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 Wind is a form of
energy that is caused by the rotation of earth, irregularities of the earth's
surface, and uneven atmosphere heating by the sun. Wind energy is used to
generate electricity by the use of wind turbine. In history, wind mills were
used to generate mechanical power from wind energy. Today, wind turbine is a
modern equivalent of wind mill that converts the kinetic energy in wind into renewable
electricity.
How a Wind Turbine Generates Electricity
A wind turbine is
mounted 100 feet or more above the ground on a tower to capture most of the energy
of less turbulent and faster wind. It usually consists of three blades around a
rotor. The blade operates like an airplane wing creating a combination of lift
and drag causing the rotor connected to the shaft spin. The shaft spins a
generator to create electricity. Rotation of the rotor is increased by a series
of gear that allows generator to produce electricity. Apart from gears,
generator and rotor, turbine controller is another main component that controls
rotor speeds to avoid damage by high winds. Controller receives wind speed data
from an anemometer.
Benefits and Drawbacks
Primarily, wind energy
is a free and renewable resource whose supply will remain the same even in
future. Wind plants provide clean and non-polluting electricity and do not emit
greenhouse gases or air pollutants, unlike conventional power plants. Conversely,
the wind power technology requires high initial investment for machinery and
installation, but the costs compared to other generating technologies are minimal
requiring no fuel and minimum operating expenses. Apart from the relatively lesser
environmental impact, there is a concern of the noise produced and the birds
being killed by the rotors. Wind is intermittent and is not always blowing that
is one of the major problems of using it as a source of power. Also, it cannot
be stored and harnessed in times of electricity demands. However, wind turbines
can be located in remote locations on grazing or farming land where there are
good wind sites.
Applications
of Wind Turbine
Wind turbines offer
versatility in applications ranging from stand-alone applications to integrated
system applications. Wind turbine can be connected with a photovoltaic solar
cell or a utility power grid. Usually, a large number of wind turbines are
built close to each other to generate more power. Generally, stand-alone wind
turbines are used for communication or water pumping and also by home owners
and farmers in windy areas.
References
http://windeis.anl.gov/guide/basics/
http://www.nrel.gov/learning/re_wind.html
http://energy.gov/articles/how-wind-turbine-works
image - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Benton_County_wind_turbines.png
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