CAPE3411 Renewable Technologies: Wind and Wave Energy

Laboratory Report

Nur Amal Liyana Binti Fazillah 200811201

16th February 2017

Abstract

The aim of the first experiment is to study the effect of electrical power by the speed of the
wind generator. It is observed that through a plotted graph, the power generated by the wind
generator increases with the wind speed as expected. Common parameters utilized in the wind
power industry are the tip-speed ratio and electrical power coefficient. The highest power
reached was 74.2% which disagree with the Betz limit. Errors that may cause during the
experiment are stated in the discussion section. The experiment also concluded that the
maximum power efficiency obtained is at 7.5 m/s . The objective of the second experiment is
to determine the general operating behavior of a wave turbine by plotting a characteristic
curve with increasing set points. The characteristic curve presents the working range of the
turbine which in this case is between 2300 min1 and 3600 min1 rotational speed of the
turbine. Furthermore, the inflow velocity was expected to decrease as the turbine speed
increases, however the experiment showed a different result.

Safety precaution

Safety precautions were taken into account when conducting the experiments. There is a risk of
electrical shock from the plugs especially when water is involved during the second
experiment. Therefore, a safe distance from the equipment were placed when conducting the
experiments.

Methodology

Wind Experiment

Figure 1: The experimental rig used in the wind experiment.

Firstly, a laptop is setup on the bench via USB to the control panel. After the laptop was fully
functioning, a software was ultilized to record measurements such as current, voltage,
upstream and downstream velocity made by the sensors in the wind turbine. The axial fan was
then switched on. Subsequently, the wind speed was adjusted to 7.5 m/ s by turning the

1
knob next to the switch clockwise slowly as not to damage the turbine. On the software, the
axis were modified to obtain power generator (W ) and rotational speed (min1 ) in the y-
axis and x-axis respectively. Once this was done, the load resistance was increased by sliding
the control knob and observing the digital display on the control panel. The resulting power and
rotational speed were measured and recorded in a file under a relative file name after every
increments of 100 min1 resistance made. The schematic diagram is shown in Figure 1.

The procedure was repeated for wind speed of 8.5 m/s and 9.5 m/s . Similarly, the
recorded data was saved under relevant file name. At the end of the experiment, the knob was
turned anti clockwise until fully closed and the turbine was switched off.

Wave Experiment

Wave generator Wells turbine

and displacer Measurement of
waveheight
Baffle

Switchbox for Switchbox for

wavegenerator Measurement of turbine
watercolumn

Figure 2: The schematic diagram used for the wave experiment.

The experimental setup is shown in Figure 2 for this experiment. After using the laptop in the
first experiment, it was then used in this experiment as well. The operating mode located on
the switch box of the turbine was set to PC. After preparing the software, the column was filled
with water from a nearby tap until the water level is approximately 60 mm .The wave
generator was then switched on. In the software, the set point for the turbine speed was
specified at 2500 min1 . The measured values were recorded by pressing a red button on the
software. Once done, the rotational speed was increased to 2600 min1 and correspondingly
recorded the measured values. This was repeated in the same manner with an increment of
100 min1 until it reached a maximum value of 4200 min1 . The relevant measured values
were saved under a suitable file name.

Results and discussion

Power generated from wind generators

2
 60 0.8

7.5m/s
0.7
50
8.5m/s
0.6

Electrical Power Coefficient

40
9.5m/s 0.5 9.5m/s
Power (W)
8.5m/s
30 0.4
7.5m/s
0.3
20

0.2
10
0.1

0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Rotational Speed (min^-1) Tip speedratio

50 0.5

40 0.4

Electrical generator power (W)

Electrical Power coefficiet

30 0.3

20 0.2

10 0.1

0 0
7 8 9 10
Wind speed (m/s)

Figure 3: Results obtained from the first experiment that shows the effect of wind speed to the power
generated by the wind turbine.

The power generated by the wind turbine is not directly measured from the turbine however
current and voltage could be measured directly through the control panel. Therefore, power
output, P , of the wind turbine is calculated as follows:

P=IV

where I and V is the current and voltage in the circuit respectively.

For example, at wind speed of 7.5 m/ s , the power generated is:

P=IV =1.403 A 0.340 V =0.477 W

The first experiment yielded a plotted graph showing the power generated with increasing
rotational speed of the turbine (Top left of Figure 3). It is evident that the power generated by
the wind turbine increases with increasing wind speed until it reaches a maximum power
output. For instance, the maximum power at a wind speed of 7.5 m/s , 8.5 m/s9.5 m/s
reaches 27 W at 1200 min1 , 40 W at 1600 min153 Wat 1900 min1 respectively.

An alternative outlook of the measurements obtained is through the electrical power

coefficient, C p el , often used by the wind power industry. It is the ratio of the actual electric
power produced by the wind turbine to the total energy available in the wind at a given wind
speed and radius of the blades. Thus for example in mathematical form, rotor speed at
354.8 rpm produced 51.0 W of power (data taken from the software), the electrical power
coefficient is then,

Pel 0.477
C p el = = =0.009
Pw 51.025

Additionally, the tip speed ratio ( ) is also an important dimensionless parameter in the
discussion of performance criteria and aerodynamic of wind turbines. It is a dimensionless
variable that comes from the ratio of the peripheral speed (v u ) of the rotor to the wind
velocity (v w ) . Therefore, at 354.8 rpm,

3
 1
R1 354.8 min
2 r 2 ( 0.255 m )
v u 60 60 s min
1
= = = =1.28
vw V1 7.426 ms
1

where R 1 as the speed of the rotor ( min1 ), r is the radius of the rotor ( 0.255 m
2 R1
taken from Appendix), v u = is the speed of the rotor (ms1 ) and v w =V 1 is the
60
ms
velocity of the wind (1) .

Similar method is calculated for all the rotational speed to obtain both electrical power
coefficient and tip speed ratio. These are plotted in a graph for comparison between different
wind velocities. This is seen in the top right corner of Figure 3. It is observed that the maximum
power achieved for this turbine blade is at 74.2 with wind speed of 7.5 m/ s . In theory,
the maximum achievable power of a wind turbine, known as the Betz Limit, is 59.3%. That
being so, the result obtain from this experiment does not correlates with the theory. The reason
behind this anomaly may be accounted for the errors introduced during the experiment such as
time was not allowed to stabilize the system and friction, converter and generator losses.
Additionally, the speed values of the rotor kept fluctuating when changing the resistance load.

Upon comparing the effect of wind speed to the power generated and the power coefficient
(bottom of Figure 3), it is deduced that the efficiency for the conversion of the wind energy into
electrical energy is highest at a wind speed of 7.5 m/s . The power characteristic curve is
important in determining the design of the wind turbine for optimal operation. The values seen
in the graph were taken from the average values of their corresponding parameters.

Power generated from wave generators

300 4

250

200 3
Mechanical Power (mW)

150
v RMS(m/s)

100 2 P mech (mW)

vRMS(m/s)
50

0 1
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000

-50

-100 0
n (min^-1)

Figure 4: Power characteristic of the Well turbine in the wave experiment.

4
Root mean squared values of the axial inflow velocity were calculated by the system from the
pressure in the chamber. Furthermore, the mechanical power (Pmech ) that was generated by
the turbine is calculated as follows:

2
Pmech = n M d
60

where n is the speed in min

1
and Md is the torque in mNm which could be
calculated by M d=l . t k where l is the emitted current ( A) and referred to the
Appendix, tk is the torque constant (mNm/ A ) . For example, at a speed of
2276.497 min1

2 1 3
Pmech = 1
2276.497 min (24.857 10 ) A 6.39 mNm/ A=37.865 mW
60 s . min

At the start of the experiment, negative power were produced at set point 2500 min1 as
shown in Figure 4. However, increasing the speed increases the power up until a maximum
point of approximately 170 W at corresponding 3380 min1 then falls back down at
greater speed. At a low rotational speed, the inflowing air doesnt produce any propulsion at
the turbine due to a large angle of attack to the blades. The positive region over the y-axis
represents the working range (between 2300 min1 and 3600 min1 ) of the turbine where
the angle of attack is sufficient enough to drive the blades. Conversely, at high rotational
speeds where the angle of attack is too small, thus the turbine decelerates. Figure 4 is the
characteristic graph of the Wells turbine which is important in determining the general behavior
of wave power plants.

Analysing the graph, the inflow velocity exhibits a fluctuating result. The trend seems to
fluctuate wildly around 2500 min1 then slightly decreases and after that increases again.
The inflow velocity should decrease slightly as the turbine speed increases. However, that is
not the case in this experiment. This may be due to the technical error occurred during the
experiment where water was seen splashing out of the column. As mentioned above, the inflow
velocity trend is also convenient in the characteristics in determining the optimal operation of
the wave turbine.

Conclusion

In experiment 1, the expected increasing trend of the power obtained from the turbine
correlates with literature. However, the power coefficient achieved was 74.2% which is 14.9%
higher than the Betz limit. Errors were explained in the discussion part of the report. Moreover,
the highest efficiency in converting wind energy is at 7.5 m/s . From the wave experiment, it
was deduced that a range of 2300 min1 and 3600 min1 of the rotational speed is the
working range for this equipped wave turbine.