Wind turbines basics

Fig. 1. Simple illustration of the basic design of the wind turbine rotor blade scanner.

The top right of Figure 1.22 shows the tidal turbine that can be used in many tidal areas. They are basically wind turbines that can be located anywhere there is strong tidal flow. They are arrayed underwater in rows, as in some wind farms. The turbines function best where coastal currents run between 3.6 and 4.9 knots (4 and 5.5 mph). In currents of that speed, a 15-meter (49.2-feet) diameter tidal turbine can generate as much energy as a 60-meter (197-feet) diameter wind turbine. Ideal locations for tidal turbine farms are close to shore in water depths of 20-30 meters (65.5-98.5 feet). 

The basic principles of wind energy have been used for centuries. Windmills existed in the 7th century in Persia. An older image closely associated with wind power is Don Quixote and the wooden towers with cloth-covered sails turning in the wind. Today s wind turbines use a giant propeller on a tall metal pole. As it rotates, the propeller drives a generator to supply nearby users or send power to the grid. 

Burton, T, D. Sharpe, D. Jenkins, and E. Bossanyi. 2001. Wind Energy Handbook. New York John Wiley Sons. Although beginning with a chapter on wind as a basic resource, the primary focus of this book is on wind turbine aerodynamics, design, installation, and control. 

Students also find it difficult to accept anything other than empirical facts as evidence for the existence of a problem which requires a solution. Second year students at the University of Western Australia were asked to critically analyse alternative sources of energy with a social justice lens in their preliminary analysis of the effect of wind turbines, it was clear that they were dismissive of subjective statements made by farming communities about the effect of the noise on their health. Downplaying the health costs of development is a common problem, particularly in the mining sector (e.g. Brueckner and Ross 2010) and students are asked, not just whether it is possible to be objective, value-free and scientific but to what extent self-interest drives these positivist attributes. They are introduced to different knowledge systems, and also asked to question notions of scientific expertise which often assume there to be one basic truth known by the experts. 

Basic aerodynamics research for three-dimensional computer simulations of airflows is rarely used in the aircraft industry, so wind turbine researchers have to develop new methods and computer simulation models to deal with these issues. Research in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), which is a group of methods that deal with simulating airflows around, for example, rotor blades for wind turbines, is also needed. 

The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 introduces basic concepts and Section 3 analyses related work. Section 4 describes the wind turbine control, the safety protection system and a safety concept based on well tried safety principles and solutions (common practice). Section 5 describes the equivalent safety concept based on multicore partitioning. Finally, Section 6 draws the overall conclusion and future work. 

DNV/Riso Guidelines are meant to provide a basic introduction to the most relevant subjects in wind turbine engineering (DNV/Riso 2002). Consistently with this general purpose, quite general suggestions are given to deal with seismic loading. 

---