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NASA wind turbines

NASA wind turbines 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 NASA wind turbines rather than just read about it. In short: Starting in 1975, NASA managed a program for the United States Department of Energy and the United States Department of Interior to develop utility-scale wind turbines for electric power, in response to the increase in oil prices. A number of the world's largest wind turbines were developed and tested under this pioneering program.

NASA wind turbines — main illustration
NASA wind turbines — illustration

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Starting in 1975, NASA managed a program for the United States Department of Energy and the United States Department of Interior to develop utility-scale wind turbines for electric power, in response to the increase in oil prices. A number of the world's largest wind turbines were developed and tested under this pioneering program. The program was an attempt to leap well beyond the then-current state of the art of wind turbine generators, and developed a number of technologies later adopted by the wind turbine industry. The development of the commercial industry however was delayed by a significant decrease in competing energy prices during the 1980s.

Program origin In 1974, partially in response to the increase in oil price after the 1973 oil crisis, the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), later part of United States Department of Energy, appointed a department under the direction of Louis Divone to fund research into utility-scale wind turbines. NASA, through its Lewis Research Center in Sandusky Ohio (now the Glenn Research Center) was assigned the task of coordination of development by large contractors such as General Electric, Westinghouse, United Technologies and Boeing. In 1975 NASA designed and built its first prototype wind turbine, the 100 kW Mod-0 in Sandusky Ohio, with funding from the National Science Foundation and ERDA. The Mod-0 was modeled after the light weight two-bladed research turbine by Austrian Ulrich Hütter. The two-bladed wind turbine with flexible or teetered rotor hubs characterized the NASA-led program. NASA and its contractors found that two blades can produce essentially equivalent energy as three blades but at a savings of the cost and weight of a blade. Two-blade rotors turn faster than equivalent three-blade rotors, reducing the ratio in the gearbox. Flexibility in the rotor minimizes the transfer of bending loads into the drive train; none of the NASA wind turbines experienced gearbox failures that are often a problem for rigid rotor systems in use today. The NASA program hosted technical conferences, inviting international partners. NASA even helped refurbish and operate the Danish three-bladed Gedser wind turbine between 1977 and 1979, so that its operation and characteristics could be studied as a model for larger units. This 1957 unit designed by Johannes Juul generated 200 kW for 11 years, and used a three-bladed upwind rotor with a lattice tower and blades supported partly by internal guy wires. The effort produce research data on its aerodynamic, electrical, and mechanical characteristics. An important result of this effort was the development of an engineering design model used by the industry for passive power control. Larger wind turbine units achieve economies of scale. NASA research and prototypes demonstrated that there were considerable scaling challenges in structural strength, fatigue, speed control, and aerodynamics. In the 1980s most wind turbines were small units up to 25 kW rating. Studies carried out by NASA's contractors suggested that much larger units would be required, on the order of 1 MW or more, for economic production of electricity by utilities. Although the largest-diameter sets of propeller blades then in use were for helicopters, which spanned only 46 feet, it was projected that large blade sets, covering 200 to 300 feet in diameter, would be feasible to build and would produce the lowest cost of energy.

MOD-0 and MOD-0A

The first design was MOD-0, built near the Lewis Research Center in Sandusky, Ohio and operational in September 1975. It served as a test bed for development of many concepts for use in larger units. This design had a 38-metre diameter downwind two-bladed rotor, coupled to a synchronous generator, with a power rating of 100 kW at 8 m/s wind speed. A speed increaser stepped up the 40 r/min of the turbine to drive an 1800 r/min generator. The power output of the machine was regulated by pitching the rotor blades. The initial MOD-0 blades were made by Lockheed, out of aluminum. Structural problems surfaced almost immediately at the root end of the blades. Several significant changes and efforts were performed to address this. An investigation revealed that unexpectedly high cyclic loads were the result of a significant blockage of the wind by the complex truss tower structure. This caused the aerodynamic loads on the downwind rotor rapidly change. To correct this blockage, the access stairs were removed from the center of the tower. A major blade material program was started that assessed fiberglass composite, steel, wood and even concrete. NASA approached the Gougeon Brothers, Inc. of Michigan to apply their boat material technology to wind turbines. The resulting wood and composite blades replaced the aluminum blades on the Mod-0 (and later Mod-0A), eliminating the blade root structural problems. Gougeon Brothers successfully commercialized their products into the wind turbine industry with sales around the world. Many experiments were done with MOD-0, including brief operation with the rotor blades upwind of the tower, and a trial of a single blade for the turbine rotor. It tested the first variable speed generators as well prior to their use in the 3.2 MW Mod-5B and later throughout the industry. The Mod-0 was also used to test the first steel shell towers, now the dominant tower design. The design challenge was to take weight and cost out of the tower while safely passing through a resonance of the soft structure during startup. Operating experience with the prototype MOD-0 provided the basis for construction of several demonstration units designated the MOD-0A. These were similar to the prototype with the same rotor size, but rated at 200 kW at slightly higher wind speed. Westinghouse was appointed as prime contractor responsible for the overall construction. Units were installed at Clayton New Mexico in 1977, Culebra, Puerto Rico in 1978, Block Island, Rhode Island in 1979 and the fourth at Kahaku Point Hawaii in 1980.

MOD-1

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

NASA wind turbines: NASA experimental wind turbines drawn to the same scale
NASA experimental wind turbines drawn to the same scale
NASA wind turbines: The NASA MOD-0 research wind turbine in Sandusky, Ohio
The NASA MOD-0 research wind turbine in Sandusky, Ohio
NASA wind turbines: The NASA/GE MOD-1 wind turbine in Boone, North Carolina was the world's first turbine to produce 2 MW
The NASA/GE MOD-1 wind turbine in Boone, North Carolina was the world's first turbine to produce 2 MW
NASA wind turbines: The three MOD-2 wind turbines pictured above in Goodnoe Hills during 1981 had a total generation capacity of 7.5 megawatts.
The three MOD-2 wind turbines pictured above in Goodnoe Hills during 1981 had a total generation capacity of 7.5 megawatts.
NASA wind turbines: The NASA/DOI/United Technologies 4 MW WTS-4 wind turbine at Medicine Bow Wyoming held the world power output record for over 20 years.
The NASA/DOI/United Technologies 4 MW WTS-4 wind turbine at Medicine Bow Wyoming held the world power output record for over 20 years.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with NASA wind turbines

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what NASA wind turbines 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 NASA wind turbines 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 NASA wind turbines 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 NASA wind turbines

In research
NASA wind turbines 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 NASA wind turbines 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
NASA wind turbines is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics NASA spin-off technologies, Wind power in the United States, Wind turbines, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for NASA wind turbines 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 NASA wind turbines in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is NASA wind turbines in simple terms?

Starting in 1975, NASA managed a program for the United States Department of Energy and the United States Department of Interior to develop utility-scale wind turbines for electric power, in response to the increase in oil prices. A number of the world's largest wind turbines were developed and tes…

Why does NASA wind turbines 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 NASA wind turbines?

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 NASA wind turbines.

Tags

  • NASA spin-off technologies
  • Wind power in the United States
  • Wind turbines

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