
reduce the greenhouse gas emissions.

b)WATER IMPACTS:-Many wind turbines are sited offshore because of potent winds
and they cannot be seen from shore and therefore do not contribute to visual pollution.
Even though, offshore wind turbines are installed on water, it does not have any
environmental effect in short or in long terms on water.

c)NOISE POLLUTION:-Another problem that wind turbines create is sound pollution.

This sound pollution comes from the generator and the gearbox which produces mechanical
noises but most importantly it comes from the 35-m-long rotor blades each time it passes
through the air. These blades would create a deep subsonic noise and cause sound
pollution. But now, from technological advancement, we have turbine that produces a lot
less sound pollution compared to conventional turbines. These improvements have
eliminated most of the mechanical noise and have decreased the aerodynamic noise that the
rotor produces from improved rotor designs. We can now have a conversation right under
these huge turbines without the need to shout or raising our voice. Furthermore, turbine
noises are insignificant as wind increases because of other background sound. This table
compares the pressure level of turbines noise to other daily urban activities.

FUTURE SCOPE:In the near future, wind turbine could be sited in high altitudes in the air
because of the strong and constant winds there. This idea has been suggested by professor
Bryan Roberts in Australia from the University of Technology. The airborne wind turbine
would look like a turbine with airfoils. It would be able to float in the air due to the lift
the winds will act on the wings. The problem with this concept is that when the winds
arent strong enough to maintain the turbines in the air, the turbine will fall. It has been
suggested that helium balloons can be attached to the turbines to compensate for the low
winds. Again, there is a downfall to the helium idea because as time passes, helium would
dissipate from the balloons and more helium should be added back into the balloons. This
task can be extremely difficult in high altitude with the presence of high winds. Another
problem with airborne wind turbine is the requirement of very long power lines and much
of the power would be lost through transmission lines. The last disadvantage of airborne
wind turbines would be an aerial restriction zone for these turbines to prevent the airplanes
from flying into them. Presently, an Ontario and a San Diego company, Magenn Power Inc.

and Sky Wind-Power are trying to make these airborne turbines available on the market.

CONCLUSION:In conclusion, a wind turbine is a machine that converts the wind kinetic
energy into electricity. The major components of a wind turbine are: the rotor, the gearbox,
the generator, the control and protection system, the tower and the foundation. Wind
turbines are classified into two types of category: horizontal axis wind turbine and vertical
axis wind turbine. The major advantage for a HAWT is the high efficiency it has; the
disadvantage is the maintenance and repair at high altitude. The advantage of a VAWT is
that the wind can come from any direction; the disadvantage is the height limitations.
Aerodynamically, the wind turns the rotor blades of the HAWT because of the pressure
differential between the top and the bottom of the airfoil. For the VAWT, it is the drag that
acts on the blades and turns the rotor blades. Today, wind power is economically
competitive compared to traditional energy because the cost of wind turbines is getting
cheaper because of technology advancement and government incentives. It also creates jobs
and generates extra personal and tax income. Wind energy is also a renewable and
pollution-free energy which can help us reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases. I believe
that wind energy can become an important asset to solve climate change and global
warming issues in the future.