Today, everyone is talking about what we can do to make our lives greener, especially when it comes to making a home green. It is important that we stop relying on non-reusable fossil fuels to produce the electricity that we need to power all the gadgets that have become necessary to our modern lifestyle. As long as we can find a suitable electricity alternative, we won’t have to give up our conveniences. A great option for a renewable source of electrical power is wind power. All over the world the wind keeps on blowing. Man has actually been harnessing wind power for centuries. Today, we need take old technology and change it to fit modern needs. That is we need to ask: how do wind turbines work?
If you hear the word windmill, you probably immediately think of an old Dutch structure surrounded by a field of tulips. These ancient windmills were used to perform a specific task, such as grinding flour or turning a lathe. With these models, the wind turned the blades, which were attached to a crankshaft.
The crankshaft then turned the pole that did the grinding or whatever task was needed. Today, the crankshaft is attached to an electrical generator. The power of the wind moves the parts of the generator and produces electricity. This electricity is then stored in batteries or sent off along power lines to a municipal grid.
Non-technical people are often told to think of the workings of a wind turbine like the workings of an electric fan. In an electric fan, there is a small motor at the base of the fan that powers the mechanism that turns the blades. It is exactly the opposite for a wind turbine. In this case the wind is causing the motive power to turn the blades and the motor becomes a receptacle for the power of the wind. The motor is then called a generator.
If you want to get a little bit more technical about the inner workings of a wind turbine, you can start out by picturing three blades that are attached on a single rotor. At the opposite end of the rotor you will find a gear box, a toothed circle that looks like the gears inside your watch.
The teeth of the gear box are interlocked with the teeth inside the generator so that little power is lost between the spinning of the blades and the spinning of the generator’s motor.
Today’s wind turbines are more sophisticated pieces of equipment. They will have a yaw drive and a yaw motor that are either controlled remotely or automatically in order to change the direction of the blades so that they are directly downwind of the coming gusts.
A wine vane can also accomplish that task moving the wind turbine. Instead of managing tilt, it manages the actual direction of the turbine. This can also be accomplished remotely on large, industrial turbines. Now that you have a basic overview of how wind turbines work, you can use your knowledge to petition your lawmakers for a change.
