Wind Mill as a Producer of Electricity - Essay Example

Order# 292380: Topic:  Project management I picked up the project on “wind mill” to produce electri About the wind mill: The “Wind“ is one of the nature’s most abundant resources. It is renewable, non-polluting , universally available and is free when used as a fuel. The wind is a stream of moving air molecules. The power in the wind is the sum of total of all the moving molecules of air. It has been used for sailing, grinding grains and irrigation purposes since ancient times. Since beginning of twentieth century the air is being largely used for generation of electric energy too which necessitated creation for wind mill. Major advantages: Environment friendly and safe - Wind Mill says good bye to heat, dust, odor, sound, fumes, mishaps etc. Fuel cost is zero which reduces the cost of generation. The operation and maintenance costs are low. The cheapest source of electric energy A project with the fastest payback period A real fast track power project and construction time is less. A permanent shield against ever increasing power prices. The cost per kwh (unit) reduces over a period of time as against rising cost for conventional power projects. Capacity addition possible Potential of wind for wind mills: The wind power generation largely depends upon the wind speed and wind power density prevalent at a particular potential location at any given of time. The ideal required wind energy can be found at high altitudes where continuous wind speeds occur. In general the sea coastal areas and / or hilly areas are more preferred locations to establish the wind mills because of uninterrupted flow of wind. How does wind mill work?: Wind – movement of air is called wind. The wind moves everything whatsoever comes in its way. Wind turbines or wind generators, like propeller blades of aircraft, turn and power electric generator generates an electric current. In more simplified it is stated that a wind turbine is opposite of a home fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind in fan, a wind turbine uses wind to make electricity. The wind turns the blades on the tower and spins a shaft which is connected to a generator to generate electricity. This production of electricity mainly depends on the velocity of the wind. Only higher wind velocity throughout the year makes the wind mill project viable. The wind turbine system consisting of blades, shafts, gears and Page # 2 generator is operated through a sophisticated computer controlled system installed at the base of the tower which also have sensors to sense the wind speed and its direction to switch on and off the wind turbine generator. Path of energy: Identified wind potential site and erection of wind mills with proper spacing of towers >>> grid interfacing with step up transformer of adequate capacity >>> grid with electricity company’s transmission lines >>> point of usage or utility or sale to the electricity company. Standards: The wind mill must follow certain standards like Height of the tower must comply aviation codes to avoid any air traffic obstruction. Height should not obstruct birds migration path Turbine and other electrical equipments must comply electrical energy laws of the federal. state or local governments regulations Noise intensity must be within acceptable limit. Budget: Materials and other heads: Land and site development Civil construction Plant and machinery including generator, pumps, gear box, belts, rotating mechanism, battery and electronic control equipments including computer etc. Tower (steel tubular) with blades of recommended materials and lengths. Electrical including step up transformers required for stepping up the voltage of generated power for onward feeding to the electricity company’s power grid and overhead high tension lines Creation of infrastructure and other miscellaneous facilities. Erection and commissioning Meteorological equipment, if necessary Budget estimation: The ‘wind mill’ can be constructed in many capacities (in KW / MW) suiting to the requirement of the user company or agency. The cost would vary for different factors like site location or accessibility, capacity and selection of generator, height of tower, type of pump etc. However a format for budget Page # 3 estimation for 10 KW wind mill is shown assuming different costs below : Items Cost in USD Land and site development --- 230,000.00 Civil construction --- 120,000.00 Plant and machinery including generator, pumps, gear box, belts, rotating mechanism, battery and electronic control equipments including computer etc. --- 38000.00 Tower with blades of recommended materials and lengths --- 20000.00 Electrical including step up transformers required for stepping up the voltage of generated power for onward feeding to the electricity company’s grid and overhead high tension lines --- 12000.00 Creation of infrastructure and other miscellaneous facilities --- 8000.00 Erection and commissioning cost @ 10% of project cost Including crane rental cost, transportation etc. --- 40000.00 Meteorological equipment, if necessary --- -- ----------------- 468,000.00 The financial assistance may be arranged through private investors / stock holdings, banks, financial institutions / agencies, international organizations, government’s schemes including subsidies, grants, or other venture capital providing companies. Time/ Scheduling: Generally the user company gives a time limit or schedule for building and operation of wind mill project and the supplier (s) and / or contractor (s) should abide by the given time table as much as possible. However in certain cases the delivery time of many materials is long which delays for completion of project. Prevalent circumstances like human factors, whether or other natural calamity also sometimes create late completion. Ideal time for completion of project could be 3-4 months. Resources: American Wind Energy Association: http://www.awea.org/ World Wind Energy Association: http://www.wwindea.org/home/index.php Page # 4 "The Windmill Construction Book, the Wind is Free." Wind Construction http://www.windmillconstruction.com/store_parts_water.htm Wind Turbine Industries Corp. : http://www.windturbine.net/ Bergey Windpower: http://www.bergey.com/ Bergen Southwest Steel – tower maker : http://www.towermaker.com/ National Whether Service Forecast Office, New York N.Y. http://www.weather.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=okx National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration: http://www.noaa.gov/ Danish Wind Industry Association: http://www.windpower.org/en/tour/design/horver.htm Analysis: Natural resources analysis: Most countries maintain whether, oceanic and atmospheric records for different purposes including future prediction, study, educational research, etc. These information are valuable for identifying a suitable location for wind mill too. Analysis of information for last 10 – 20 years is required for ascertaining: wind power density (WPD) which is a force of wind at a particular location. wind speed which is required to operate generators through blades mounted on a tower. An ideal speed of wind required is 10 mph (or 16 km/h) altitude for obstacle-free flow of wind for adequate velocity. environmental and local impacts for any possibility of natural jungle fire, wild life nearby etc. development of wind park or farm onshore, near shore and offshore. Business development analysis: Marketing analysis Competitors analysis Communication: Communication is one of the key arrangements at wind mill sites because they are generally located at very remote locations. To ensure availability of uninterrupted communication at site besides modern communication systems, some old communication systems should also be provided as back up arrangement. They could provide great help in case of emergency and natural calamity like flood, hurricane Page # 5 etc which can damage the communication poles and towers at site. Following arrangements can be done for availability of communication facility at site: Erection of satellite, poles and towers for modern communication systems like telephone / cell phones, broadband for internet and others. Closed-circuit TV arrangement to cover a certain range Arrangement of walkie-talkies having adequate range for communication. Installation of shortwave radio system for interaction among other communities when modern communication system fails or interrupts . Arrangement of transmitter with ‘Morse Code’ to communicate with other site locations when existing telephony system fails or interrupts . Besides operational, the site communication systems can be used for development of business like Marketing of generated power to local government, electricity companies, industries etc. Advertising to promote the company ahead of its competitors in newspapers, magazines, television etc. Motivation of the Team: Providing specialized training to the associated technical staff to carry out minor maintenance and other trouble shooting until the life of the wind mill. Providing a conference hall near the wind mill site to discuss problems or issues among the staff with facility for snacks, tea and drinks. To develop a team working employees may be motivated to participate in the operational improvement plan for productivity, efficiency, cutting costs, etc. Providing free accommodations with all necessary facilities Providing free transportation facility to the employees and their families to go on recreational tour on holidays in the nearby city or other tourist place(s) Providing discounted food coupons for tea, lunch and dinner at site-canteen. Providing necessary clothes and footwear for summer, winter and rainy seasons Page # 6 Executive Summary: Global warming has been a great concern today for every country around the globe. If environment is not saved from further pollution, it could become threat to the lives of human beings and animals in future. This is high time that each person on this earth must realize the gravity and must contribute in every possible way he / she can do to make environment friendly for living. Installation of wind mills can be one of the ways to avoid pollution of environment because they do not have any form of emissions of gases and other harmful substances. If compared to other energy generation sources the wind mills save the environment from carbon di-oxide (co2), sulpher di-oxide (so2), nitrogen di-oxide (no2), dust, flying ashes etc. Besides environment friendly the wind mill has many major advantages which must be considered as a source to produce electricity. Because of no input fuel cost, less operation and maintenance costs, the cost of generation per unit of energy works out less in comparison to other forms of generation of electricity. Wind mills can meet a sizable current demand of electricity of any nation. Background research should be conducted by the company for different necessary factors to establish the wind mill to justify its viability and potentiality. The design specifications should be finalized in consultation with the academic experts including experts from few companies handling wind mills. They should include information for overall geometry like height, size, diameter and arrangement of wind turbines as well as height of tower and length of its blades. In addition availability of adequate wind of required nature, water flow etc. should be ascertained. The other project, engineering, communication / infrastructure and HR requirements should be flexible enough to incorporate future changes as per prevailing time including capacity enhancement of the wind mills. The construction time of project is very short because of less complications. The project cost is repaid back to the company quickly because there is a permanent covering for no-increase of prices in future and moreover the cost per kwh (unit) of energy reduces over a period of time as against rising cost for conventional forms of generation of electricity. Federal and state governments of many countries around the world offer different types of concessions, grants and other facilities for establishing the wind mills in their countries, areas or regions. Source: Canarsie Park—Wind Mill Hill: Final Report http://community.seas.columbia.edu/cslp/reports/spring07/Windmill.pdf Read More