The Effect Of Wind Direction On Wind Turbines

The Effect Of odourise Direction On elevate TurbinesI expect to catch from this insure what the effect revolve opening direction had on a horizontal wind turbine. I comprise out that dismission from wiz side to the other, depending on how the pinwheel was shaped, that the function generated would increase or moderate. The home-baked pinwheel generated power that peaked at the clxxx degree mark and gradually went down with a slight spike upwards at the 0 degree mark. The store bought pinwheel had an average power that peaked at clxxx degrees and went down gradually and spiked all the way almost to the 180 degree mark at 0 degrees. These results are important because currently, there are wind farms and they commence windmills to produce energy, it is important to imply these facts when constructing the windmill to turn in how to make the windmill most efficient to produce the most energy it can with the given situations.Background ResearchIntroductionMy project research es wind turbines and how changes in wind direction affect the amount of work the windmill can do. I will use dickens types of turbines a factory- do pinwheel and a homemade pinwheel. The two turbines will be exposed to the same amount of wind force and wind source direction. As I change the rake that the wind blows, I will calculate the amount of energy it takes to do the same task haul five constitutionclips vertically.My project question is What effect does wind source direction have on a horizontal wind turbine?My hypothesis is The more than indirect the wind source is, the slower the turbine will spin, thereby working harder and use more energy.For legion(predicate) years my family and I have been going to Lake Tahoe. Every condemnation we travel there, we pass a field of windmills. I used to always ask my dad what they were for and how they worked. I always loved to watch them spinning. When I was looking for a science fair topic, I sawing machine an experiment invol ving wind turbines. I remembered the windmills on the way to Tahoe and thought it would be interesting to find out how they really work. I thought the mechanics of this project would be fun to make and to watch work. I hope to learn how wind turbines generate electricity, the mechanics of windmills, and under what conditions windmills spin the fastest.Scientific BackgroundWhen it comes to windmills or wind turbines, there are two major types. The more well known type is the Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT). These wind turbines are the ones you typically see they are your stereotypical type of windmill. The other type is known as the Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). These wind turbines are non as common but still have the same capability of the HAWTs. The VAWTs are not used as practically because they puts more strain on the represent pole, making them more equivalently to collapse. They besides need a small generator to start spinning because most of the time the wind is n ot soused enough to push it alone. These windmills have generators inside of them that generate electricity when the gears spin.DiscoveryThe eldest windmill was invented by none other than the Heron of Alexandria, in Greece, in the first century AD. He invented this windwheel to power a musical organ however, this idea of wind power was not well embraced. At the time, slave crowd was cheaper, faster, and more reliable. The first modern designed windmills were invented by the Persians in the 9th century AD. thither is no one inventor to which to give the credit, but Persian geographer Estakhri no remand the invention.The discovery of wind power is important because it introduced a new, free source of energy other than slave labor. Today our environment is at risk of universe destroyed. Due to the increase in population and technological advances, the resources in our world are quickly being depleted and we are damaging our environment. We are using an increased amount of energy, specifically fossil fuels, to power almost everything we use. Instead of using fossil fuels we could and should be using more wind energy to do energy.Despite these masterminds of history, there is still more to be discovered in this area. Scientists could discover a new, more reliable, and more efficient model of wind turbine to stand in the HAWTs. They need to discover more in this field in order to replace fossil fuels and stop world(prenominal) warming.ApplicationToday, we use windmills as a renewable source of energy and electricity. If scientists in the future can have a breakthrough with windmills, it could permanently replace fossil fuels, therefore stopping global warming. Residential wind power is becoming more available, but not as accessible as we need them to be.ConclusionFrom this project, I hope to learn how wind turbines generate energy. I hope to learn some of the mechanics behind windmills, under what conditions windmills spin the fastest, and how they can crea te energy. try out DetailsExperiment QuestionWhat effect does wind source direction have on a horizontal wind turbine?Experiment HypothesisThe more I fly the coop the wind source to one side of the turbine, the wind turbine will spin more slowly.Experiment VariablesIndependent VariableThe angle in degrees that the wind source will blow at the rotor.Dependent VariableHow much time, in seconds, it will take the wind turbine to pull up 5 ideaclips.Controlled VariablesThe amount of angle the wind turbine will pull upThe amount of wind being winded at the wind turbine ( pilusdryer on high speed)The temperature of the air being blown (hairdryer on cool setting)The height the turbine will have to life the paperclipsThe wind turbine itselfMaterials and ProceduresMaterials Usedcatherine wheel, store-bought or homemadeScissors8.5-inch x 8.5-inch sheet of paperRulerPenNailWooden skewer, available at grocery storesTape, any kindEmpty oatmeal canister with plastic lid smattering of rocks (o r heavy objects to keep the oatmeal canister weighted down)Small compression spring (approximately inch long and able to fit over skewer)Clear tapelineSpool of thread (1)Paper clips, 1 size (5)Measuring tapeRoom in your home that is free from draftsHair dryerTable or chairSticky tags, small sizeA helperStopwatchLab notebookGraph paperProceduresBuilding My RotorFor a store-bought pinwheel ill-use 1 I have to remove the rotor blades from the shaft by cutting dour the plastic nozzle tip of the shaft. This rotor is now on the skewer and is tack for testing.For a home-made pinwheelSTEP 2 Fold a square piece of paper diagonal whence back past diagonal the other direction then back. When I am finished I should have an X crossing the middle of my paper.STEP 3 Measure about 2 inches from the center on all(prenominal) crease and draw a line with my pen.STEP 4 Make tetrad holes in the paper with the nail near the corner.STEP 5 Make a fifth hole in the center of the paperSTEP 6 Cut al ong the creases with the scissors and stop where the lines were drawn 2 inches out from the center.Building my Horizontal-Axis Wind TurbineSTEP 7 Use the nail to poke two small holes on corresponding sides of the Oatmeal container about one inch down from the top.STEP 8 Place rocks inside the container and close the lid.STEP 9 Put the skewer between the two holes.STEP 10 Thread the spring on one side of the skewer.STEP 11 Put on one of the rotors (homemade or store bought) next to the spring onthe skewer.STEP 12 If I were using the homemade rotor I must first fold the four cornerholes onto the middle hole so they are all on top of each other and formone hole. and so thread the skewer through the hole and the rotor is ready.STEP 13 Tape the rotor to the skewer so it will not slip off the skewer.STEP 14 Cut about 2 feet of thread.STEP 15 Tie one end of the thread to the end of the skewer that does not have therotor taped to it.STEP 16 Tie the other end to one paper clip. Then attach the remaining four paperclips to each other then attach the four to the first one that is tied to the thread. This is the load that the wind turbine will be pulling.STEP 17 Measure the duds full length with the measuring tape from the skewer tothe first paper clip. Record measurement in lab notebook. Now I am readyto start testing.Testing My Wind TurbineSTEP 18 Place Wind turbine on the edge of a table or chair in a room without drafts.STEP 19 I will be testing my wind turbine at five different points around the rotor, 0degrees, 45 degrees, 90 degrees, cxxxv degrees, and 180 degrees. To markthese points on the table, extend and lock the measuring tape so that it isapproximately 6 inches longer than the radius of the rotor. Hold one end ofthe measuring tape directly below the point where the rotor meets theskewer, and the other end of the measuring tape at the approximate pointsaround the pinwheel. simoleons the points on the table with small sticky notes. When I begin the test, I will hold the handle of the hair dryer on the sticky notes and the blower end will point at the rotor. The goal is to have 1-2 inches between the rotor and the blower. If I dont have enough room, or have too much space, then I would have to adjust my sticky notes outward or inward.STEP 20 Have the helper manage the stop watch plot of ground you hold the hair dryer inposition. As a test run, start the hair dryer on low and move it from sticky note to sticky note and record what happens in the notebook.STEP 21 Extend thread to full lengthSTEP 22 Place the handle of the hair dryer on the first sticky note and turn the hairdryer on low and face it away from the rotor.STEP 23 When the helper says go, point the hair dryer at the rotor and leave it there.Keep the hair dryer at the same level for every test.STEP 24 Observe the motion of the paper clips. When the top of the first paperclipreaches the skewer, the helper should stop the stopwatch. If the paper clips do not to rise all the wa y to the skewer, then stop the stopwatch when the paper clips stop abject.STEP 25 Turn off the hair dryer when the clips reach the top or when they stopmoving and record the time in the table drawn in the notebook.STEP 26 Repeat steps 21-25 until all testing is done.Challenges and Technical IssuesI experience several technical challenges relating to timing and angle as I performed this experiment.First, it was difficult to keep the direction of the air source constant. While I held the hairdryer, I found it difficult to keep it still. It was also difficult to see to it that the angle was kept constant throughout the experiment. I did my best to make several markings on the table to align the hairdryer.I also found that while using the homemade pinwheel, the pinwheel would sometimes push the skewer forward, causing the range of mountains to make allude with the canister, therefore slowing it down. To resolve this, I moved the pinwheel to the front end of the skewer and secured i t there.Similarly, I found that while using either pinwheel, the string would sometimes wrap part of the way on the skewer but run out of skewer and fall off the edge before it was full wound. To resolve this, I moved the string closer to the canister so there was more room for it to wind onto.Timing was also one of the gentlemans gentleman mistakes. Coordinating the actual start and stop of the stopwatch with the actual wind source (hairdryer) was tricky. My assistant and I counted down 3-2-1 and got as close as possible. thither were times that we needed to restart the trial due to timing issues.Experiment ResultsWith my tests results from the store bought pinwheel, the averages in ascending order staring at zero degrees going up are 27.18 seconds, 36.94 seconds, 47.84 seconds, and 26.53 seconds. In these tests, there was only one outlier. That outlier was in the 90 degree testing when the outlier was below every other time with a time of 28.36 seconds. This was due probably to movement of the wind angle.In the homemade pinwheel, the averages of the times are in ascending order from zero degrees going up are 57.86 seconds, 1 small 2.20 seconds, 1 fine 21.66 seconds, 41.67 seconds, and 35.11 seconds. There were four outliers within these tests. One was with the 0 degrees test it had a time of 1 minute 7.97 seconds. There were two outliers in the 45 degree angle testing. The first had a time of 40 seconds and the next had a time of 1 minute 12.17 seconds. Both of these did not get down all the way to the top of the canister. The fourth outlier was in the 135 degree tests with a time of 1 minute 4.91 seconds. altogether of these faulty times were most likely due to movement of the hairdryer.With all of the outliers in my experiment, I included them into the average and did not change or tuck away them.Time Data TableStore-Bought pinwheelPosition of Wind bloodline (degrees)Time to Raise Load(seconds)Trial 1Trial 2Trial 3Trial 4Trial 5 medium suspicion02 9.7831.8123.8526.9023.5427.18Range 8.27 sec.Human wrongdoing possibility movement4538.6238.8743.3833.5629.7836.84Range 13.6 sec.Human error possibility movement9038.7536.6142.2238.7428.3636.94Range 13.86 sec.Human error possibility movement13545.4154.2849.7547.8241.9347.84Range 12.35 sec.Human error possibility movement18028.1025.9828.8827.3122.3826.53Range 6.5 sec.Human error possibility movementTime Data TableHome-Made PinwheelPosition of Wind Source (degrees)Time to Raise Load(seconds)Trial 1Trial 2Trial 3Trial 4Trial 5 bonnyUncertainty053.9154.34107.9754.6658.4457.86Range 14.06 sec.Human error possibility movement4540.0112.1756.06107.59115.18102.20Range 35.18 sec.Human error possibility movement90130.43129.16104.91123.35120.43121.66Range 25.52 sec.Human error possibility movement13545.7841.5944.9439.5336.5041.67Range 9.28 sec.Human error possibility movement18035.2237.5637.3132.3833.0935.11Range 5.18 sec.Human error possibility movementDistance-Work Data TableStore-Bought Pinwh eel average out Work Done = Force . Average Distance (N . m )Mass of load (5 paperclips) = 0.00215 kgForce = Mass x 9.81(m/sec2) = 0.0210915 NewtonsPosition of Wind Source (degrees)Distance Paper Clips Were Raised(cm)Trial 1Trial 2Trial 3Trial 4Trial 5Average Distance(meters)Average Work Done(N . m )061616161610.610.0134561616161610.610.0139061616161610.610.01313561616161610.610.01318061616161610.610.013Position vs. effect Data TableStore-Bought PinwheelPosition of Wind Source (degrees)Power=Average Work Done Divided By Average Time (W)0.000478245.000352890.0003519135.0002717180.00049Distance-Work Data TableHome-Made PinwheelAverage Work Done = Force . Average Distance (N . m )Mass of load (5 paperclips) = 0.00215 kgForce = Mass x 9.81(m/sec2) = 0.0210915 NewtonsPosition of Wind Source (degrees)Distance Paper Clips Were Raised(cm)Trial 1Trial 2Trial 3Trial 4Trial 5Average Distance(meters)Average Work Done(N . m )061616161610.610.0134516.5386161610.4750.0109061616161610.610.01313561 616161610.610.01318061616161610.610.013Position vs. Power Data TableStore-Bought PinwheelPosition of Wind Source (degrees)Power=Average Work Done Divided By Average Time (W)0.000224645.000160790.0001591135.0003119180.0003702Data Analysis and DiscussionThere is one main reason why I got the results I did from my experiments. I got these results because of the way the pinwheel is shaped to spin. For example, the home made pinwheel I shaped, not intentionally, to spin to the right and it had fewerer blades than the store bought pinwheel, but the store bought pinwheel was manufactured to spin to the left. In addition, the store bought pinwheel had twice as many blades as the homemade pinwheel therefore it was able to catch more wind from the hairdryer, making the averages of the store bought much higher than most of the home made pinwheel averages.Windmills, when they spin, produce energy via a generator. The windmills I constructed are the same way but without a generator. I was able to calculate the power the windmills generated by pulling up the five paperclips and by using the time they needed to pull the paperclips all the way to the top. My graph shows the power that was generated using the load pulled (2g) and the time needed to pull the load on a scatter plot graph. The line that is drawn between the points is the trend in increase or decrease of the data. On the x axis, the position of the wind source in degrees is shown. On the y axis, the power in watts that is being generated by the windmill pulling the paper clips. This graph is useful to me because it is an easy way to show which position and windmill produced more power.My results answer my original question with proof from the experiments it shows that my hypothesis was incorrect. Regarding the store bought pinwheel, the power in watts goes down first from 0 degrees but then spikes up at 180 degrees. The home made pinwheel goes down all the starting from 180 degrees to 0 degrees. I never stated i n my hypothesis that it mattered which direction, whether left or right, it decreased from./ConclusionMy hypothesis was incorrect.I thought the more I moved the wind source from the center to one side of the turbine, the wind turbine would spin more slowly and produce less power. I expected the graph to show an upside down V. This was disproved with my trials. The trend line essentially formed a V, showing an increase in power produced with both pinwheels.RecommendationsIf soul does want to retry this project or study more in this field, I would give them the following advice.If someone wanted to retry this experiment, I would remember that they try to eliminate all possible human and mechanical errors such as movement. They could try to make a stand for the hair dryer to ensure that it stays straight and at the same height for each test. Slight movements can make a difference in how the wind catches the blades of the pinwheel.For someone absentminded to study in this field, I wo uld recommend that they perform this experiment comparing pinwheels that were equally matched. That is, use pinwheels that have the same number of blades in the same direction. They could also test pinwheels made of different materials and compare them that way.If someone just wanted to know which pinwheel to buy to be most efficient, I would tell them to get one that is made out of sturdy material, has a lot of blades, and one that has blades that are perfectly shaped to catch the wind.AcknowledgementsFor this experiment, there are a few people that I would like to mention who helped me perform this experiment. First, this project took me about three hours in all to perform and many after that to organize the lineup and all of the data. Throughout those hours, my mother helped motivate me to get my project done, helped me perform my experiment. She gave me the knowledge of how to make a computerized graph and helped me when I struggled. I would also like to mention Mrs. Roy, my 8t h grade science teacher, for giving me initial tips on what to do differently with my experiment to make it the best it could be.