Wind Turbine Group Project Evaluation - Assignment Example

Wind Turbine Group Project Other (s) Wind Turbine Group Project Question The Importance of a Well Written Design Specification Based on personal experiences during my involvement in the Wing Turbine group project, I have learnt a concise and well written design specification has a number of potential benefits. According to Jack (24), a design specification is detailed document describing the scope of the project, materials needed, installation methods and a number of other technical specifications of a given project. However, although well written project design specification documents are not always meant to address all the issues that may arise during the execution of the project, they typically define the project in greater detail and outline how to deal with some of the issues that may arise in the field during the implementation of the project. One of the lessons I leant during my involvement in the project as a member of group F is that having a well written design specification document is critically important in enhancing the overall efficiency of the project from the concept selection to the execution of the project. For example, in our Wind turbine group project, having a clear, concisely written and well organized project design specification not only helped our group to achieve a greater accuracy but also reduces the likelihood of complications and that may arise during the project design and concept selection. In addition, a design specification that contains adequate descriptions of most of the required procedures, materials as well as the needed workmanship also reduces cases of omissions or errors. This is particularly important since the concept selection process normally involve evaluating various aspects of the project and comparing their relative strengths or weaknesses in order to come up with a single or fewer concepts for further investigation, testing and eventual development. Another important lesson that was evident during my participation in the group project was that a properly written design specification will can significantly help minimize time wastage during the concept selection phase since it provides the much needed reference for the review of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the project during concept selection. I particularly leant that having a well written design specification improved our group’s in the decision making process by providing a wide range of information needed during concept selection. For example, during the design process, each of the members of our group had his own opinion and concepts related to the turbine project including on areas such as computer modeling for load calculations and performance and optimization of structural components. The design specification used by group F helped harmonize some of the divergent concepts and differing opinions during the concept selection phase. The efficiency of during concept selection may be attributed to the fact that a well written design specification normally includes a description of number of aspects of the project including the necessary drawings, cost estimations, quality, dimensions and safety factors among others. Based on my experience, this ultimately results in speedy decision making. I believe that I can now write a design specification that can help in establishing the key design needs of the clients, the main parameter values (such as rated power, hub height and rotor diameter), the general layout of the turbine and selection of the main components or ratings. Besides, my participation in this team has rendered me more capable of making a decision on the most appropriate concept concerning a wind turbine project. Question 2: The Importance of Effective Project Management When working in a multi-disciplinary design team, effective project management is critically important for the successful achievement of the project objectives particularly through better planning and organization of the resources. One of the major benefits of effective project management that was evident during the design and implementation of the wind turbine group project was that an effective project management ensures that all the project activities are meticulously planned, coordinated and completed within the stipulated timeframe. For example, due to effective project management strategy, out project team leader was able to identify and map out all the activities required in each phase of the wind turbine project. This enabled the team to develop ways of completing all the project activities within the specified timeline. Another possible way through which effective project management may have helped achieve the objectives of our turbine group project is that it helped break down the entire project into smaller manageable phases. This particularly enabled the group to identify the activities that were to be completed before others and arrange them in order of priority. In my view, this can help the involved team to come up with a more efficient wind turbine that is also easy to construct during the design phase. Effective project management will help in gaining an insight regarding the detailed comprehension of the probable impacts of the critical success factors that pertain to the wind turbine project. In this manner, their likelihood of attaining the projected goals can greatly improve. In addition, through effective management of a wind turbine project, an involved team can evade failure which manifests itself in ways such as loss of reputation, increased costs as well as fatalities. There are numerous processes and tools that support effective management of wind turbine projects. First, the use of appropriate support software can help in the design process. An example of such software is FOCUS. This software helps to design wind turbines along with the turbine components like rotor blades. Secondly, the developers need to use wind resource assessment. This is the process through which a wind power developer estimates the anticipated energy production associated with a wind turbine. Finally, an effective project management can help set a project for success by enabling the team to identify some of the anticipate problems and address them early. Proper wind resource assessment will be important in the successful development of a wind turbine. Finally, creating a wind turbine requires abundant geographical information for efficient planning. The services of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialists offer a great deal of this material via the maps pertaining to the site features like transmission lines, land parcel boundaries and the environmentally sensitive sections. The maps help in all steps of planning ranging from energy analysis to construction. Question 3: Pancake Generator Design Considerations A Pancake generator is a simple synchronous AC generator that is capable of generating alternating current when the rotor of the generator is mechanically turned. The three main design considerations that should be taken into account when designing such a generator include: i. The required rotation per minute of the motor(speed) ii. The efficiency of the pancake generator iii. The expected turning force of the rotor(torque) Desirable Parameters to Optimise the Design Like many other common simple electricity generators, a Pancake generator has a number of parameters that are desirable in order to optimize the design of the generator. One of the parameters is slip (Torque Versus Speed). For example, with regard to Torque (Te) Versus Speed as a design parameter, the generator should be designed in such a way that the speed of the motor is always less than the synchronous speed. According to Herman (64), the slip speed of the pancake motor refers to the difference between the stator speed and the actual rotor speed. During the design of the pancake generator, an optimal slip can be achieved by increasing the rotation per minute of the generator’s rotor to a value more than the rotation speed of the stators magnetic field in order to facilitate the induction of sufficient current in the rotor. The variation of the torque force applied with speed should be designed in such a way that the pancake generator is able to effectively operate even at varying speeds such as in the case of generators driven by wind turbines which normally show variations depending on the strength of the wind. Another significant desirable parameter that can be used to optimize the design of the pancake generator is the potential Losses and Efficiency of the pancake generator. Generally, the overall efficiency of the generator is normally a function of the rotational speed. This consequently means that the output frequency of the pancake generator will largely depend on the amount of mechanical energy used to drive the rotor of the generator. In addition, the efficiency also depends on a number of losses some of which may include, Rotational losses such as windage and friction, copper losses in the winding and core losses including eddy current losses. Lastly, the requirement for an independent reactive power can also me a major design consideration as this may ensure that the stability of the power supplied by the generator. In summary, the pancake generator should be designed in such a way that its rotor is able to rotate above synchronous speed, with negative slip. Question 4: Suitable Testing Strategy for the Pancake Generator Assuming that the pancake generator in question 3 was built the testing strategy that will be adopted to analyze the performance and circuit parameters of the generator will involve carrying out experimental tests such as open circuit voltage test and short circuit tests. The two tests are normally carried out to specifically determine the armature resistance RA, field winding induced voltage induced E as well as the synchronous reactance XS of the built pancake generator. Open circuit Voltage Test Open circuit voltage test for synchronous pancake generators is normally carried out with while the terminals of the generator disconnected from the external circuit as part of the testing strategy. This is particularly achieved by driving the synchronous generator at the rated speed whilst the armature winding remains opened. The field current is then made to vary in appropriate steps and the equivalent values of the open-circuit voltage changed in proper steps and then we record the equivalent values of the open circuit voltage occurring between any two given pair of terminals in the armature windings. OCC will be observant of the straight-line relation provided the synchronous generator’s magnetic circuit does not attain saturation. The main procedure involves open circuiting the general terminals, driving the generator at synchronous speed through the use of external mechanical system and finally, increasing the field current, measuring and recording the open circuit terminal voltage. The measured voltage is considered to be the induced voltage. Lastly, in view of the lacking armature current, the terminal voltage measured is equivalent to the induced voltage represented as: Voc= Eoc Short Circuit Test On the other hand, the short circuit test will provide important information on a number of parameters of the pancake generator some of which include its current capabilities of the pancake generator. Testing procedure involves driving the generator at its rated speed when the armature winding terminals are short circuited. An ammeter is then connected in series with one of the three short circuited lines. Nest, the field current is slowly increased and finally, the corresponding value of the armature current is recorded and plotted in a graph of induced voltage vs. field current (Herman 54). In this regard, to determine circuit parameters of the pancake generator, we drive the generator at the rated speed while the armature windings’ terminals remain shortened. An armature will be situated in series with any of the three shortened lines. We gradually increase the field current and record the corresponding values associated with the armature current. In plotting the per-phase short circuit current as a function of field current, the resulting graph will be referred to as short-circuit characteristic of a synchronous generator. In summary, the results of the two tests might be used in a number of ways to inform the engineering process related to the pancake generator. For example, the results of the open and short test can effectively be used to determine the synchronous reactance. On the other hand, detailed open voltage and short circuit tests can also be used to provide information about induced voltage harmonics and losses particularly on newly constructed generators. Finally, the pancake generator needs to be tested so as to obtain the circuit parameters and the steady-state performance characteristics for use in transient analysis. Works Cited Jack, Hugh. Engineering Design, Planning, and Management. Oxford: Academic Press/Elsevier, 2013. Web.21 Aug.2014 Herman, Stephen L. Alternating Current Fundamentals (8th ed.). New York: Cengage Learning 2011. Print. Tong, Wei. Wind Power Generation and Wind Turbine Design. Southampton: WIT Press, 2010. Print.   Read More