Wind Power :: essays papers

Wind PowerThe wind turbine, also c completelyed a windmill, is a means of harnessing thekinetic energy of the wind and converting it into electrical energy. Thisis accomplished by bit blades called aerofoils, which drive a shaft,which drive a motor (turbine) and ar e connected to a brokerrator. It isestimated that the total business leader capacity of winds surrounding the earth is1 x 1011 Gigawatts (Cheremisinoff 6). The total energy of the windsfluctuates from year to year. Windmill expert Richard Hills said that thewind really is a fickle source of power, with wind speeds to down(p) orinconsistent for the windmill to be of practical use. However, thathasnt stopped windmill engineers from trying. Today, there are manykinds of windmills, some of which serve differen t functions. They are a multi geneial alternative energy source. What to consider when building a windmill In choosing where to build awindmill, there are many important factors to consider. First is the post 1) Available wind energy is usually higher near the seacoast orcoasts of very large lakes and offshore islands. 2) Available wind energyis gene rally high in the central plains region of the U.S. because of thewide expanses of level (low surface roughness) terrain. 3) Available windenergy is generally low throughout the south U.S. except forcertain hills in the Appalachian and Blue Rid ge Mountains, the NorthCarolina coast, and the Southern tip of Florida. This is because of theinfluence of the Bermuda high pressure system, which is a factorespecially during the summer. Also important to consider is the windwhere you are going to build 1) the mean wind speed (calculated mycubing the averages and taking the mean of the cubes) and its seasonalvariations. 2) The luck distribution of wind speed and of extremewi nds. The mean wind speed must be high enough, and the distribution mustbe so that all the data points are very similar. 3) The height variationof wind speed and wind dir ection. Wind cannot be too high or too low inrelation to the ground or it is too difficult to harness. 4) The gustiness of the wind field in both speed and direction. Gusty winds greatly affect the power output of thewindmills and are usually harmful. 5) The wind direction distribution andprobability of sudden large shifts in di rection. The wind must beunlikely to on the spur of the moment shift direction.