Brief History and Practical Uses of Wind Turbines

Wind turbine is an apparatus that is used toA wind turbine essentially is constituted by the
harness the potential energy of the high speedingblades that are in direct contact with the winds
winds to first mechanical and then electricaland convert this kinetic energy of the wind into
energy. A wind turbine is a complex set up whichthe mechanical energy by rotating. This rotating
consist of turbine blades, a motor, a gearbox andmechanical energy is then passed on to a motor
an electrical generator to whip up electricity andwhich is further connected to an electric
then pass it onto a device that needs it.generator which converts this mechanical energy
HISTORY OF WIND TURBINESinto electricity. This electricity can be used directly
The history of harnessing the wind energy is veryby connecting the appliance to the generator or
vast and goes back thousands of years in the BCcan be stored in electrical cells for future use.
era, and so do the devices used for this purpose.Based on the type of placement of the above
The mention of wind machines can be seen whenmentioned parts the wind turbine can of the
reading the history of the Persian Empire as earlyhorizontal axis type or the vertical axis type, the
as 200 BC. These machines were then adoptedlatter being more proficient and widely used.
by the Romans in the year 250 AD. However theIn case of the horizontal axis turbine the gearbox
first realistic windmill that came in practical usethat accelerates the rate of rotations to suit the
was developed in Sistan, Iran, much later in therequirements of the generator, and the blades are
seventh century.positioned in the direction of the incoming wind. All
Most of the old windmills were developed tothe constituent parts including the generator are
generate only mechanical power and aid in worksto be supported on the top of the tower.
such as grinding of grains and pumping water. InIn contrast the vertical axis wind turbine is
the Dutch Empire numerous windmills were utilizeddesigned in such a way that it can respond to
to pump the Rhine water. The blades that moveddifferent wind directions and is also adaptable to
due to high speed winds hitting them would passconditions where the wind speeds are not
on this energy to move water pumping motorsconstant, to give out the exact results.
or motors used to run grinding machines.The wind turbine is an easy and pollution free way
Wind turbines that are used to generate electricityto utilize the renewable source of wind energy.
were only developed in the twentieth century andThese are the products of the future and serving
have evolved a great deal since their invention.mankind well in the midst of energy crises.
WORKING OF THE WIND TURBINES