Wind turbine is an electric power equipment that converts wind energy into mechanical power, which drives the rotor to rotate and finally outputs alternating current. Wind turbines are generally composed of wind wheels, generators (including devices), deflectors (tail fins), towers, speed limiting safety mechanisms and energy storage devices.
The working principle of the wind generator is relatively simple. The wind wheel rotates under the action of the wind. It converts the kinetic energy of the wind into the mechanical energy of the wind wheel shaft, and the generator rotates under the drive of the wind wheel shaft to generate electricity. Broadly speaking, wind energy is also solar energy, so it can also be said that the wind turbine is a kind of heat energy generator with the sun as the heat source and the atmosphere as the working medium.

If the wind blows the blades then the engine attached to the blades generates electricity.

How does the wind blow the wind turbine blades?

The wind turbine blades are made up of many airfoil interfaces of different sizes and shapes from the bottom to the tip. Simple airfoil technology makes the blades rotate, and as the fluid flows through the blades, the lifting force is generated, thus creating the most basic rotation. The closer to the tip, the greater the blade velocity, the more inclined the relative wind speed.

Due to noise and mechanical strength issues, the blades rotate too slowly to produce an effective power output, so a gearbox is needed to increase the speed before connecting to the generator. The gearbox uses planetary gears for a high speed ratio and brakes to stop the blades from spinning when the wind gets too high. The resulting power is sent via cable to a boost transformer in the base station. To maximize the power, the wind turbine should be directly facing the wind direction, and a Velocity sensor is installed on the top of the engine room to measure the wind speed and direction. The wind deviation is sent to the electronic controller, which in turn sends the appropriate signal to the yaw mechanism to correct the error, and the yaw motor turns the cabin. So the wind turbine is always facing the wind, and the relative speed Angle of the wind changes as the speed of the wind changes.

The blade tilting mechanism tilts the blades and ensures alignment of the blades with relative velocity so that the blades are always at the best Angle.

Nacelle: the nacelle contains the key equipment of the wind turbine, including gear box and generator. Maintenance personnel can access the nacelle through the wind turbine tower. The left end of engine room is wind turbine rotor, namely rotor blade and shaft.

Rotor blade: catch wind, and the wind transmission to the rotor axis. On modern 600 kilowatt wind turbines, each rotor blade measures about 20 meters in length and is designed much like an airplane wing.

Axis: The rotor axis is attached to the low speed axis of the wind turbine.

Rotor shaft: The rotor shaft of the wind turbine connects the rotor shaft to the gearbox. On modern 600 kilowatt wind turbines, the rotor speeds are quite slow, about 19 to 30 revolutions per minute. The shaft has conduits for the hydraulic system to activate the aerodynamic brake.

Gear box: To the left of the gear box is the low speed shaft, which can increase the speed of the high speed shaft to 50 times that of the low speed shaft.

High speed shafand its mechanical brake: The high speed shaft runs at 1500 revolutions per minute and drives the generator. It is equipped with an emergency mechanical brake for when the aerodynamic brake fails or when the wind turbine is being serviced.

Generator: Usually referred to as induction motor or asynchronous generator. On modern wind turbines, the maximum power output is usually 500 to 1500 kilowatts.

Yaw device: An electric motor turns the engine room so that the rotor is facing the wind. The yaw device is operated by an electronic controller that senses the direction of the wind using a weathervane. Typically, wind turbines deflect only a few degrees at a time as the wind changes direction.

Electronic controller: contains a computer that continuously monitors the state of the wind turbine and controls the yaw device. To prevent any failure (i.e. overheating of the gearbox or generator), the controller automatically stops the wind turbine and calls the wind turbine operator through a telephone modem.

Hydraulic system: Used to reset the aerodynamic brake of the wind turbine.
Cooling element: contains a fan for cooling the generator. In addition, it contains an oil cooling element for cooling the oil in the gearbox. Some wind turbines have water-cooled generators.

Tower: The wind turbine tower contains nacelles and rotors. Usually tall towers have an advantage because the higher they are above the ground, the greater the wind speed. Modern 600 kilowatt wind turbines have towers of 40 to 60 meters. It can be tubular or lattice-shaped. Tubular towers are safer for maintenance workers because they can reach the top by internal ladders. The advantage of the trellis tower is that it is cheaper.

Anemometer and vane: used to measure wind speed and direction
Tail rudder: small wind turbine (10KW and below) commonly used upwind of horizontal axis. Located behind and connected to the revolving body. The main function is to adjust the fan steering, so that the fan is facing the wind direction. The second function is to make the wind turbine head deviate from the wind direction in the case of strong wind, so as to reduce the speed and protect the fan.

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---EDITOR: Doris Hu

---POST: Doris Hu