The Scientific Content of the KidWind Challenge
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CH Chou [1]
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[1] Vanung University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan
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- Localización: Hands-on Science: celebrating science and science education / coord. por Manuel Filipe Martins Costa, José Benito Vázquez Dorrío, Josep Maria Fernández Novell, Carme Zaragoza Domènech, 2023, ISBN 978-84-8158-973-3, págs. 75-88
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
Wind power generation is a system,and the gear box plays a vital role within thissystem. However, the gear box's functionextends beyond simply increasing rotationalspeed. Similar devices with gear boxfunctionality are also extremely crucial in otherpower generation systems.The KidWind competition may appear to be astudent activity, but it actually revolves aroundreal wind power generation systems, albeit on asmaller scale. In other words, participating in theKidWind Challenge encourages students andtheir advisors to explore key principles of windpower systems.In the competition, students are required todesign and construct an entire wind powersystem in advance. Subsequently, the windpower system is tested, and it generateselectricity within a miniature wind tunnel. Thescore of the wind power system is determinedby the electricity consumption of an externalresistor, with its resistance being adjusted by theparticipating team. The higher the powerconsumption of the external resistor is, thehigher the score is. This implies thatparticipating teams must create a wind powersystem capable of providing more usableelectricity for the end-users.When designing and building various electricityproviding systems, including the wind powersystem in reality, engineers and scientists sharea common goal: providing as much electricity aspossible for users.To achieve the goal of constructing a wind powersystem, the first step is to design a professionalwind turbine that can efficiently capture themaximum amount of wind energy whenoperated under the design conditions.Secondly, only the magnetic damping of theelectrical generator can be utilized through thegear box to control the wind turbine's rotation atthe optimal rotational speed. This optimalrotational speed, determined by the best tipspeed ratio established during the design phaseand varying with the wind speed, should beachieved via the torque generated by themagnetic damping. By doing so, the wind turbinecan effectively capture the maximum amount ofwind energy.Finally, to minimize electricity consumptionresulting from the resistance of the induction coilinside the generator, it is necessary to adjust theresistance of the external resistor connected inseries with the induction coil to its highestpossible value.Therefore, the wind turbine, rotating at theoptimal rotational speed, harnesses the possiblelargest amount of kinetic energy from the wind,which is subsequently converted into electricityin the generator. Notably, a significant portion ofthis electricity is consumed by an externalresistor, which possesses a much higherresistance compared to the induction coil andrepresents the end-users.As the vast wind power systems in extensivewind farms demonstrate, even small-scale windpower systems designed for competitions signifythe successful conversion of a significant portionof wind energy into usable electricity.As the chair of the judges for the KidWindChallenge competition in Taiwan, the authorhopes that this article will assist students incomprehending the scientific aspects of thecompetition and further exploring theseprinciples in a comprehensive manner.
