EEE S5 students utilize the opportunity to learn through interaction and working methods by their Industrial Visit

A worthy  Industrial visit provides  the students  an opportunity to expand their  horizons. To experience the working environment in the industry and to gain hands-on experience about alternate energy industry operations, EEE Dept organized an Industrial visit to S5 students on 18 December 2022.

The destination was Ahalia Windmills,Ellapully, Palakkad. The area is spread over 4000 acres and houses four windmills, whose construction was started in 2015 and completed in 2017. We visited one of the four windmills. The windmill shown had a blade length of 45m, height of 90m and had a foundation which was 3m deep.The main structure is made up of a cast iron frame.  An elevator is provided in the windmill up to 30m for maintenance. The windmill houses a generator of rating2.1MW which can generate an average of 20,000 units and a maximum of 40,000 units. A minimum wind speed of 3m/s is required to initiate the rotation of the blades and a maximum wind speed of 21m/s is tolerated. If the wind speed is more than 22m/s, the anemometer attached within the windmill will send a signal to fold the blades so that the wind is hitting against the blades. This way the windmill is not damaged during strong winds. If sufficient wind is present, the blades will rotate, which will rotate the turbine and since the turbine is mechanically coupled with the generator, the generator produces a terminal voltage of 696 volts. The generated voltage is stepped up to 22kV using transformers and sent to a yard where the generated electricity from all four windmills is combined and transmitted to the KSEB grid. All of the four windmills were installed by SUZLON and the maintenance of the windmills are done every 3 months by them.

All these informations were well explained to the students  which provided an opportunity for interactive learning experiences outside the classroom environment. The students  were accompanied by the faculty members Mr Arun Xavier (Asst  Prof, EEE Dept) , Mr Krishnakumar M  (Asst  Prof, EEE Dept)  and Ms Lasitha Mohandas  (Asst  Prof, EEE Dept) for their educational tour thereafter which concluded on 22 December 2022.

This Industry visits broadened the outlook of students with exposure to different workforce from alternate energy industries.