Wind Turbine Generator's working principle

Wind Turbine   Generators

•Wind power generators convert wind energy (mechanical energy) to electrical energy.

• The generator is attached at one end to the wind turbine, which provides the mechanical energy.

• At the other end, the generator is connected to the electrical grid.

• The generator needs to have a cooling system to make sure there is no overheating.

•Below are the common types generators used in wind turbines

•Synchronous Generator, Induction Generator, Variable slip generators.

Basic Working Principle of a Generator

 

The generator pictured above is a small and cylindrical

 turbine generator with an outer casing made of steel.

As stated before, the mechanical energy needed to make 

the generator work can come from several different forces. 

 Each different force will eventually create a rotating force 

within the turbine generator. Let’s take a step-by-step look 

out how a generator works using the diagram above:

1.   Point 1, from the figure above, is a spinning rotor that is 

attached to the turbine shaft.  The main job of the rotor is to

 absorb the mechanical energy outside the generator, and 

use it to create rotational motion. The rotor in a turbine 

generator could be attached to a set of wind turbine blades, 

a set of reaction or impulse steam turbine blades, hydro-

turbine blades, or a gas engine.

2.    turbine shaft will begin to rotate with the rotor, causing

 all of the inner workings of the machine to rotate as 

   well.

3.   Attached to the turbine shaft is a coil of copper wire that 

rotates at the same speed as the turbine shaft and is often

 referred to as  an  armature

4.On either side of the armature, on the casing of the 

generator, we have two polar field magnets that create a 

magnetic field inside the space within the generator.  As the 

rotor, shaft, and armature rotate, they move within the 

electric field created by the magnets.

•The picture below shows the same generator from a 

different point of view, as if you were looking 

lengthwise, down through the circular top of the 

turbine cylinder.More easily seen from this view, the 

armature rotates within the generator, with each end 

moving opposite the other.  As one end rotates upward 

through the magnetic field, the opposite side will be 

rotating downward, and eventually in a complete circle

 that is repeated many times.

 

 

5.As the turbine rotates the armature through the magnetic field, an electrical current is created within the copper coil of the armature.

6.The current is created due to a law of electromagnetism called Faraday’s Law of Induction, discovered in the 1800’s.  This law states that a wire conductor that creates movement through a magnetic field creates an electric current, and that the strength of the current is equal to the rate of change through the magnetic field.  So, the faster the copper coil rotates, the more electric current will be created.

7. Finally, the electricity produced can be extracted from the generator.  The method of retrieving the electrical energy depends on how it will be used.