science

Growian

Growian is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Growian rather than just read about it. In short: Growian or GROWIAN (short for German "Große Windenergieanlage" - "Large wind turbine") was a publicly funded wind turbine built in the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Koog near Marne for purposes of technology testing in the 1980s. It was a two-bladed "lee runner" (the rotor was situated on the downwind side of the tower) with a hub height of about 100 metres (330 ft) and, at 3 megawatts, it was the world's largest at the time, bein…

Key takeaways

Growian belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Growian to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Growian from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Growian or GROWIAN (short for German "Große Windenergieanlage" - "Large wind turbine") was a publicly funded wind turbine built in the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Koog near Marne for purposes of technology testing in the 1980s. It was a two-bladed "lee runner" (the rotor was situated on the downwind side of the tower) with a hub height of about 100 metres (330 ft) and, at 3 megawatts, it was the world's largest at the time, being operated since 1983. It was a design by committee, with some partners even expressing interest in the project to fail, which it duly did. Its failure delayed the progress of wind power in Germany and Energiewende (German for 'energy turnaround') by twenty-five years. For a long time Growian was the world's largest wind turbine. Many features of the installation were novel and had not previously been tested at this scale. Due to manufacturing faults in the casing, the turbine could not be run at full performance, and various issues with materials and construction prevented continuous testing. Consequently, the installation was idle for the greater part of the period between the first test run on 6 July 1983 (official start of operations was 4 October 1983) and end of operations in August 1987. Growian was decommissioned over the course of 1987, and dismantled in summer 1988.

Technical specification

Growian's power rating was 3,000 kW, at the time the highest in the world. The rotor had an oscillating nave, a diameter of 100.4 metres (329 ft), and revolved at approximately 19.5 rpm. The orientation of the two blades was regulated by a mechanical-electrical mechanism. In contrast to most modern turbines, the blades rotated on the leeward side of the tower. The turbine house at a height of 100 metres (330 ft) weighed 340 t, and each blade weighed 23 t. The turbine had a switching on speed of 5.4 m/s (12 mph) and a rated speed of 12 m/s (27 mph). It would cut out at a speed of 24 m/s (54 mph) and was rated for a maximum survivable speed of 60 m/s (134 mph). Projected annual energy yield at a mean wind speed of 9.3 m/s (21 mph) was approximately 12 GWh. Rotor and induction generator were mechanically coupled by a gearing mechanism consisting of one spur gear and two epicyclic gears. Feed-in to the power grid was realized using a set of motor–generators that was largely identical to that later used at Umspannwerk Neuhof, one of the few electrical substations that allowed for electricity import from the GDR. The rotors were constructed using steel walers, and in cross section consisted of a steel core, an outer skin, and fibreglass reinforcement rods. The tower and one of the rotors are on display at the Technik Museum Sinsheim. The total cost of the installation was about 87 million Deutsche Mark.

Development and outcomes

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Growian rotor blade with museum logo at Technik Museum Sinsheim

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Growian

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Growian claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Growian before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Growian ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Growian

In research: Growian appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Growian in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Growian is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Wind farms in Germany, Wind power in Germany, Wind turbines, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Growian outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Growian in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Growian means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Growian out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Growian in simple terms?

Why does Growian matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Growian?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Growian.