Question by Steven:
Is a wind turbine’s blade speed related to its power output?
I’m doing a science fair project on the power output of wind turbines. I had planned to actually measure the power output of various types of blades, angles of blades, etc., but building a system like this seems to be beyond my knowledge. So, I thought that I would just measure the speed of the blades as they turned. The wind speed would be the same for each test. Can I just compare the blade speeds, rather than power outputs, and still have accurate results as to which type of turbine is best?


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Answer by scottsdalehigh64
Certainly. It is quite clear that if the blade speed is zero, there is no power output. The power output of a wind turbine is proportional to the cube of the wind speed.

Answer by Roger
Yes and no. There is a relationship, but it is not as simple as “the faster the blades turn, the higher the output”. It depends a lot on the design of the particular wind turbine.

Obviously, with no wind blowing the blades will not be turning at all, and no power will be generated. It takes a certain minimum wind speed to overcome friction in the turbine bearings, gearbox, and generator and begin the blades turning. Many older turbines employ what are know as “synchronous generators” that must turn at a constant speed where their output is in phase with the 60-cycle AC power on the grid. Turbines of this type do not generate any power until the wind is able to spin the blades at the required speed. After that, the speed of the blades remains constant as wind speed increases. The higher wind speeds increase the force on the blades and produce more power, but the speed of the blades is kept locked to the 60-cycle frequency of the power grid. When the wind speed gets so high that the blades can no longer be kept to their constant speed, the turbine shuts down. It turns out of the wind, and mechanical braking is applied to stop the blades.

Turbines with synchronous generators are still made, but many newer turbines use a more flexible type of generator. These newer designs do not require the blades to turn at a constant speed, and are able to capture power over a wider range of wind speeds. They employ electronic power control units that are able to decouple the generation of power from the insertion of power onto the grid.

Answer by Emilytaylor
effectively blades angle has very importabnt in the mill’s speed by the same wind.
if you are sciences fan , just make different essays with the same blades, same wind force but each time you move blades angles, you can notice that there are differences in the mill speed.
You can get real help when visiting this site: http://www.windpowercost.org ; they have very simple step by step free courses on how to build your own wind power network .
Thanks to go green energy.

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