How to use a Gold in Wind Turbines - Coursework Example

HOW TO USE GOLD IN WIND TURBINES By Presented to (04.24 Introduction Wind is a form of solar energy whereby the uneven heating of the atmospheric air by the sun causes the rotation of the earth and irregularities of the earth’s surface. This movement of air is further modified by the terrain of the earth, water bodies, and vegetative cover, for example, trees, Early History 1985. The earliest use of wind power known to date was the sailboat which, later impacted the development of windmills whereby the rectangular blades made from reed matting looked like sails. The first use of these mills was to pump water, but this design was not properly documented. Grain grinding being very much straightforward was the documented use of windmills. This design further developed into a wind turbine, a device that covers kinetic energy derived from the wind into mechanical energy, which looks much like the opposite of a fan. Wind turbine uses wind to make electricity unlike a fan, which uses electricity to make wind. This device led to generation of a wide range of machinery that is, wind generators, wind chargers etc. Such devices have a wide range of applications such as auxiliary power backup for sailboats, battery charging, in planes etc. There are two types of wind turbines, namely; horizontal – axis variety and the vertical – axis design. The only difference is the direction the turbine faces. Horizontal – axis design looks much like the olden farm windmills that were used to pump water while vertical – axis design looks like the eggbeater style Darrieus model. Though the purpose of the two designs is similar, most modern wind turbines use the horizontal axis design due to its efficiency in application. The main parts of a basic wind turbine are the rotor, a drive train, which includes a generator and a gearbox, the tail, the tower. In addition, a wind turbine will include electrical cables, ground support equipment, interconnection equipment and controls. Main Components of a Wind Turbine 2012. Rotor This portion collects energy from the wind. It usually consists of two or more metal, wooden or glass fibre blades, which rotate at an axis either vertical or horizontal. The speed of wind and the shape of the blades determine the speed at which the rotor spins. The rotor is attached to shaft via the hub. The blade design operates on the principle of drag or lift. Wind turbines made of drag design rotors is characterized with slow rotational speeds and high torque capabilities while lift design blades are characterized with high rotational speeds and are well suited for electricity generation. Also, the larger the tip speed ratio, i.e. rotational speed ratio of the blade to the wind speed, the faster the faster the rotor rotation at specific wind speeds. Generator This part converts the turning motion of the rotor into electricity. It is made up of numerous coils of wires that are wound around a magnetic field for electricity generation. There are several different forms of generators that are specifically designed to produce either alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) al at varied power output ratings. The generator’s size or ratings depends solely on the length of the turbine blades, rotors since long blades capture more energy. DC generators are mostly equipped with batteries for power storage purposes. AC generators are equipped with special features to produce and regulate the voltage and frequency output of electricity. Towers The tower is part of the wind turbine that is used to mount the turbine to the support structure and raise the blades off the ground. This enables the turbine to access stronger wind currents that are present at higher altitudes. Augmentors Augmentors are experimental additional structures fitted in a wind turbine intended to enhance the amount of wind passing through the blades. The costs to installing augmentors do not correlate with the energy captured by the turbines and does not justify its cost. Material used Turbine components keep on changing as the technology evolves and improves constantly. The current trend is to make the components lighter and more cost friendly. Rotor blades are mainly made of either glass that is reinforced with plastic, injection molded plastics with carbon fibers or wood-epoxy. Castings for small turbines use die aluminum while larger wind turbines use steel castings, but this has its own challenges particularly when it comes to the blade hub units, The Structure of A modern Wind Turbine 2012. Further material advancements that have been made are deemed to keep the life-cycle cost low. These advancements include glass fiber-reinforced-plastic (GRP) for rotors. Several trials have been carried out on steel and carbon-filament- reinforced-plastic (CFRP), but the strength and fatigue resistance on these materials has been very questionable hence the hesitation to develop them. Uses of gold Gold is considered one of the most useful metals mined from the earth. Its diversity in special properties has always given it an edge over other metals. The properties include: Gold is an excellent conductor of electricity, It does not tarnish, It is malleable, that is it is easy to work with, It can be used to make many alloys with other metals, Has a brilliant color that has a bright luster and It is highly valuable in that it is prestigious. Initial discovered by the Spanish, gold has symbolized power, purity and beauty amongst almost across all establishments the present man can think of. It has been used in the making of wedding rings, Olympic medals, Grammys, Oscars, crucifixes, money and ecclesiastical art. According to Geology 2005, gold has been used extensively given its properties. Its use ranges from electronics, computer chips, dentistry as dental filings, medicine in the treatment of rheumatic arthritis and certain cancer treatments, the aerospace industry just to mention but a few, Uses of Gold in Industry, Medicine, Computers, Electronics, Jewelry 2012. In wind turbines, gold’s superiority in electricity conduction has tramped costs and led to its extensive use in the making of sensors in the control systems. This has increased the accuracy in reading in these control systems minimizing room for error. The gold’s capability to use low voltages and currents provides protection to the control system and equipment during harsh environmental conditions. To curb the nature of gold’s attachment cost, wind turbine industry has efficiently learnt the art of making proper gold alloys with metals such as copper that still enable them tap the vast advantageous nature of gold’s conductivity both in electricity and heat. In my wind turbine design Due to the brittle nature and weight of gold, its applications in making of rotor blades are limited. Rotor blades require extremely strong and light material which gold is not. In addition, gold material cannot withstand the high torque forces associated with rotor blades, which move at very high rotational speeds more so in lift designs. Furthermore, it is not advisable to use gold in making the drive train parts; both the gearbox and the generator. This is because the malleable nature of gold will make the parts ware off fast. In addition, gold does not have the required magnetic force, which the generators highly rely on in the production of electricity. Given the nature of its weight, gold cannot be used or rather it is not advisable to use gold in the construction of both the tail and tower or either. This is because erection of the wind turbine will extremely be cumbersome and would require the use of machinery such as cranes on a small turbine. From the above considerations that is, the weight, malleability and cost, use of gold in making of generator, shaft, rotor blades, tail and tower will be limited. In my design, I will only use gold in the control system of the wind turbine. The purposes of the control system in wind turbine include; Power regulation, whereby the system is designed to get more energy from the wind turbine. Speed regulation. whereby minimization of noise restricts the tip speed of wind turbines to approximately 80m/s. Load mitigation. This ensures the wind turbine operates safely by limiting the forces that are applied on it. During control of these turbine aspects some of these objectives conflict, Lackner 2009. The high electric conductivity of gold will enhance the abilities of the control systems and the high heat conductivity will help in the regulation of the control systems’ internal temperatures. The malleability of gold also helps to reduce the size of the control system’s motherboard, more so the chipset. Conclusion Considering wind power was among the first energy source to be discovered and utilize, coupled with the limited use and coverage worldwide, development of this natural resource has been limited. This is mostly because of the introduction of more efficient energy sources, which are highly cheap to tap. Energy sources like firewood and coal require minimal resources for humankind to tap. Contract to this wind turbines are expensive to construct making its development limited to countries with surplus resources. In addition to this, wind turbines require strategic location that is, mountain tops, plains and areas that have minimal vegetative cover. Luckily, the recent in lights to the impact of these other energy sources to the environment, for example, oil, firewood, geothermal etc. many institutions have embarked on use and enhancement of wind turbines. The use of this energy resource is not only environmental friendly, but it is efficient and very economical. References Lackner, M. (2009, March 4). Wind Turbine Control systems: Current Status and Future Developments. Wind Turbine Control Systems . Retrieved April 25, 2012, from web.mit.edu/windenergy/windweek/Presentations/P9%20-%20Lackner.pdf Main Components of a Wind Turbine. (n.d.). avionexusa. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from www.avionexusa.com/pdf/Main_Components_of_a_Wind_Turbine.pdf Part 1 - Early History Through 1985. (n.d.). Illustrated History of Wind Power Development. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from hthttp://telosnet.com/wind/early.html The Structure of a Modern Wind Turbine An Overview. (n.d.). World Wind Energy Association - Home. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from http://www.wwindea.org/technology/ch01/en/1_2.html The Structure of a Modern Wind Turbine An Overview. (n.d.). World Wind Energy Association - Home. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from http://www.wwindea.org/technology/ch01/en/1_2.html Uses of Gold in Industry, Medicine, Computers, Electronics, Jewelry. (n.d.). Geology.com: News and Information for Geology & Earth Science. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from http://geology.com/minerals/gold/uses-of-gold.shtml Wind Energy Basics. (n.d.). Wind Energy EIS Public Information Center. Retrieved April 24, 2012, from http://windeis.anl.gov/guide/basics/index.cfm Wind Turbine - Materials and Manufacturing Fact sheet . (2001, August 29). Princeton Energy Resources International, LLC. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from www.perihq.com/documents/WindTurbine-MaterialsandManufacturing_FactSheet.pdf Read More