An Exploration of Wind Energy

by Bianca DeHaan

Submitted : Fall 2019

Wind energy is renewable energy extrapolated from the wind and has the potential to revolutionize our power supply in the near future as fossil fuels become outdated. Wind turbines capture the energy as the wind spins the blades of the turbine, transforming wind energy into mechanical energy through a generator. One of the techniques utilized to understand wind energy was to manipulate various variables in the formula for wind power. These variables would be explored to find the optimal values for all of them, including variables such as the power coefficient, wind velocity, number of blades, and radius of blades. The variable of turbine efficiency will be explored by deriving Betz Limit from previously known physics formulas using differentiation, in order to understand one of the limitations of the wind energy formula.

          Through extra research, it can be deduced that turbine design is also valuable for the efficiency of wind turbines. This is where the radius of the blades and the number of blades will be explored through the tip speed ratio in order to understand how to achieve maximum efficiency.

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