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Wind Turbine
A wind turbine is a machine that generates energy by harnessing the blowing of the wind.

There are a vast amount of wind turbine designs. The design has changed over the centuries from the earliest wind mills to massive ones used today to generate electricity.

Design
Wind turbines work by taking the kinetic energy of the wind and turning it into usable rotational energy. They do this by letting wind flow over their blades which creates a lift force. The blade is contoured in such a way to create areas of low and high pressure on opposite sides of the blade. This is what produces the lift force. The blades use this force to spin around the axis, transferring the blowing of the wind into rotational motion. This spinning axis is then run through a gearbox to the increase the RPMs into a more usable level of around 1800 RPMs. This motion drives a generator that produces the electricity that can be fed into the grid.

To maximize the amount of electricity produced, modern wind turbines use a couple techniques. All this is driven by the control system of each wind turbine which calculates the max output in the given wind conditions. The main controls wind turbines have are the pitch of the blades, the yaw of the nacelle, and the gearing of the generator. The pitch of the blades is the angle the blades are as they hit the wind. Increasing the pitch lets the wind capture more energy at high speeds. Increasing the pitch past the critical point begins reducing the efficiency of the turbine. The yaw is the direction of facing of the wind turbine. To ensure maximum efficiency of the turbine, the nacelle has to be turned so the that the blades are facing into the wind. Most large turbines accomplish this by using a yaw motor. The gearing of the generator determines how much torque the is required for the generator to spin. By increasing or decreasing it, the turbine can control the speed of the blades to ensure the most efficient speed. Increasing the torque of the generator also increases its output.

There are two major types of wind turbines that are determined by the plane their axis of rotation is in. The two are vertical axis and horizontal axis wind turbines.

Wind turbines work by taking the kinetic energy of the wind and turning it into usable rotational energy. They do this by letting wind flow over their blades which creates a lift force. The blade is contoured in such a way to create areas of low and high pressure on opposite sides of the blade. This is what produces the lift force. The blades use this force to spin around the axis, transferring the blowing of the wind into rotational motion. This spinning axis is then run through a gearbox to the increase the RPMs into a more usable level of around 1800 RPMs. This motion drives a generator that produces the electricity that can be fed into the grid.

To maximize the amount of electricity produced, modern wind turbines use a couple techniques. All this is driven by the control system of each wind turbine which calculates the max output in the given wind conditions. The main controls wind turbines have are the pitch of the blades, the yaw of the nacelle, and the gearing of the generator. The pitch of the blades is the angle the blades are as they hit the wind. Increasing the pitch lets the wind capture more energy at high speeds. Increasing the pitch past the critical point begins reducing the efficiency of the turbine. The yaw is the direction of facing of the wind turbine. To ensure maximum efficiency of the turbine, the nacelle has to be turned so the that the blades are facing into the wind. Most large turbines accomplish this by using a yaw motor. The gearing of the generator determines how much torque the is required for the generator to spin. By increasing or decreasing it, the turbine can control the speed of the blades to ensure the most efficient speed. Increasing the torque of the generator also increases its output.

There are two major types of wind turbines that are determined by the plane their axis of rotation is in. The two are vertical axis and horizontal axis wind turbines.