Using the Moment of Inertia as a Means of Better Controlling the Speed of Wind Turbines

In the following document, the possibility of using the moment of inertia as a means of speed control for a wind turbine is explored. This document gives an introduction to wind energy and current speed control methods. This information was obtained through databases found at Benner Library. Also, an experiment was used to collect data and determine the relationship between the moment of inertia and angular velocity of a turbine. A model turbine was fabricated and powered by a fan while a Logger Pro program was used to record the angular velocity of the turbine. The moment of inertia of the turbine was modified by sliding weights along the arms of the turbine. The data collected showed a 56% decrease in variability of the angular velocity of the turbine when using the moment of inertia as a speed control method. These results showed that this could be a viable option for controlling the speed of a turbine, and further research should be done to see if this is true for a wider variety of wind speeds as well as for a dynamic version of this speed control method