Wind

Using the wind

An increasingly common sight today is the wind turbine. So what happens inide the turbine and how do the turning blades make power? To help answer this, it can be helpful to understand how a bird uses wind power, for - while birds use no electricity - they do have several similarities to a wind turbine!

 

Bending the wind

The wings of birds act like the blade of a wind turbine. Air current pushed down by a bird's wing causes an 'equal and opposite effect' (this is Newton's Law!) The 'opposite effect' for a bird is 'lift' and control of this and the drag (or braking effect) is the secret to good bird flight and turbine power. Like a bird's wing, the turbine blade is tapered and curved to catch and adjust to the constantly changing flow of the wind and give this power to its internal turbine.

Wind turbines at sea must withstand strong battering from stroms and wild seas. High-speed shafts and many moving parts of the turbine depend on one another and sometimes need maintenance.

As the blades of a wind turbine rotate many parts move. Inside the nacelle, a low-speed shaft turns gears in the gearbox which drives a high-speed shaft, which in turn powers the generator.

To inspect and maintain the turbine, a hatch on top of the nacelle allows engineers to access the working parts.

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