Wind Energy Related Math
Wind Energy Related Math
1 A horizontal-axis wind turbine with a 20-m diameter rotor is 30% efficient in 10 m/s winds at 1 atm of
pressure and 15◦C temperature.
a. How much power would it produce in those winds?
b. Estimate the air density on a 2500-m mountaintop at 10◦C?
c. Estimate the power the turbine would produce on that mountain with the same wind speed assuming its
efficiency is not affected by air density.
Suppose each wing/turbine is moving through the air at 50 m/s and suppose the overall efficiency is half
that of the Betz limit, what blade diameter would be required to deliver 5 kW of power per turbine. Do
not bother to correct air density for this altitude.
4. Estimate the array area required for a wind farm consisting of thirty 2-MW, 90-m turbines arranged
in three rows of 10 turbines using a 5D × 10D tower spacing. Then add an additional 10D of buffer space
around the entire turbine array and find the total area required. Also find their power density ratio.
5. Suppose you are the landowner of the 5200-ac (21.06 × 106 m2) wind farm described in previous question
(4). The developers offer you the following revenue choices in exchange for being able to locate their plant
on your land.
a. 0.35 ¢ for each kWh generated
b. $100/yr per acre
c. A flat $9000/yr per MW of installed capacity.
Assuming 7-m/s average wind speed and 10% rotor wake losses between turbines, compare the three
options.
Ref Book.:
Richard A. Dunlap - Sustainable Energy, 2nd (2018, Cengage Learning)
1. For a 10-m-diameter wind turbine with an efficiency of 45% located on land of roughness class 2,
calculate the power produced as a function of hub height from 20 m to 120 m for a wind velocity
of 10 m/s at a height of 50 m.
2. A wind turbine with a 40-m-diameter rotor produces 287-kW output in a 10-m/s wind. What is its
efficiency?
3. A wind turbine with an efficiency of 42% produces 1-MW output at a wind velocity of 13 m/s.
What is the turbine rotor diameter?
4. A three-blade wind turbine with a 100-m-rotor diameter operates with a tip speed ratio of 10.
(a) What is the efficiency?
(b) What fraction of the Betz limit is achieved?
(c) What is the actual power output in kW for a wind speed of 11 m/s?
(d) For the wind speed in part (c), what is the actual blade-tip velocity?
(e) For the wind speed in part (c), how long does it take the rotor to make one rotation?
5. A high-speed two-blade wind turbine operates with a tip speed ratio of 14. It produces 1.0 MWe in
a 12-m/s wind. What is the rotor diameter?
6. A three-blade wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 50 m, produces an output of 570 kW in a 10-
m/s wind. Calculate the wind velocity after passing through the turbine.