Wind Power
For many years, the protection of the environment has caused much curiosity and at last, plenty technologies were developed. This is the circumstance of wind energy. Once, we applied this source of power for water drawing or milling wheat to make flour. Today, this energy source is still applied to draw water but it is usually applied to produce electricity, leaving out any unfavorable effect on the environment. The raise in operating costs for nuclear and fossil fuels have also allowed wind power to become a great deal more competitive.
Wind power has been applied for some time. It is gathered when the wind pushes against a propeller that is to some degree bent. This forces all the blades to turn and siphon well water or turns a generator to cause electricity. There are two types of wind turbines, vertical axis turbines and horizontal axis. Nearly all wind turbines are horizontal. They have some disadvantages, among others, the generator is positioned at the top of the tower, which makes it tough to maintenance and repair. The vertical wind turbine, developed by the Canadians, has some advantages. First, access to the generator and the main mechanical components are positioned at the foot of the tower. In addition, no system to command the direction of the wind turbine is required. This turbine is still in development, but it is likely that when fully functional, it will have a big impact on the use of turbines for wind energy.
Wind energy is extracted from a wind turbine and subsequently transformed into electricity by a generator. The generator current is sinusoidal and when plugged into the electricity grid, its frequency must be the same as the power grid or 60 Hertz. As the speed of the impeller determines the current frequency of the generator, it is crucial that the turbine rotates at an even speed. For this reason, much of the energy is not extracted from the wind. Nowadays, it is very important that a device operates at a very high yield. The same principle applies to wind turbines. In addition, researchers have found that it is possible to extract more power from the wind by correcting the sinusoidal current in order to obtain a DC. Then, with the aid of a converter, the current is transformed back into a sinusoidal wave but with an even frequency of 60 Hertz. This means that the turbine can turn almost any speed and thus extract more power. Although the converter is often very complex and is expensive, the power gain is worth the effort.
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