Transcript Wind Wisdom for School Power…Naturally

Susan Reyes
KidWind Senator & Event Coordinator
Science & Sustainability Educator
WIND BASICS
AIR IS SOMETHING
Properties of Air
 Has mass
 Takes up space
 Hot air rises
 Cooler air falls
 Air pressure and temperature are
dependent on:
 location on the earth
 the season
WIND IS MOVING AIR
The sun shines on the
Earth’s atmosphere
and heats its surfaces.
As air heats it rises,
the molecules in the air
spread out because the
air is light. Cooler air
falls; its particles are
denser and so the air is
heavier. As the warm
air rises, cooler air fills
in the space. This process
of warming and cooling air placement is
called convection and this is what causes the air to move.
Moving air is wind.
MOVING AIR IS SOLAR POWERED!
The Wind in Nature
 Carry scent
 Shape hunting and defensive strategies
 Distribute seeds
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and arthropods
Move objects
Help shape topography and can be
affected by topography
Spread wildfires
Act as an energy resource to generate
electricity
Measurements are a Breeze
Wind Vane
Windsock
Anemometer
ENERGY BASICS
In a most basic sense, energy
is the ability of a force to
perform work or to
organize or
change matter.
ENERGY FORMS &
TRANSFORMATIONS
Energy occurs in many forms and is classified
as either potential energy (stored) or kinetic energy
(in motion) and is converted from one form to another.
Forms of Energy
 Mechanical-Kinetic
 Radiant
 Electrical
 Chemical
 Nuclear
 Heat
What transformations occur in
these systems?
I’M SOLAR POWERED!
Where do YOU get your
energy to live, move,
work & play?
Activity: Trace energy transformations
from the sun to examples of food,
such as a slice of pizza.
Sources of New York State Energy
Approximately 13% of New York energy needs are met instate
through a variety of energy resources:
 Coal (13 coal plants)
 Nuclear (6 power plants),
 Crude oil (production is at 0.1%)
 Natural gas (production is at 4.7%)
 Hydro-electric (28 large and 340
small plants contributing 6%)
 Wind* (20 wind farms contributing
less than 1%).
Reference: 2009 Pattern and Trends Report of New York State Energy Profiles for 1993-2007, NYSERDA, 2009
Reference*: American Wind Energy Association, 2009 figures of current wind energy projects.
US Electricity Sources
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org
WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY
THROUGH THE AGES:
First documented
windmill:
Afghanistan (900AD)
Wind
Pumper
Greece
Holland & Colonial America
Modern Wind Turbines
Visit for a
field trip!
Small Electricity Generating
Wind Turbines
 Technically Advanced
 Minimal Moving Parts
 Low Maintenance
Requirements
 Proven: ~ 5,000 On-Grid
 American Companies are the
Market and Technology
Leaders
Downwind
Rotor
10 kW
400 W
50
kW
Upwind
Rotors
900 W
(Not to scale)
Yawing – Facing the Wind
• Passive Yaw (Most small
turbines)
• Wind forces alone direct rotor
• Tail vanes
• Downwind turbines
• Active Yaw (all medium &
large turbines produced
today, & some small
turbines from Europe)
• Anemometer on nacelle tells
controller which way to point
rotor into the wind
• Yaw drive turns gears to point
rotor into wind
Over-Speed Protection During High Winds
Upward Furling: The rotor tilts
back during high winds
Angle Governor: The rotor turns up and to one side
Large Wind Turbines
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450’ base to blade
Each blade 112’
Span greater than 747
163+ tons total
Foundation 20+ feet deep
Rated at 1.5 – 5 megawatt
Supply at least 350 homes
Upwind rotors
Turn slowly & gear up
Braking system
The Electrical Generator
 A generator converts
mechanical energy into
electrical energy through
electromagnetic
induction.
 Electromagnetic
induction occurs when a
coil of wire experiences a
changing magnetic field,
which causes a voltage to
be induced in the coil
Inside a large
hydropower turbine
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org
Rotor Solidity
Solidity is the ratio of total rotor
planform area to total swept area
R
Low solidity (0.10) = high speed, low torque
a
A
High solidity (>0.80) = low speed, high torque
Solidity = 3a/A
ISSUES TODAY: COSTS & BENEFITS
Fighting windmills has a long history!
Don Quixote fighting “Giants”
Accidents & Troubles
“So far no evacuation zone has been declared. There are no threats to sea life,
and the fallout from the disaster was not detectable thousands of miles away.
Cleanup efforts are in progress, and will not include covering the area in a giant
concrete dome. No workers have been asked to give their lives in order to save
their countrymen from the menace of this fallen wind turbine.”
– Christopher Mims
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org
Impacts of Wind Power: Noise
 Modern turbines are relatively
quiet
 Rule of thumb – stay about 3x
hub-height away from houses
Impacts of Wind Power: Wildlife
• In the Audubon Magazine, John Flicker, President of
National Audubon Society, wrote a column stating that
Audubon "strongly supports wind power as a clean
alternative energy source," pointing to the link between
global warming and the birds and other wildlife that
scientist say it will kill.
Prospecting the Right Site:
Lessons Learned
1980’s California Wind Farm
Older Technology
+ Higher RPMs
+ Lower Elevations
+ Lattice Towers
+ Poorly Sited
= Bad News!
Off-Shore
On the Farm
On a Mountain
Where is the Wind?
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org
Importance of Wind Speed
 No other factor is more
important to the amount of
power available in the wind
than the speed of the wind
 Power is a cubic function of
wind speed
 VXVXV
 20% increase in wind speed
means 73% more power
 Doubling wind speed means 8
times more power
Calculation of Wind Power
•Power
the=wind
Power
in theinWind
½ρAV3
– Effect of swept area, A
– Effect of wind speed, V
– Effect of air density, 
Swept Area: A = πR2 Area
of the circle swept by the
rotor (m2).
R
Maintenance
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org
Wind Energy is a
Growing Industry
•US total installed wind energy
capacity now over 43,635 MW
as of Sept 2011 per
WindPoweringAmerica.com
• Enough electricity to power
the equivalent of over 7 million
households!
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org
Costs are Decreasing
1979: 40 cents/kWh
2000:
4-6
cents/kWh
• Increased
Turbine Size
• R&D Advances
• Manufacturing
Improvements
NSP 107 MW Lake Benton wind farm
4 cents/kWh (unsubsidized)
2004:
3 – 4.5 cents/kWh
Wind Energy in the Classroom
ELEMENTARY:
 Build Skills in Science & Engineering Practices
 OBSERVE, EXPERIMENT, EVALUATE & APPLY
 Gain understanding of explanations – reflect & discuss
 Learn content in many connected topic areas
Many Topics Addressed
•Forces Cause Change
•Energy Transformations (Forms of Energy)
•Circuits/Electricity/Magnetism
•Properties of Air
•Weather Patterns
•Renewable – Non Renewable Energy
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org
Activities
• Wind Sails – Engineering is Elementary
• Wind Chimes & Art
• Weather vanes & Anemometers
• Animals & the Wind
• Visit wind turbines & wind farms
• “Air is There” Demos
• Create electrical generators
• Design simple blades and rotors
for electrical & lifting turbines
• Compete in turbine contests
Upper Elementary/Middle
balloon
~3m
streamers
Kite or balloon string
 Building Wind
Turbines
 Assessing Wind
Resource
 Mathematics
Wind Turbine Blade Challenge
 Students perform experiments
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and design different wind
turbine blades
Use simple wind turbine
models
Test one variable while
holding others constant
Record performance with a
multimeter or other load
device
Goals: Produce the most
voltage, pump the most water,
lift the most weight
 Minimize Drag
 Maximize LIFT
 Harness the POWER of the wind!
Scientific & Engineering Practices
NRC’s New National Frameworks & Achieve’s
New Generation Science Standards
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Asking questions & defining problems
Developing & using models
Planning & carrying out investigations
Analyzing & interpreting data
Using mathematics & computational thinking
Developing explanations & designing solutions
Engaging in argument from evidence
Obtaining, evaluating & communicating information
RESOURCES:
KidWind.org
The KidWind Project is a team of teachers,
students, engineers and practitioners
exploring the science behind wind energy
in classrooms around the US.
Our goal is to introduce as many people as
possible to the elegance of wind power
through hands-on science activities which
are challenging, engaging and teach basic
science principles.
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org
KidWind
KidWind and Wind Wise Web Sites
Free Downloads -- Wind Wise – Math Lessons
NEW On-Line Turbine Design Competition
KidWind store – good prices: great stuff
KidWind Competitions
Utica Area Competition:
Contact Ray Pitcher: [email protected]
Western Massachusetts Event:
Contact Susan Reyes: [email protected]
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org
Wind Wisdom for
School Power…Naturally
Guides for K-4 and 4 – 6
Provides:
 an introduction to the technology involved in clean, renewable wind energy;
 a context for teaching scientific principles related to energy transformations,
electricity, and light, which are central to many clean energy technologies.
 a natural segue to environmental, ecological, social and human health studies in
a variety of topics such as climate change, ecological foot-printing, and carbon
foot-printing.
 DOWNLOAD IT: Google “Wind Wisdom for School Power...”; search at
www.nyserda.ny.gov or go to UMass STEM Ed website.
Exploring Wind Energy in
New York State
 U.S. Department of Energy - Energy
Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)
http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_maps.asp
 American Wind Energy Association
http://www.awea.org/projects/
 New York State Energy &
Development Authority & AWS
Truewind, LLC
http://windexplorer.awstruewind.com/NewYork/NewYork.
htm
 Kid Wind & WindWise Gr 6-12
http://www.kidwind.org/
KEEP SAFETY FIRST
• Protect eyes with goggles where there are
moving parts or LED use.
• Don’t fly kites near electrical wires.
• Do not allow anyone to stand in the plane of
rotation of the model turbine blades since they
can come off.
• Secure fans & keep fingers out of fans and
turbine blades.
• Check for hazards at field trip sites prior to
going.
• Consider other hazards, take precautions, and
educate students on how to stay safe.
CONTACTS
Susan Reyes
Science & Sustainability Educator
KidWind Senator
KidWind Event Coordinator –
Western Massachusetts
UMASS Amherst STEM Ed
[email protected]
Ray Pitcher
Technology Education Educator
KidWind Senator
KidWind Event Coordinator – Utica
[email protected]
Acknowledgements:
This workshop is organized by the UMASS Amherst STEM Ed Institute
http://k12s.phast.umass.edu/stem/
Primary Grant funding through the Utica Public School System
Donations of some parts, prizes and support from KidWind