WIND ENERGY CONVERSION AND

QUALITY ISSUES OF WIND POWER

WITH A VIEW OF MAINTENANCE ISSUES IN WIND POWER
PLANTS

EEE F473: WIND ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

Author: Hardik Chawla
ID No.: 2012A3PS142G

Introduction & Importance

Wind energy: one of the least expensive renewable energy sources
Becoming more affordable as the technology improves and
infrastructure develops.
Wind energy can be converted to electrical energy.
Power of the wind is proportional to the cube of the wind speed.
Power quality:
Wind power generation characteristics are different from existing generation units
Connection of wind generators to power system could lead to many disturbances,
such as: voltage fluctuations, flickers, harmonics, instability,
Challenges regarding network integration

Maintenance
Turbines endure severe mechanical, electrical grid and environmental stresses
A large percentage of total life cycle cost of WPPs are attributed to O&M activities
Keywords:Wind-energy, Aerodynamics, Energy conversion, Efficiency, Power, Power
regulation, Power quality, Maintenance

Objectives
The objective of this study was to:
Study the conversion of kinetic energy of wind to
electrical energy
Study the factors that affect wind energy conversion
efficiency
To research the power regulation methods used in
wind energy conversion systems
To investigate the quality issues of wind power with
respect to their causes and consequences
To study the maintenance issues in wind turbine and
investigate the components prone to failure and the
probable maintenance related problems in WPPs

Review Questions
Q. What are the methods to convert kinetic energy of
wind to mechanical work?
There are two major methods which depend upon slowing down wind to
extract kinetic energy:
1.Drag Principle: Drag force is developed by obstructing the wind flow
and creating turbulence
2.Lift Principle: Liftis thecomponentof this force that is perpendicularto
theoncomingflow direction.It contrasts with thedragforce

Q. What is the effect of generator & gearbox specifications

on efficiency? How do direct drive generators and gearbox
based generators compare with respect to efficiency?
Generator is most efficient when it runs on nominal power. But, on turbine
it mostly runs on partial load
Percent of full
load
Efficiency

10

20

50

100

0.4

0.8

0.9

0.97

1.00

Wind turbines with a direct drive generator produce varying current due to
which The losses in case of direct drive generators are in the same range
of turbines with gearbox.

Q. What is power curve? How does it help to estimate total power

production?
The power curve indicates how large the electrical power output will be for the
turbine at different wind speeds.
Power curve are used along with frequency distribution of wind to determine the
wind energy production for a year

(Q.What are the factors that effect the efficiency of energy conversion?
Ans. Aerodynamic Efficiency, TSR, Tower height, Blade Count , Yaw error, Wake loss, Generator &
Gearbox efficiency; can be found in detail in Pg No. 9, 10 & 11 )
(Q. How is aerodynamic power regulated?
Ans. Passive Stall Control; Pitch Control; Active Stall Control; Comparison can be found in Pg. No.
12)

Q. What are the quality issues of wind power with

respect to causes and consequences?
Power
Quality
Issue
Voltage Sag

Voltage
Swells

Cause

Consequences

Start-up of wind turbines,

Fault in transmission/distribution
network,
Fault in consumer installation,
Connection of heavy loads
Start/stop of heavy loads,
Incorrect setting in sub-stations,
Shut down of large capacity WPP,

Disconnection of sensitive loads,

Tripping of contractors,
Fail Functions

Non-linear loads,
Resonance phenomena,
Transformer saturation
WPP blade pitch error,
WPP yaw error,
WPP wind shear,
Tower shadow effect,
Turbulence intensity
Load variations,
False tripping,
Variation in power production,
Short duration interruptions
Lightning strike,
Switching events

Damage to sensitive
equipments,
Aging of insulation,
Harm equipment with
inadequate design margins
Extended heating,
Failure of electronic equipment

Single phase loads,

Weak connections in network

Flicker

Steady state
voltage

Voltage

transients

Harmonic
distortion

Unbalanced
voltages

Degradation of power quality

Flickering of lamps,
Aging of insulation,
Fail functions

Insulation failure,
Reduced lifetime of transformers
and motors
Overload of 3-phase equipment,
Noise in 3 phase equipment

Disconnection of equipments

Q. What are the common maintenance related

problems affecting wind turbines? Which components
are more prone to failure?
WPP Component failure rate
3% 8%
12%
30%
3%
11%
6%
2%
22%
3%

Component
Gearbox
Electric
generator
Yaw system
Wind Sensors
Tower
Hub
Bearings
Main Shaft
Blade
Disc brake

Gearbox
Generator
Electrical
Systems
Control System
Brakes
Rotor
Sensors

Maintenance related problems

Most failures initiate in the bearings

Tooth fractures, seizure & Pitting due to material fatigue

Gear oil leakage & Eccentricity of gear wheels

Overheating & Insulation failure

Rotor bar breakage

Wear and tear of slip ring assembly

Yaw angle offset

Calibration error &Wear of bearings

Loose bolting, Cracks & Fatigue

Loose bolts & Pitch adjustment faults

Wear & pitting,

Deformation of outer race and rolling elements of bearings

Fatigue & Impending cracks of shafts

Imbalance, Fatigue & Impending cracks

Surface roughness & Icing

Wear and tear of brake pads & Hydraulic circuit failure

Conclusions
Most of the modern day turbines are based on the lift principle since drag principle
based turbines have very poor efficiencies of almost 15%. However, drag turbines
due to their curvature can prove to be useful in areas of very turbulent wind.
A high TSR is desirable, but it has its own disadvantages. Optimum TSR depends
upon the number of blades.
The optimum number of blades for a wind turbine is 3. Increasing the blade count
beyond this yields negligible improvements
It is desired to have tower height as high as possible. But difficulty in road
transportation and structural design problems put a limit on maximum tower height
possible.
Yaw error and wake losses should be avoided by efficient design & maintenance and
proper siting respectively.
The losses in case of direct drive generators are in the same range of turbines with
gearbox.
Stall Control, Active Stall Control and Pitch Stall Control are the most common
methods for aerodynamic power regulation. Each method has its characteristic
advantages and drawbacks.
Voltage variations, Flicker, and Harmonics are the most common power quality
issues. An effort should be made to curb the power quality issues of wind power since
they can cause to end-user equipments and system failure.
Gearbox is the component in wind turbines most prone to failure. Hence, regular
maintenance checks of the generator are required.
Generator, sensors and brakes are comparatively lesser prone to failure.
Since failure of one component impedes the power generation capacity, components
need to be regularly checked for wear and tear, oil leakage, cracks, loose bolting and
calibration to ensure optimum performance.

References
Text-books:
Earnest, Joshua, Wizelius, Tore: Wind Power Plants and
Project Development, PHI 2011.
Earnest, Joshua: Wind Power Technology, First Edition,
PHI 2014.
Bhadra, S.N., Kastha D. and Banerjee, S.: Wind Electrical
Systems, OUP 2005.

Web-links:

http://energy.gov/eere/wind/wind-program
http://www.gwec.net/
http://www.suzlon.com/
http://www.awea.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://www.learnengineering.org/2013/08/Wind-Turbine-Desi
gn.html