1 IMPROVING WIND TURBINE PERFORMANCE USING NANO MATERIALS *Manzar Ahmed Waheed Aftab Khan University of South Asia Lahore Superior University Lahore Manzar2001ait@hotmail.com Waheed.khan@superior.edupk Sabeeh-Ul-Hasnain Dr. Zaki Ahmed University of South Asia Lahore COMSATS Institute of IT Lahore sabeeh.hussnain@hotmail.com zakiahmad100@gmail.com Abstract: The wind is free, commonly available and can provide clean, pollution-free energy Today’s wind-turbines are very high tech but the life time of wind turbines is less due to moisture, efficiency and friction losses. This paper present new design scheme of light weight structure for wind turbine tower. This design scheme is based on the integration of the nano-structured materials. The objective is to accomplish the weight reduction by optimizing the wall thickness of the tower while combining the appropriate material properties into optimization. By using new techniques the efficiency, life time and of a wind turbine can be enhanced. Key Words: clean and Green energy, clean energy, renewable energy, nanotechnology I. Introduction Wind power has been around for a fairly long time. Wind turbines simply convert kinetic energy into mechanical energy. Similar to solar energy, wind power is very clean since it produces no harmful emissions. The concept of converting wind energy into electrical energy is very simple and in a way, similar to any form of traditional generation methods; using a source to power a generator but without the harmful emissions [9]. Wind turbines can be thought of as the exact opposite as what fans does; instead of using electricity to generate wind, they use wind to generate electricity. The blades on the wind turbine convert the kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy that is then used to turn a shaft in a generator to generate electricity. This is similar to traditional generation techniques but instead of using coal or oil to generate steam to power a generator, wind is used directly. The wind turbine components block diagram is shown in Figure 1. Fig 1 Wind Turbine Block Diagram [10] II. Wind Turbine Components Anemometer: Measures the wind speed and transmits wind speed data to the controller. Blades: Most turbines have either two or three blades. Wind blowing over the blades causes the blades to "lift" and rotate. Brake: A disc brake, which can be applied mechanically, electrically, or hydraulically to stop the rotor in emergencies. Controller : The controller starts up the machine at wind speeds of about 8 to 16 miles per hour (mph) and shuts off the machine at about 55 mph. Turbines do not operate at wind speeds above about 55 mph because they might be damaged by the high winds . Gear box: Wind turbines rotate typically between 40 rpm and 400 rpm. Generators typically rotate at 1,200 to 1,800 rpm. Most wind turbines require a step-up gear-box for efficient generator operation (electricity production). Gears connect the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and increase the rotational speeds from about 40 to 60 rotations per minute (rpm) to about 1000 to 1800 rpm, the rotational speed required by most generators to produce electricity. The gear box is a costly (and heavy) part of the wind turbine and engineers are exploring "direct-drive" generators that operate at lower rotational speeds and don't need gear boxes. Generator: Usually an off-the-shelf induction generator that produces 60-cycle AC electricity. High-speed shaft: Drives the generator. Low-speed shaft: The rotor turns the low-speed shaft at about 30 to 60 rotations per minute. Nacelle: The nacelle sits atop the tower and contains the gear box, low- and high-speed shafts, generator, controller, and brake. Some nacelles are large enough for a helicopter to land on. Pitch: Blades are turned, or pitched, out of the wind to control the rotor speed and keep the rotor from turning in