INTRODUCTION

Wind power promises a clean and free source of electricity that would reduce our
dependence on imported fossil fuels and the output of greenhouse gases and other pollution. Many
governments are therefore promoting the construction of vast wind farms, encouraging private
companies with generous subsidies and regulatory support.

A little research, however, reveals that wind power does not in fact live up to the claims
made by its advocates, that its impact on environment and people’s lives is far from benign. A
West Virginian writer found the noise of turbine from Backbone Mountain to be “Incredible! It
surprised me. It sounded like airplanes or helicopters. And it traveled. Sometimes, you could not
hear the sound standing right under one but you hear it three thousand yards downhill”.

Wind turbines undoubtedly create noise. It is created by the movement of blades through
the air, as the blades pass the tower and, depending on the construction of turbine, by the gearbox.
Established wind turbines could generate surprisingly high levels of infrasound and low frequency
noise. A lot of remedies and new technologies arise to help eliminate the noise produced by the
wind farms and improvisations are up until now.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Rotation of the rotor blades of the wind turbine produces noise that can be irritating to nearby
residential areas.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE

 To reduce the noise produced by wind farms by of turbine and wind farm location

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

 To design a rotor blade that will reduce the noise it produces

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  To add a mechanism that will reduce the vibrations of the wind turbine rotors
 To select a location for a wind farm that is reasonably far from residential areas and ideal
for wind harnessing

Background of study

Wind turbines are devices that convert kinetic energy to electrical energy wherein wind
serves as its main source. They are a great source of clean, renewable energy since they produce
low CO2 emission. But some complaints have been made stating that they also produce too much
noise for residents living near the location of the blades.

Wind turbines are not as loud as pneumatic drills and jet engines. Sound levels from
turbines are usually not greater than 55 dB when measured at a distance of about 100 m, this is the
same level of sound as you can expect from a car traveling at 60 km/h at the same distance. This
noise is caused by several components in the wind turbine design and they can be classified as:
mechanical noise and aerodynamic noise. If the wind speed is below cut-in, the blades rotate very
slowly or do not rotate at all, and there is minimal noise generated. When the turbine is operating
between wind speeds of approximately 4m/s and 30m/s measured at hub height, the sound power
level monotonically increases.

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 The study by a panel of independent experts found that the irritation caused by the noise
around wind farms can affect certain individuals. Scientists dismissed the idea of a "wind turbine
syndrome" where the vibrations in the air or the particular sound waves from wind turbines cause
headaches, nausea and panic attacks. However, they did admit that the swishing sound caused by
wind turbines can annoy some people, causing sleep deprivation which can even cause
psychological problems because of the stress. Dr Geoff Leventhall, an honorary fellow of the UK's
Institute of Acoustics and one of the authors of the study, said “Noise from wind turbines can
disturb people in the same way as any other noise pollution, such as an airport nearby”.

It is also stated in the report that the effect of wind turbines noise is similar to the effect of
any other noise that disturbs people if they listen to a sound that they did not want to hear. Of the
main effect is sleep disturbance which can lead to other stress related effects. The number of people
who suffer these effects are minimal and if turbine can be designed properly, these effects can be
even further minimized.

A wind turbine generates four types of sound: tonal, broadband, low frequency and
impulsive. Tonal sound is defined as sound at discrete frequencies. It is caused by components
such as meshing gears, non-aerodynamic structural resonances, or unstable flows over holes or

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slits or a blunt trailing edge. Broadband sound is characterized by a continuous distribution of
sound pressure with frequencies greater than 100 Hz. It is caused by the interaction of boundary
layer turbulence with the trailing edge of the turbine blades and is also described as a characteristic
"swishing" or "whooshing" sound. Low frequency sound contains frequencies in the range 20 to
100 Hz and is mostly associated with downwind rotors. It is caused when the turbine blade
encounters localized air stream disturbance from the tower. Impulsive sound is described as regular
short acoustic impulses or a “thumping” sound occurring at the rate of about one per second. It is
caused by the interaction of wind turbine blades with disturbed air fl ow around the tower of a
downwind machine
The noise coming from a wind turbine is a combination of mechanical noise and
aerodynamic noise. Mechanical noise is produced by the movements of mechanical components
in the turbine. These components are gearbox, generator, yaw drives, cooling fans, auxiliary
equipment and application of parking brakes. On the other hand, aerodynamic noise is associated
with the passage of air through the turbine blades. A series of complex flow occurs which generate
sound. This sound increases as the rotor speed increases.

Based on the figure above, various aerodynamic sound generation mechanisms can be
grouped as the following: Trailing Edge Noise, Impulsive Noise, Inflow Turbulence Sound, Blade
Tip Noise, and Blade-Tower Interaction. Trailing edge noise is the flow of air over the turbine
blades that create a boundary of layer attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the blade, which
is typically 25mm thick. It is generated by the interaction of the turbulent eddies with the trailing
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edge. Impulsive noise has various possible causes such as blade noise directivity, blade-tower
interaction, variation of wind speed over the rotor and interaction between noises from two
turbines. Inflow turbulence sound is caused by a turbulence in the air stream ahead of the leading
edge of the blade interacting with the blade surface. Blade tip noise is produced by flow past the
blade tip generating a vortex stream similar to trailing edge noise. Blade-tower interaction is
caused by the interaction of the between the blades and perturbed up-stream flow caused by the
tower.

Propose Solution

 Damping system will lessen the vibrations caused by the cogwheels of the wind turbines.
One major complain from the people residing nearby the wind farm is the disturbing
humming noise generated by the wind turbines. According to Rodger Hutzell, he resides
nearly one mile from the Meyersdale Windplant, the noise brought bby the wind turbines
has personally affected his life in the fact that inside his house, he can still hear the
disturbing noise, most especially at night time. It’s the same case here in the Philippines.
What it makes different is the fact that our country has not yet resolved this type of problem.
So, what our group trying to do is to bring the same solution that the researchers from
Schrimer GmbH, ESM Energie – and Schwingungstechnik Mitch GmbH and the Dr.
Ziegler engineering office did. The proposed solution is an active damping system.
What is active damping sytem? Active Damping is an algorithm that reduces oscillation in
a motion control system. It can help control systems prone to oscillation or with low
damping, such as pneumatic cylinders. Active damping requires information on the
accelerations or forces acting on the system. The active damping algorithm uses this
information to affect the Control Output so that the accelerations or forces do not cause
oscillations. According to the researchers, this active damping system is obviously an
improvement over its predecessors. It senses the change in frequency and neutralizes the
noise without affecting the speed of the wind generator. Piezo actuators are the key
constituents of this system. These units transform the electric currents into mechanical
motion and create “negative vibrations.” These anti-noises offset the vibrations from wind
turbines. How do these piezo actuators fine-tune to the changing noise frequencies? Here

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 the research team has devised some sensors that constantly calculate the vibrations coming
out from the gearbox. These measurements of frequencies are transferred to the actuator
control system.

 Redesigned wind turbine blades.

One factor on why wind turbines generating a disturbing noise is on the design of
the blade itself. The blades of a turbine are part of aerodynamic noise which is one of the
two sources of noise of a turbine. Aerodynamic noise is more complex and, as can be seen
from Figure 1 it is the dominant source of noise from wind turbines, with a sound power
level of 99.2 dB A [2].

Image retrieved from http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/4/6/1104/pdf

The suggested new design is to put serrations on the leading edge of the blade. This design
is inspired by the wings of an owl. This design came from the researchers from Japan and
China. “Owls are known for silent flight, owing to their unique wing features, which are
normally characterized by leading-edge serrations, trailing-edge fringes and velvet-like
surfaces,” said Professor Hao Liu of Chiba University, Japan, the study’s lead author.

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“We wanted to understand how these features affect aerodynamic force production and
noise reduction and whether they could be applied elsewhere.”

The researchers used a low-speed wind tunnel to study owl-inspired feather wing
models. They employed analytic tools including mathematical models for turbulence to
simulate different air flows, force measurements, and optical methods for air flow
visualization.

The researchers analyzed wing models with and without the leading edge serrations
characteristic of owls’ wings, and found that these leading-edge serrations can control the
transition between different types of air flow, playing a vital role in aerodynamic force and
sound production.

“We found, however, that a trade-off exists between force production and sound
suppression. Serrated leading-edge reduces aerodynamic performance at Angles of Attack
(AoAs) lower than 15° compared to clean leading-edges, but can achieve noise reduction
and aerodynamic performance at AoAs above 15°, which owl wings often reach in flight
said Professor Liu.

Taking inspiration from owls’ wings, potential biomimetic mechanisms could be designed
to suppress noise in wind-turbines, multi-rotor drones and even aircraft, the researchers
conclude in their Bio inspiration and Biomimetic report.

“This owl-inspired edge serrations, if applied to wind turbine blades, aircraft wings or
drone rotors, could provide a useful biomimetic design for flow control and noise
reduction,” said Professor Liu.

“At a time when issues of noise are one of the main barriers to the building of wind turbines,
for example, a method for reducing the noise they generate is most welcome.”

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 Figure 2. Trailing Edge Serrations

Image retrieved from http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/4/6/1104/pdf

 Wind farm should be approximately 1.4 miles away from communities

One of our objectives for this case study is to select location for a wind farm, a location far
(as much as possible) from resident’s people. The safe level of decibels for human ears is
about 60 dB. 60 dB is just like a typical conversation we are having on our daily lives.
What we are trying to aim is to compute the distance that will give us a lower value of dB.
The required distance can be solved by using the inverse square law formula:
𝐼2 𝑑1
= ( )2
𝐼1 𝑑2
Where: I1 = the level of sound at initial distance
I2 = the level of sound at final distance
d1 = initial distance
d2 = final distance

Based on the research we conducted, the closest that a wind turbine is typically placed to a
home is 300 meters or more. At that distance, a turbine will have a sound pressure level of
43 decibels. To put that in context, the average air conditioner can reach 50 decibels of
noise, and most refrigerators run at around 40 decibels. Since 300 m is the closest distance,
we set it as the initial distance, and the corresponding dB of it is set to be I1. Base on the
noise level chart, the lowest dB that will give us the value for the distance is the 10 dB. By

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using these values, we computed for d2 and it gave us 600 m or 0.4 miles. A turbine located
about a mile away wouldn’t be heard, so we added 0.4 miles to 1 mile. That’s why we
come up to 1.4 miles.

Table 1.

Screenshot image retrieved from http://www.noisehelp.com/noise-level-chart.html

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 Figure 3.

Image retrieved from http://www.noisehelp.com/noise-level-chart.html

Alternative Solution

Onshore wind farms had a substantial number of large wind turbine generators in place and
operational. A number of the wind farms are sited such that residences are located between 300
and 400 metres, and this is generally the minimum setback encountered. Often, residences this
close or closer are associated with a landowner leasing land to the wind farm and experiences with
this situation appear positive. However, particularly where no financial relationship exists,
complaints amongst people living this close to a wind turbine generator are not uncommon. In
populated areas, typical sound level impacts from turbines tend to be 40 to 50 dBA at the closest
homes, although atmospheric conditions have a significant effect on the actual sound level at any
given moment. Some areas of Canada with very light population densities have seen wind farm
projects. In such areas, plans placing no wind turbine generator closer to a residence than about
1000 metres have been feasible. Not surprisingly, complaints at this distance are very rare. (Brian
Howe, MEng, MBA, PEng, February 15, 2007)

1. Offshore Wind farm are located kilometers away from residential houses therefore the
noise generated from the blades and gearbox won’t disturb the human population.

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 Pros:
 Offshore wind Turbine can have a smaller blade diameter as they are faster speed that
result to larger energy output.
 Wind blow on sea has a steady flow and more reliable source of wind energy.
Cons
 The offshore wind farm is complex than onshore, they need to design the cables, grids,
interconnection and the transportation of the employee that will conduct operation and
maintenance activities.

2. Gear Noise reduction

When gears work, especially at high loads and speeds, the noise and vibration
caused by the rotation of the gears is considered a big problem. However, since noise
problems tend to happen due to several causes in combination, it is very difficult to identify
the cause. The following are ways to reduce noise and these points should be considered
in the design stage of gear systems. (HOW TO REDUCE GEAR NOISE, 2015 )

Factors to be corrected to reduce or lessen gear noise

 Use High-Precision Gears
 Use a Better Surface Finish on Gears
 Have a Proper Amount of Backlash

These are the factors that can be used to lessen the gear noise, when high power
and speed are transmitted to the gears the noise, vibration and friction are the problem
that can disturb residential population nearby wind farm. The above factors are the
solution to counteract the problem regarding the gear noise these are the top ways to
reduce gears noise.

3. Turbine Blade Noise Reduction

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 Winds hitting the turbine blades also causes noise. Considering that the standard
distance of a wind turbine from a residential area is 500 m, at this distance a little noise of
the wind turbine could still be heard.

Methods to Reduce Turbine Blade Noise

 Redesign the airfoil of the turbine blades

 Noise Prediction Approach by computational fluid dynamic approach and
empirical formulas
 Optimization Techniques based on genetic algorithms

Recommendations

In determining the solutions to the problem caused by the wind turbine, which is the noise
that it produces, the solutions stated in this study are only theoretical considerations, some of the
solutions have not been actually used on a wind turbine yet, only test and simulations were done
on the study particularly the serrated trailing edge design for the turbine blade. Visiting a wind
farm can give much more information on what the best solutions to the said problem are. A survey
can also be conducted in order to determine how the noise bothers the people who are residing
near a wind farm particularly the 54 MW Wind farm located at Pililla, Rizal.

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References:

Kellner, T. (2014). How Loud Is A Wind Turbine? Retrieved from

https://www.ge.com/reports/post/92442325225/how-loud-is-a-wind-turbine/

Matthew, J., Singh, A., Madsen, J., & Arce León, C. (n.d.). Serration Design Methodology for
Wind Turbine Noise Reduction. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, vol. 753 (2016).
doi:10.1088/1742-6596/753/2/022019

Lamb, H. (2017). Owl-inspired Wind Turbine Blades Could Reduce Noise Pollution. Retrieved
from https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2017/07/owl-inspired-wind-turbine-blades-could-
reduce-noise-pollution/

Wind Turbine Noise Solutions. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.alternative-energy-

news.info/wind-turbine-noise-solutions/

Jianu, O., Rosen, M., & Naterer, G. (2012). Noise Pollution Prevention in Wind Turbines: Status
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[wcpa876]. (2007). Life Under a Windplant - Part 1 [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://youtu.be/SNxvkrgoPLo

Brian Howe, MEng, MBA, PEng. (February 15, 2007). WIND TURBINES AND SOUND:
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Hayashi, K., Hosoya, H., Matsuo, T., Nishino, H., Fukami, K., & Kuroiwa, T. (2012). Low-
noise Design for Wind Turbine Blades. Mitsubishi Heavy Indutries Techincal Review, 74-77.

HOW TO REDUCE GEAR NOISE. (2015 ). Retrieved from khkgears.ne:

http://khkgears.net/gear-knowledge/gear-technical-reference/how-to-reduce-gear-noise/

Offshore. (n.d.). Retrieved from wind-energy-the-facts.org:

https://conbit.eu/market/wind/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0rra5aDp2QIVSIC9Ch2uNQZaEAAY
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Seunghoon Lee, S. L.-S. (202). Design optimazation of wind turbine blades for reduction of
airfoil self-noise. Journal Of Mechanical Science and Technology, 413-420.

Clarke, D. (2012, November 30). Wind Turbine Noise: The Facts and The Evidence. Retrieved
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Gray, L. (2010). Wind Farms Can Cause Noise Problems Finds Study. The Telegraph.

Tonin, R. (2012). Sources of Wind Turbine Noise and Sound Propagation. Strawberry Hills:
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