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Wind Energy

Learn about harnessing wind energy, conducting experiments, and understanding energy conversion with WinDynamo 3. Stay safe and handle equipment with care.

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Wind Energy

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  1. Wind Energy Shaw STEM Lab 2013-2014

  2. Background • If you think about it, humans have used the power of the wind for a very long time! • Think about sail boats, how Christopher Columbus sailed across the ocean!

  3. Harnessing the Wind for Energy! • In July 1887 a Scottish man named James Blyth invented the first battery charging machine. • Also in 1887 the first automatically operated wind turbine was built in Cleveland Ohio by Charles Brush. • 18 meters tall, 4 tons, and powered a 12kW generator!

  4. Background • The activities in this PowerPoint are intended to give you a basic understanding of wind generators, how they harness the wind energy to produce electricity, and how various factors can affect the amount of electricity produced. • Click the wind generator for an interactive website on how wind generators work! • If the link doesn’t work, copyand paste the following intoa web browser:https://energy.gov/eere/wind/animation-how-wind-turbine-works

  5. Questions/Research • Define the following terms in your own words • Electrons • Current • Voltage • Conductors • Magnetism • Magnetic fields • Induction

  6. Safety! • Never stick your hands in any moving parts! • Wait for all moving parts to stop moving on their own! • When rotating the blades or pressing the buttons on the green demonstration board, do so GENTLY! • Students with long hair should make sure it is pulled back and up out of the way.

  7. Transporting the WinDyanmo 3 • In this lesson you’ll be using some very expensive equipment! • You must handle all of this equipment with care! • Be sure you carry the Wind Generator with two hands and not by the cord! • Carry here and here!

  8. How the Windyanmo 3 works • Electrical generators produce electricity by moving a conductor through a magnetic field. A conductor is a type of material through which electrons can easily flow. A magnetic field is an invisible force field that surrounds a magnet. This force field is what causes magnets to attract or repel other magnets. Magnetic fields are thought to be made up of invisible lines of force, called flux. See figure A below.

  9. How the Windyanmo3 works • When a conductor is moved through a magnetic field, it cuts across the invisible flux lines. This causes the electrons in the conductor to move. In other words, an electrical current has been produced in the conductor. This process is referred to as induction.

  10. How the Windyanmo3 works • The WinDynamo 3 has a conductor made of fine strands of wire wrapped around iron cores. This conductor spins on a shaft inside a circular magnet. The conductor spins on a shaft inside a circular magnet. The conductor spins because it is connected to the WinDynamo 3’s propeller blades.

  11. How the Windyanmo3 works • As the rotating conductor moves inside the magnet, it cuts across the invisible magnetic flux lines (figure B below). This produces a voltage in the conductor. The electricity moves out of the conductor and through the wires connected to the generator. The electricity then flows from the WinDynamo II through the red lead to the activity board. To make a complete circuit, the electricity flows through the black lead and back to the WinDynamo II.

  12. Questions/Research • Describe how the WinDynamo 3 works. • What is an electrical generator? How does one work? • Explain what a conductor is. • Explain what flux lines are. • Describe the flow of electricity from the conductor in the WinDynamo II and back.

  13. Activity 1: Blade Angle • Things you’ll need • WinDyanmo3 • High velocity fan • Stop watch • Meter Stick • Read the Safety and Transporting sections before getting these items

  14. Activity 1: Blade Angle • For this activity you will need the WinDyanmo 3 and a stop watch. • Place the WinDynamo 3 30 centimeters from the fan. • Adjust the propeller to the 10 degrees blade angle • With the stopwatch, turn on the fan to the high setting and time how many seconds it takes for the propeller to start turning. • Turn off the fan, record the time in a chart like the one on the following slide. • Repeat the procedure with the blade angles at 25 and 40. • Make sure the fan stops before starting the next test.

  15. Activity 1: Blade Angle

  16. Activity 2: Energy Conversion • The Generation of electricity is really the conversion of energy from one form to another. Specifically, it is the changing of mechanical energy, or motion, into electrical energy. There are many types of energy in the world: mechanical, electrical, light, sound, chemical, nuclear, and heat, to name a few!

  17. Activity 2: Energy Conversion • Things you’ll need • WinDyanmo 3 • Green Activity Board • High velocity fan • Stop watch • Meter Stick • Read the Safety and Transporting sections before getting these items

  18. Activity 2: Energy Conversion • How about the toast you ate for breakfast this morning? How many and what types of energy changes must have taken place to heat the toast? Let’s start at the coal-powered electricity-generating plant. • The coal stores chemical energy, which is released as heat energy when it is burned. The heat is used to boil water and create steam. The expanding steam spins a turbine wheel. The energy has now been converted into mechanical energy. The spinning turbine is sent through the power lines to your home. The electricity goes from the outlet into the toaster, where it is converted again into heat energy, and toasts your bread!

  19. Activity 2: Energy Conversion • Experiment with the WinDynamo 3’s output devices on the activity board. Place the WinDynamo 3 in front of the fan. Switch the fan to the highest setting and operate the various output devices individually or in combinations.

  20. Questions/Research • Describe what you noticed about the relationship between the blade angle and the length of time it took the propeller to start turning. • Formulate a line graph using the information from your table. • The X axis should be the blade angle, and the Y axis should be the number of seconds it took for the propeller to start spinning.

  21. Questions/Research • What types of energy do the three output devices (on the activity board) produce? • Describe the energy transformation from the wind (from the fan) to the WinDynamo 3 engine and then to the output devices. • Choose one output device and make a flowchart indicating the energy transformations beginning with the wind (from the fan) and ending with the output device.

  22. Activity 3: Wind Speed • Things you’ll need • WinDyanmo 3 • Black Multimeter • High velocity fan • Stop watch • Meter Stick • Read the Safety and Transporting sections before getting these items

  23. Activity 3: Wind Speed • Note: This activity will require the digital multimeter. • Attach the multimeter to the WinDyanmo 3. To do this, push the end of the WinDynamo 3’s red lead into the red Volts (positive) socket on the multimeter. Then push the end of the black lead into the black COM (negative) socket on the multimeter. Operate the multimeter as pictured on the next slide.

  24. Activity 3: Wind Speed • Set the Multimeteron 20 DC • The RED circle • Our multimeter looks a little different, but still works in the same way

  25. Activity 3: Wind Speed • Place the fan facing the WinDynamo 3. Place the fan 30 centimeters away. • Adjust the blade angle to 30 degrees. • Turn on the multimeter and turn on the fan to the low setting. • When the propeller reaches a steady speed, record the voltage on a chart like the one on the following slide. • Turn the fan to the medium and high setting and record the voltage for each on the chart as well.

  26. Activity 3: Wind Speed

  27. Questions/Research • Describe what conclusion you can make about the relationship between wind speed and the voltage produced by the WinDynamo 3?

  28. Activity 4: Distance • Things you’ll need • WinDyanmo 3 • Black Multimeter • High velocity fan • Stop watch • Meter Stick • Read the Safety and Transporting sections before getting these items

  29. Activity 4: Distance • Note: This activity also requires the digital multimeter. • Attach the multimeter to the WinDynamo 3. TO do this, push the end of the WinDynamo 3’s red lead into the red Volts (positive) socket on the multimeter. Then push the end of the black lead into the black COM (negative) socket on the multimeter. Operate the multimeter as shown on the next slide.

  30. Activity 4: Distance • Set the Multimeteron 20 DC • The RED circle • Our multimeter looks a little different, but still works in the same way

  31. Activity 4: Distance • Place the fan 75 centimeters from the WinDynamo 3. • Turn the fan to full power and record the voltage shown on the multimeter display. • Move the WinDynamo 3 to a distance of 61 centimeters, then 45 cm, 30 cm, 15 cm and 0 cm. After each distance, stop and record the voltage reading for that distance. • Summarize your data into a chart like the one on the following slide.

  32. Activity 4: Distance

  33. Questions/Research • Graph the data from your chart into a bar graph. • The X axis should be the voltage, and the Y axis should be the distance the WinDynamo 3 was from the fan. • Describe what you noticed about the relationship between voltage output and distance. • Describe how these results are related to your conclusion in Activity 3.

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