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A milestone in the history of renewable energy occurred in the year 2008 when more new wind-turbine power generation capacity was added in the U.S. than new coal-fired power generation. The costs of producing power with wind turbines continues to drop, but many engineers feel that the overall design of turbines is still far from optimal.

New ideas for enhancing the efficiency of wind turbines are being presented this week at the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting in Long Beach, CA.

Wind farm near Tehachapi, California. The costs of producing power with wind turbines continues to drop, but many engineers feel that the overall design of turbines is still far from optimal. (Credit: iStockphoto/Greg Randles)

Now a new type of air-flow technology may soon increase the efficiency of large wind turbines under many different wind conditions.

Syracuse University researchers Guannan Wang, Basman El Hadidi, Jakub Walczak, Mark Glauser and Hiroshi Higuchi are testing new intelligent-systems-based active flow control methods with support from the U.S. Department of Energy through the University of Minnesota Wind Energy Consortium. The approach estimates the flow conditions over the blade surfaces from surface measurements and then feeds this information to an intelligent controller to implement real-time actuation on the blades to control the airflow and increase the overall efficiency of the wind turbine system. The work may also reduce excessive noise and vibration due to flow separation.

Initial simulation results suggest that flow control applied on the outboard side of the blade beyond the half radius could significantly enlarge the overall operational range of the wind turbine with the same rated power output or considerably increase the rated output power for the same level of operational range. The team is also investigating a characteristic airfoil in a new anechoic wind tunnel facility at Syracuse University to determine the airfoil lift and drag characteristics with appropriate flow control while exposed to large-scale flow unsteadiness. In addition, the effects of flow control on the noise spectrum of the wind turbine will be also assessed and measured in the anechoic chamber.

Another problem with wind energy is drag, the resistance felt by the turbine blades as they beat the air. Scientists at the University of Minnesota have been looking at the drag-reduction effect of placing tiny grooves on turbine blades. The grooves are in the form of triangular riblets scored into a coating on the blade surface. They are so shallow (between 40 and 225 microns) that they can’t be seen by the human eye — leaving the blades looking perfectly smooth.

Using wind-tunnel tests of 2.5 megawatt turbine airfoil surfaces (becoming one of the popular industry standards) and computer simulations, they are looking at the efficacies of various groove geometries and angles of attack (how the blades are positioned relative to the air stream).

Riblets like these have been used before, in the sails on sailboats taking part in the last America’s Cup regatta and on the Airbus airliner, where they produced a drag reduction of about 6 percent. The design of wind turbine blades was, at first, closely analogous to that of airplane wings. But owing to different engineering concerns, such as turbine blades having a much thicker cross section close to the hub and wind turbines having to cope with peculiar turbulence near the ground, drag reduction won’t be quite the same for wind turbines.

University of Minnesota researchers Roger Arndt, Leonardo P. Chamorro and Fotis Sotiropoulos believe that riblets will increase wind turbine efficiency by about 3 percent.

American Institute of Physics (2010, November 22). Enhancing the efficiency of wind turbines. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 20, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/11/101121195434.htm

You can never have too much information about such an important issue. Do you agree? Are you feeling better informed about the wind turbines? When all around you are scratching their heads, it's a great feeling to have clear vision and know which direction you are heading.

The Original Post is Located Here: Enhancing the Efficiency of Wind Turbines

Straight-Wing Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Generator System

As soaring oil prices and greenhouse gas emissions fuel the search for cheaper and cleaner sources of energy, a Japanese aerospace manufacturer may have found the right stuff for a solution. It’s a windmill you can call your very own. Yokohama-based aerospace manufacturer, Nippi Corporation, has developed a revolutionary 20 kW wind turbine power generation system that’s turning heads everywhere.

Well known in Japan as a manufacturer of precision aerospace components, Nippi’s launch of this proprietary wind power system marks the company’s first foray into the field of commercial wind power applications. The same cutting-edge ingenuity that goes into its aircraft parts can be seen at work behind the new windmill known as a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). If you’ve never seen a VAWT, imagine one of those fashionable plastic pop bottle wind spinners sported by many a tree throughout suburbia, only a lot bigger and with 20 kW of power, a whole lot better. This is definitely not your garden variety whirligig. Its small, sleek, aerodynamic design makes it the perfect fit for the city landscape with the potential for installations on building rooftops as well as in harbors, parks and maybe even your backyard. You don’t have to worry about the neighbors complaining either. The system’s airfoils rotate at such a low speed, it’s as quiet as can be. Like other VAWTs, the system doesn’t depend on which way the wind is blowing and has a generator and gearbox that sits close to the ground to make repairs and maintenance easy.

Nippi’s wind power system has been up and running at a site located next to Japan’s Nikaho Highland Wind Farm in Aichi Prefecture where Japan’s National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) will put it to the test before installing it at its Antarctic research station. The NIPR deal is all part of Japan’s goal under the Kyoto Protocol to tap renewable energy sources and bring its greenhouse gas emissions down 6% below 1990 levels. As part of that equation Japan had hoped to produce 3,000 MW of wind power annually by 2010 but with only 1,880 MW of annual output under its belt as of 2008 it is woefully shy of the mark. According to statistics from the Global Wind Energy Council, Japan doesn’t even make it to the top ten list of world wind power producers. Among the major obstacles to wind power in this resource-strapped island nation, including typhoons, grid integration, and red tape, is a dearth of local turbine suppliers. Nippi should give the country a leg up in overcoming that last hurdle as the aerospace company aims to take wind power in Japan to new heights.

Written by J.T. Cassidy

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The Original Post is Located Here: A New Revolution in Wind Power