Previous in Forum: microchip(.com)   Next in Forum: Center Finder needed (NOT for round objects)
Close
Close
Close
5 comments
Rate Comments: Nested
Anonymous Poster

WIND ENERGY

04/28/2008 2:07 AM

Wondering if a wind turbine is the same as a windmill ?

Reply
Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.

"Almost" Good Answers:

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, vote them!
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member United Kingdom - Member - New Member

Join Date: May 2007
Location: Harlow England
Posts: 16512
Good Answers: 670
#1

Re: WIND ENERGY

04/28/2008 4:33 AM

It is a matter of semantics..

No two different things are ever 'the same'.

They are 'similar' it depends how much detail you want to go into.

Simply put..the inputs are the same ...the out puts are different.

Wind drives them both...a 'Mill' grinds or mills something. A turbine.... presumably is going to generate electricity.

I'll let you figure out the bits in between.

Del

__________________
health warning: These posts may contain traces of nut.
Reply Score 1 for Good Answer
Power-User
United States - US - Statue of Liberty - Sworn to preserve and protect Engineering Fields - Nanoengineering - How tiny is it? APIX Pilot Plant Design Project - Member - Good idea. Engineering Fields - Engineering Physics - Engineering Fields - Energy Engineering - Energy in Transition

Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Near DC, USA
Posts: 128
Good Answers: 15
#5
In reply to #1

Re: WIND ENERGY

04/28/2008 2:54 PM

Del,

I had thought of turbine as being like a gas turbine or steam turbine - many blades on a set of discs that rotate wehn appropriate gasses pass through them. And that tall thing with rotating blades that generates electricity as a wind generator (equally inappropriate phrase - it does not generate wind.) Feeling lost in the semantics I looked it up in Wikipedia, and found the following:

Wind turbine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

Wind turbines near Aalborg, Denmark. For scale, a standard doorway can be seen at the base of the pylon.

A wind turbine is a rotating machine that converts the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used directly by machinery, such as a pump or grinding stones, the machine is usually called a windmill. If the mechanical energy is then converted to electricity, the machine is called a wind generator, wind turbine, wind power unit (WPU) or wind energy converter (WEC).

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It is always good to improve ones education and knowledge. Thanks.

__________________
“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't.” – Samuel Clemens in Following the Equator, Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar
Reply
Guru
United Kingdom - Member - Indeterminate Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: In the bothy, 7 chains down the line from Dodman's Lane level crossing, in the nation formerly known as Great Britain. Kettle's on.
Posts: 32175
Good Answers: 839
#2

Re: WIND ENERGY

04/28/2008 7:50 AM

A windmill, traditionally, is a wind-powered device that is used to mill grain. This one has 4 sails:

A wind turbine is a wind-powered device that makes electricity. This one has three blades: There are similarities.

__________________
"Did you get my e-mail?" - "The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place" - George Bernard Shaw, 1856
Reply Score 1 for Good Answer
Guru
Popular Science - Biology - New Member Hobbies - Musician - New Member APIX Pilot Plant Design Project - Member - New Member Hobbies - CNC - New Member Fans of Old Computers - ZX-81 - New Member

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Centurion, South Africa
Posts: 3921
Good Answers: 97
#3

Re: WIND ENERGY

04/28/2008 10:18 AM

In SA (I think OZ as well) the word windmill is also used for a wind driven reciprocating bore hole (bore well) pump.

__________________
Never do today what you can put of until tomorrow - Student motto
Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member United Kingdom - Member - New Member

Join Date: May 2007
Location: Harlow England
Posts: 16512
Good Answers: 670
#4
In reply to #3

Re: WIND ENERGY

04/28/2008 1:53 PM

Ah well <tee hee>... that's the colonials for you

Del

__________________
health warning: These posts may contain traces of nut.
Reply Off Topic (Score 5)
Reply to Forum Thread 5 comments

"Almost" Good Answers:

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, vote them!
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

Hendrik (1); PWSlack (1); user-deleted-1105 (2); v1sor (1)

Previous in Forum: microchip(.com)   Next in Forum: Center Finder needed (NOT for round objects)

Advertisement