Wind

Energy
Part II
 WECS (Wind Energy Convertor System) Components
A WECS features a nacelle mounted on the top of a tower . The nacelle
houses the generator and gearbox, and supports the rotor and blades at
the hub. The turbine tower supports and provides access to the nacelle.
Except for the energy conversion chain elements, the nacelle contains some
control subsystems and some auxiliary elements (e.g., cooling and braking
systems etc.).

The energy conversion chain is organized into four subsystems:

 Aerodynamic Subsystem, consisting mainly of the turbine rotor, which is
composed of blades, and turbine hub, which is the support for blades;
Drive Train, generally composed of: low-speed shaft – coupled with the
turbine hub, speed multiplier (Gearbox) and high-speed shaft driving the
electrical generator;
Electromagnetic Subsystem, consisting mainly of the electric generator;
Electric Subsystem, including the elements for grid connection.

Prepared by Mehdi Hasan Chowdhury, EEE, CUET

WECS Components

Prepared by Mehdi Hasan Chowdhury, EEE, CUET

WECS Components

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 WECS Components
1. Blades.
 Blades are used for capturing the energy available in the wind.
 The blades are connected to a hub. The hub provides the connection
point between the blades and the rotor shaft.
 Typically blades are manufactured from fiber glass and composite
materials which provide maximum strength with reduced weight.

2. Rotor & Shaft.

 The rotor is the term used for the blades and hub combined.
 This is connected to a shaft to transfer the rotational force through the
gearbox and generator.

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 WECS Components
3. Nacelle.
 The rotor, gearbox controller, and a brake and generator are all housed
in the nacelle which sits atop the tower.
 All wind turbines have a mechanism that moves the nacelle such that the
blades are perpendicular to the wind direction.
 This mechanism could be a tail vane (small wind turbines) or an electric
yaw device (medium and large wind turbines).

4.Vane.
 It measures the wind direction and communicates with the yaw drive to
orient the turbine properly with respect to the wind.

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 WECS Components
5. Gearbox.
 The number of revolutions per minute (rpm) of a wind turbine rotor can range
between 40 rpm and 400 rpm, depending on the model and the wind speed.
 Generators typically require rpm's of 1,200 to 1,800.
 As a result, most wind turbines require a gear-box transmission to increase the
rotation of the generator to the speeds necessary for efficient electricity
production.
 Gears connect the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and increase the turbine
speed from 30 to 60 rpm to the 1200 to 1800 rpm required by most generators to
produce electricity in an efficient manner.
 Because the gearbox is a costly and heavy part, design engineers are exploring slow-speed,
direct-drive generators that need no gearbox. Some DC-type wind turbines do not use
transmissions. Instead, they have a direct link between the rotor and generator. These are
known as direct drive systems. Without a transmission, wind turbine complexity and
maintenance requirements are reduced.

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 WECS Components
6.Tower.
 The tower on which a wind turbine blades and nacelle are mounted is not just a
support structure. It also raises the wind turbine so that its blades safely clear the
ground and so it can reach the stronger winds at higher elevations.
 Large wind turbines may be mounted on lattice towers, tube towers or guyed tilt-
up towers. Towers for small wind systems are generally "guyed" designs. This means
that there are guy wires anchored to the ground on three or four sides of the tower to
hold it erect. These towers cost less than freestanding towers, but require more land
area to anchor the guy wires.

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 WECS Components
6.Tower (cont…)
 The tubular conical steel tower structure that is manufactured in multiple sections
depending on the tower height to facilitate fabrication.
 A service platform at the top of each section allows for access to the tower connecting
bolts for routine inspection.
 An internal ladder runs to the top platform of the tower just below the nacelle.
 A nacelle ladder extends from the machine bed to the tower top platform allowing nacelle
access independent of its orientation.
 The tower is equipped with interior lighting and a safety glide cable alongside the ladder.
 The decision of what height tower to use will be based on the cost of taller towers
versus the value of the increase in energy production resulting from their use. Studies have
shown that the added cost of increasing tower height is often justified by the added
power generated from the stronger winds.

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 WECS Components
7. Generator.
The generator is what converts the turning motion of a wind turbine's
blades into electricity. Inside this component, coils of wire are rotated in a
magnetic field to produce electricity.
The generator's rating, or size, is dependent on the length of the wind
turbine's blades because more energy is captured by longer blades.
It is important to select the right type of generator to match intended
use.
In large scale HAWT the generators are 3-phase AC generators, as are
used in conventional power plants.
The majority of new turbines are including variable speed
drives/generators in the design to produce electricity at maximum
efficiency at variable speeds - which suits the nature of the variable wind
resource.

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 WECS Components
8. Controls.
Wind is a variable resource and therefore the controls on the turbine are
vital to maximize the amount of energy that can be captured from the
wind.
The controls required on a typical turbine includes:
•Ability to start-up when wind speed above a certain level
•Ability to stop when wind spend exceeds safe limits
•Ability to maximize output as wind speed varies
•Ability to rotate to face into the wind direction

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 WECS Components
8. Controls (cont…)
For medium/large scale turbines has several control methods are used to control
energy output:
• Pitch Control: Blades regulate power delivered by pitching the blades to reduce
the lifting force. Blades are turned, or pitched, out of the wind to keep the rotor
from turning in winds that have speeds too high to produce electricity.
• Yaw Control: Turbines must also rotate the nacelle so that the blades are facing
into the wind direction. This is controlled by the Yaw mechanism which allows the
turbines to rotate the entire nacelle based on data it receives from wind direction
measurements. A yaw motor powers the yaw drive.
• Mechanical brake: Turbines will also have a mechanical brake which will be used to
stop the turbine as required. This generally will work in combination with the
stall/pitch controls.

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 Turbine Sub-Systems

Mechanical power Electrical power

Wind power Gearbox Generator Power converter Power
rotor (optional) (optional) transformer Supply Grid

Power conversion Power Power conversion Power conversion &

& control transmission & control power transmission

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 Electromagnetic Induction
Mechanical Work Moving Charge
(kinetic energy) Moving Magnetic Field
(Electrical current)

 The electrical machine works on the principle of electromagnetic induction.

 The mechanical (kinetic) energy of spinning the magnet creates motion of
electric charge (electrical energy) that moves through the circuit.
 We can replace the permanent magnet with another coil of wire conducting an
electrical current (charge movement) that will produce the necessary magnetic
field.
 The same machine can be used as a motor for converting electric power into
mechanical power or as a generator for converting mechanical power into
electric power.

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 Rotating Electrical Machines

Constructional features Cross section of stator and rotor

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 Wind Turbine Generators
 Usually the mechanical power of a wind turbine is converted into
electric power by an alternating current (AC) generator.
 The AC generator can be either a synchronous machine or an
induction machine.
 The latter being the most widely used in the wind power industry.
 More recently, permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSG)
have seen increased usage.
 Each generator type has relative advantages and disadvantages.

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 Synchronous Generators
 Synchronous generator spins at a precise rotational speed
determined by the number of poles and the frequency needed for
the power grid. It is usually not well suited for variable-speed
operation in wind plants without power electronic frequency
converters.
 An exciter, slip rings and brushes are needed in the rotor which
adds to the maintenance. These introduce some unreliability in its
use.
 However, in grid connected It does not require reactive power
from the grid. This results in a better quality of power at the grid
interface.

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 Induction Generators
 Most of current world’s wind turbines use induction generator,
which do not rotates at synchronous speed.
 The induction generators are extensively used in small and large
wind farms and small hydroelectric power plants. The machine is
available in numerous power ratings up to several megawatts
capacity.
 The key advantage of induction generators is that their rotors do
not require the exciter, slip rings and brushes, so they are less
complicated and less expensive.
 It requires low maintenance and show better transient
performance.

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 Wind Turbine Generators
 Classification of AC generators used in wind turbines
 Synchronous generators
 Wound rotor synchronous generators (WRSG)
 Permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSG)
 Induction generators
 Squirrel cage induction generators (SCIG)
 Wound rotor induction generators (WRIG)
 Doubly feed induction generators (DFIG)

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 DFIG vs. PMSG
DFIG PMSG
 Most large turbines are designed  Most small turbines are designed
with an induction generator and with a synchronous generator and
with the necessary gearbox. no gearbox.
 Converter feeds the rotor  The power produced is processed
winding. through power electronic
 Stator winding connected directly converters before feeding grid.
to the grid via transformer  It does not require reactive power
from the grid. This results in a
better quality of power at the grid
interface.

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 Wind Power Systems – Speed Control for
Maximum Power
 The frequency of a power system is proportional to the rotating
speed of the generators operating in the system.
 Due to variable wind speed, turbine rotor speed is also variable.
 For grid-connected turbines, the challenge is to accommodate the
variable rotor speed to deliver current and voltage in phase with
the grid.
 How can this challenge be solved?

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 Wind Power Systems – Speed Control for
Maximum Power
 Pole-changing induction generators
 Induction generators spin at a frequency that is largely
controlled by the number of poles.
 If the number of poles could be changed, the wind turbine could
have several operating speeds, approximating multi-step
rotational speed adjustment.
 It is a kind of discrete control.

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 Wind Power Systems – Speed Control for
Maximum Power
 Multiple gearboxes
 Some wind turbines have two gearboxes with separate
generators attached to each, one high-wind-speed gear ratio
and one low-speed gear ratio.
 It is a kind of discrete control and rare in practical use.

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 Wind Power Systems – Speed Control for
Maximum Power
 In recent years, attention has been increased on wind farm
performance in power systems. Since variable speed operation
produces a variable frequency voltage, a power electronic
converter must be used in the system. Frequency and voltage
control can be achieved by continuously adjusting active power and
reactive power.

 It can be achieved by several ways:

 WECS with Squirrel cage induction generator.
 WECS with Wound rotor induction generator.
 WECS with Doubly-fed induction generator.

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 Wind Power Systems – Speed Control for
Maximum Power
 Type A: fixed speed
 This configuration denotes the fixed-speed wind turbine with an squirrel
cage induction generator (SCIG) directly connected to the grid via a
transformer
 Since the SCIG always draws reactive power from the grid, this
configuration uses a capacitor bank for reactive power compensation
 A smoother grid connection is achieved by using a soft-starter.
 The main drawbacks of this concept are that it does not support any
speed control , it requires a stiff grid and its mechanical construction
must be able to tolerate high mechanical stress

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 Wind Power Systems – Speed Control for
Maximum Power
 Type B: limited variable speed
 This configuration corresponds to the limited variable speed wind
turbine with variable generator rotor resistance.
 The slip of induction generators is a function of the variable resistance in
the rotor conductors.
 It uses a wound rotor induction generator (WRIG) and the stator of the
generator is directly connected to the grid
 A capacitor bank performs the reactive power compensation and a
smoother grid connection is achieved by using a soft-starter

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 Wind Power Systems – Speed Control for
Maximum Power
 Type B: limited variable speed (cont…)
 Rotor resistance of the generator - varied instantly using fast power
electronics.
 The power converter is now connected between the rotor and grid.

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 Wind Power Systems – Speed Control for
Maximum Power
 Type C: variable speed with frequency converter
 This configuration , known as the doubly fed induction generator
(DFIG) , corresponds to the limited variable speed wind turbine with a
wound rotor induction generator (WRIG) and frequency converter on
the rotor circuit.
 The frequency converter performs the reactive power compensation
and the smoother of grid connection.
 It has a wider range of dynamic speed control compared with the Type B

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 Wind Power Systems – Speed Control for
Maximum Power
 Indirect grid connection systems
 The wind turbine is allowed to spin at whatever speed needed to deliver the maximum
power.
 When attached to a synchronous or induction generator, the electrical output will have
variable frequency, and the generator cannot be directly connected to the utility grid,
which is of fixed frequency (50- or 60-Hz)
 It is a kind of continuous control performed inserting AC-DC-AC link between
generator and grid.
 Variable-speed wind turbines have advantages of higher annual energy production and
greatly minimizing the wear and tear on the system caused by rapidly wind speeds.

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Prepared by Mehdi Hasan Chowdhury, EEE, CUET