GC: n

CT: Wind energy is one of the oldest source of energy used by mankind, comparable only to the use of any animal force and biomass. A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or pumping water, the device is called a windmill or wind pump. Developed for over a millennium, today’s wind turbines are manufactured in a range of vertical and horizontal axis types. The smallest turbines are used for applications such as battery charging or auxiliary power on sailing boats; while large grid-connected arrays of turbines are becoming an increasingly large source of commercial electric power.

S: http://www.academia.edu/7108231/Wind_turbine_power_plant_seminar_report (last access: 12 December 2014)

N: 1. wind (n): “air in motion,” Old English wind “wind,” from Proto-Germanic *windaz (cognates: Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Dutch wind, Old Norse vindr, Old High German wind, German Wind, Gothic winds), from PIE we-nt-o– “blowing,” from root we– “to blow”.
turbine (n): 1838, from French turbine (19c.), from Latin turbinem (nominative turbo) “spinning top, eddy, whirlwind, that which whirls,” related to turba “turmoil, crowd” (see turbid). Originally applied to a wheel spinning on a vertical axis driven by falling water. Turbo in reference to gas turbine engines is attested from 1904.
2. The term “wind turbine” has two meanings:

• a tall structure that has large blades attached to an engine and that is used to produce electricity.
• a wind-driven turbine for generating electricity.

3. A device used to convert the kinetic energy of the wind to mechanical power, generally in a rotating shaft which may be linked to an electrical generator (hence the term wind generator or “aerogenerator”).
4. The kinetic energy of a moving volume of air is proportional to the product of the mass of that air and the square of the velocity. The rapid increase of wind power with speed leads to a serious problem in wind turbine design. At speeds above the maximum rated wind speed the turbine cannot extract any extra useful energy from the wind; indeed, the blades may have to be braked to a halt. Winds even slightly less than maximum produce considerably less power : a reduction in wind speed by 21 per cent leads to a halving of the available power in the wind. The choice of maximum rated wind speed is therefore a critical design parameter. If set too low the turbine will be unable to make use of the most powerful winds; if set too high the availability factor of the wind generator will be low, i.e. it will not be a firm enough source of power. In this context an accurate knowledge of wind strengths and their variability is an important part of the initial appraisal of a wind power scheme.
5. A device for converting wind energy into mechanical energy. Syn.: aeroturbine, windmill, wind engine, wind motor.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=wind+turbine&searchmode=none (last access: 12 December 2014). 2 . MW – http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wind%20turbine (last access: 13 December 2014). 3 & 4. GDT (last access: 12 December 2014). 5. EEP – https://www.energy.eu/dictionary/ (last access: 13 December 2014).

SYN: WT

S: GDT (last access: 12 December 2014)

CR: aeolian, blade, generator, rotor , wind energy, wind turbine (1).