Sustainable Energy

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion and Ocean

Salinity Gradient Energy

Prof. Ing. Francesco Corvaro

Email: f.corvaro@univpm.it

Introduction
• Several options for obtaining energy from the kinetic or
potential energy associated with the movement of water in
the oceans have been discussed in the past two chapters.

• Two additional methods of extracting energy from the

oceans are discussed in this chapter.

• The rst, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), is a

method of making use of the thermal energy in the ocean. It
is basically a heat engine, like the heat engine used to
convert the thermal energy of steam produced by burning
fossil fuels or from nuclear reactions into mechanical energy,
which can be used to generate electricity.

Introduction
• Another option is to make use of energy associated with
the chemical composition of seawater.

• The removal of salt from seawater to produce freshwater

(i.e., desalination) requires energy.

• Conversely, energy can be extracted when seawater and

freshwater are mixed.

• Energy obtained by this method is referred to as salinity

gradient energy, or osmotic energy.
fi
 Basic principles of Ocean
thermal energy Conversion
• The conversion of thermal energy
in the ocean to mechanical energy
depends on the availability of a
cold reservoir into which excess
heat can be transferred.

• This situation exists in the ocean

because water temperature is a
function of depth. In deep water,
the depth dependence of the
temperature is shown in Figure

Basic principles of Ocean

thermal energy Conversion
• The gure shows that, below about 1000 m, the temperature
is fairly constant at about 4°C.

• This is independent of the location on earth, the time of the

year, and the air temperature.

• In temperate and colder regions, particularly in the winter, the

temperature di erence between deep water and surface
water is relatively small.

• In tropical regions, particularly in the summer, the

temperature di erence between deep water and surface
water is large.

Basic principles of Ocean

thermal energy Conversion
• The OTEC process relies on a temperature gradient between
the surface and the very deep water in the ocean and is
suited only to tropical regions.

• Figure shows the mean annular temperature di erence

between the ocean surface and water at 1000 m depth for
various locations on earth.

• A temperature di erence of at least 20°C (and preferably as

large as possible) is necessary to make use of OTEC.
fi
ff
ff
ff
 Basic principles of Ocean
thermal energy Conversion
• In an OTEC facility, cold water is pumped from deep in
the ocean. Heat may then be transferred from the warm
surface water to the cold water obtained from the ocean’s
depths.

• The warm surface water acts as the hot reservoir, and the
cold water acts as the cold reservoir, and the transfer of
heat allows for the extraction of mechanical energy. This
process, as in all heat engines, is governed by the laws of
thermodynamics, and the maximum e ciency that can be
obtained is limited by the Carnot e ciency.

Basic principles of Ocean

thermal energy Conversion
• The thermal energy content of the warm water is substantial, and
the e ciency of electricity generation from mechanical energy is
quite good, as is typically the case for a generator.

• The possibility of extracting useful energy by the OTEC process

was rst proposed in 1881 by the French physicist Jacques
Arsene d’Arsonval. The rst operational OTEC system was
constructed by Georges Claude in Mantanzas Bay, Cuba, in 1930.
It produced 22 kW of electricity, but unfortunately, due to its low
thermodynamic e ciency, it consumed more than that to operate.

• It is important to understand the operation of an OTEC plant, as

described in the next section, in order to assess the possibilities
of improving on this design.

OTEC System Design

• There are basically three types of OTEC systems: open-

cycle systems, closed-cycle systems, and hybrid
systems. The open-cycle system is the simplest, and
uses seawater itself as the working uid.

• Warm water from near the ocean surface enters the

system on the left side of the diagram and is vaporized in
an evaporator by lowering the vapor pressure with a
pump. The details of this process become evident in the
phase diagram of water in Figure.
fi
ffi
ffi
fi
ffi
fl
ffi
 OTEC System Design

OTEC System Design

• At a pressure of 1 atm, the transition line from the liquid (water) region to
the vapor (steam) region (that is, the boiling point) occurs at 100°C. If the
pressure is lowered, the transition line from liquid to vapor, as illustrated
in the gure, shows that the boiling point occurs at a lower temperature.

• For a su ciently low pressure, the water boils at (or below) room
temperature.

• So when the warm seawater enters the evaporator, the pressure is

lowered su ciently to cause it to become vapor. This vapor drives a
turbine (which, in turn, drives a generator to produce electricity) and then
enters into a condenser where it is turned back into a liquid. The
condenser is cooled by the cold seawater pumped from deep in the
ocean, and this lowers the temperature of the vapor to a temperature
below the liquid–vapor transition line.

OTEC System Design

• Generally, such systems utilize equal quantities of warm surface
water and cold deep-ocean water.

• Ideally, the energy produced is determined by the energy

extracted from the vapor by the turbine, which is related to the
temperature di erence between the evaporator and the
condenser, and by the thermodynamic e ciency of the system,
which is determined from the di erence between the hot
reservoir (warm surface water) and the cold reservoir (cold deep-
ocean water).

• However, e ciencies are never ideal, and, in addition, pumps to

bring water from deep in the ocean to the surface require
substantial energy input.
fi
ffi
ffi
ffi
ff
ff
ffi
 OTEC System Design
• A detailed diagram of the operation of an open-cycle OTEC is shown in Figure.
As the gure shows, a by-product of energy production is desalinated water.

• This is produced by the condensation of water vapor and can be used to

provide fresh-water, which is often a valuable resource in locations where OTEC
plants may be viable.

OTEC System Design

• A schematic diagram of a closed-cycle OTEC system is shown in Figure.

• In this system, the working uid is a substance with a phase diagram that is
compatible with the temperatures and pressures present in the system.

• These substances, such as ammonia, are often used in commercial

refrigerators.

• Figure shows that the warm seawater from the ocean’s surface is used to
heat the working uid, which is in a closed-system, to a temperature above
its boiling point. The vaporized uid is used to drive the turbine, after which
it is condensed back into a liquid by cool-ing it with cold seawater pumped
from deep in the ocean.

• Closed-cycle systems have the disadvantage that leaks may release

hazardous materials to the environment.

OTEC System Design

fi
fl
fl
fl
 Hybrid Systems
• The operation of a hybrid system follows along the lines
of the operation of a closed-cycle system.

• However, the warm seawater used to vaporize the work-

ing uid is itself vaporized.

• The vaporized working uid runs the turbine, as in the

closed-cycle system, and the vaporized water is
recondensed to produce desalinated water.

• Thus the system works as a closed-cycle system with the

added value of producing freshwater.

Hybrid Systems

Physics of the Operation

of an OTEC System
• A simple analysis of an OTEC device might be obtained
merely by multiplying the Carnot e ciency times the power
avail-able.

• This, however, does not provide an accurate picture of how

the OTEC system works.

• The actual detailed operation of an OTEC device is quite

complex.

• However, we can gain insight into the operation of the

system and obtain a reasonable assessment of its operating
characteristics using the following approach.
fl
fl
ffi
 Physics of the Operation
of an OTEC System

• Consider a parcel of seawater that is cooled by an

amount (Th - Tc). The energy that becomes available is

• where C is the speci c heat. If water owing at a rate of

dm/dt is cooled from Th to Tc, then the power available is

Physics of the Operation

of an OTEC System
• If we look, for example, at the details of a closed cycle
OTEC system, we see that the total temperature drop
between the warm seawater and the cold seawater
occurs over several parts of the system. There is a
temperature drop across the evaporator, there is a
temperature drop across the turbine, and there is a
temperature drop across the condenser. The sum of these
temperature drops must be (Th - Tc). It can be shown that
the system performance is optimized if the three
temperature drops are

Physics of the Operation

of an OTEC System
• The Carnot e ciency of the closed turbine cycle is, therefore,

• The heat extracted by the evaporator will be

• and the corresponding power will be

• where dm/dt is the ow rate in kg/s through the evaporator.

ffi
fl
fi
fl
 Physics of the Operation
of an OTEC System
• Combining equation with the heat engine e ciency from
equation gives the thermodynamic power generated as

• This is sometimes written in terms of the total water ow rate,

(dm/dt)tot through the evaporator and the condenser, combined
(on the assumption that these are equal) as

• The electrical power output will be the quantity in equation times

the e ciency of the turbine/generator, typically 85% to 90%.

Physics of the Operation

of an OTEC System

• The result in equation emphasizes the importance of a

large temperature di erence between the warm reservoir
and the cold reservoir, as this appears squared on the
right-hand side of the equation.

• This result comes from the fact that the energy extracted
from the seawater is proportional to the temperature
di erence and the e ciency of the heat engine is also
proportional to the temperature di erence.

Physics of the Operation

of an OTEC System
• It is important to realize that the power required to
operate the facility must be subtracted from output as
given by equation in order to determine the net power
gain.

• The most signi cant component of operating power is

that required for the cold water pumps to bring seawater
from deep in the ocean to the facility.

• Total operating power can account for more than half of

the power generated.
ff
ffi
fi
ffi
ff
ff
ffi
 Implementation of OteC
Systems
• OTEC systems can be constructed in three types of
locations: onshore, mounted to the ocean oor, or
oating.

• In the case of onshore installations, the facility is located

on land or in very shallow water close to shore in a region
where appropriate ocean thermal gradients exist.

• Warm surface water is supplied from the region near the

facility, while a supply pipe carries cold water from deeper
water o shore. This type of facility has clear advantages
and disadvantages.

Implementation of OteC
Systems
• On the plus side, the plant itself is easy to maintain. It is
less susceptible to the adverse marine environment, and
it is simple to connect the electric output to the power
grid.

• In general, it is important to avoid mixing output water

with the warm water supply.

• However, for land-based systems, the freshwater

produced from the condensed working uid can be
readily used as a supply of quality drinking water, and the
waste cooling water is useful for air conditioning.

Implementation of OteC
Systems
• Because OTEC facilities must be built in tropical regions, this cold
water is an added bene t.

• Alternatively, the discharge water could be carried o shore by pipe.

On the negative side, locations must be chosen to minimize the length
of pipe necessary to bring cold water from depths of up to 1000 m (or
more) o shore.

• The supply pipe is a substantial component of the infrastructure cost

and is subject to adverse environmental conditions, leading to
potential maintenance costs.

• This is particularly true because the pipes would traverse the surf zone
near shore and would be subject to extreme stresses during storms.
fl
ff
ff
fi
fl
 Implementation of OteC
Systems
• Bottom-mounted systems can be seated on the
continental shelf at depths of up to 100 m or so.

• Locating the plant outside the surf zone minimizes stress

on the supply pipes, and, if the plant is not far o shore,
the electrical connection to the grid is convenient.

• Floating systems minimize the length of pipes needed to

supply cold water from the ocean depths.

• This, in principle, would improve the net e ciency by

reducing the power consumed in pumping water.

Implementation of OteC
Systems
• However, a oating system has several major
disadvantages.

• Because it would be in deep water, mooring the facility and

stabilizing it in potentially adverse weather conditions is not
straightforward.

• Also, the electricity that is produced must be transported to

shore. This transport would involve expensive cables that
would be subject to adverse environmental conditions or the
use of an energy storage mechanism [such as hydrogen,
which would further reduce the already low e ciency.

Implementation of OteC
Systems
• Finally, it is important to ensure that waste cooling water
is pumped far enough away from the facility so that it
does not cool the warm surface water, thereby reducing
the thermodynamic e ciency.

• Serious e orts to utilize ocean thermal energy began in

the mid-1970s.

• In 1974, the National Energy Laboratory of Hawaii

Authority (NELHA) was established at Keahole Point in
Hawaii.
ff
fl
ffi
ffi
 Implementation of OteC
Systems
• One of their major initiatives has been to research the possibility of
producing energy by OTEC.

• Prototype facilities have generally taken one of two approaches to

developing OTEC power; either an onshore facility, which minimizes
operational and maintenance costs, or portable ship-based plants.
The latter optimizes e ciency without incurring substantial
infrastructure costs.

• In 1979, NELHA launched the MiniOTEC, a 50-kWe OTEC facility

mounted on a barge. The barge was moored about 2 km o the coast
of Hawaii near Keahole Point. The closed-cycle OTEC system
produced a gross electric output of 52 kWe but a net output (after
using electricity for pumps, etc.) of about 15 kWe. This was su cient
to run the lights and electronic equipment on the ship.

Implementation of OteC
Systems
• The most extensive testing of OTEC occurred between 1992
and 1998 at the NELHA facility in Hawaii. A 250-kWe open-
cycle OTEC plant was constructed on shore at Keahole
Point. Water at a temperature of 68C was pumped from a
depth of 820 m at a rate of about 400 L/s (0.4 m3/s 5 6400
gal/min) through a 1-m-diameter pipe.

• In May 1993, 50 kWe of net power was produced by this

plant. Although this facility is no longer operating as an
OTEC plant to produce electricity, it does pump cold water
on shore. This is used locally for air conditioning and, at
peak operation, replaces the equivalent of traditional air
conditioning requiring 200 kW of electricity.

Implementation of OteC
Systems
• Although Japan has no OTEC possibilities itself,
Japanese researchers have been involved in OTEC
activities on the island of Nauru in the Paci c Ocean.
From October 1981 to September 1982 a closed-cycle
OTEC plant, rated at 100 kWe, was operated on the
island.

• The net power production after operating pumps was

31.5 kWe, which was used to supply electricity to a local
school
ffi
 Implementation of OteC
Systems
• It has been estimated that globally, OTEC resources amount
to about 1013 W.

• This is close to our total world power requirements.

However, only a small fraction of this resource is
economically viable or practical. Onshore or close-to-shore
sites are the easiest to implement. There are probably a few
hundred sites, at most, that ful ll the necessary criteria for
exploitation.

• Many of these locations are islands where the use of OTEC

could provide a substantial contribution to local energy
needs and reduce the need for energy importation.

Implementation of OteC
Systems
• Certainly this discussion illustrates the problems facing the
development ofOTEC as an energy resource.

• Thus far, prototype plants have produced a small net energy output.
However, infrastructure and operating costs, at this time, make OTEC
commercially unattractive. Technical di culties in the e cient
implementation of OTEC are signi cant. Fundamental problems that
need to be dealt with include the intrinsically low e ciency of the
process and the di culties associated with the marine environment.

• These di culties include the corrosive nature of seawater and the

probability of biofouling in the system. The transport of very large
quantities of seawater is also a challenge. A full-scale plant producing,
say, 100 MWe would require pumping something in the order of 1000
m3 of seawater per second through the system.

Implementation of OteC
Systems
• However, OTEC energy production does provide a
number of advantages.

• It has relatively low environmental impact and produces

freshwater as a by-product as well as cold water for air
conditioning use.

• Aquaculture is also an added bene t of OTEC. Cold water

from the ocean depths has a large concentration of
organic nutrients that are depleted in the surface water by
biological processes, and this water may be used
e ectively for aquaculture.
ff
ffi
ffi
fi
fi
ffi
fi
 Implementation of OteC
Systems

• Also, the low temperature of this water opens up the

possibilities for aquaculture in tropical regions that include
the growth of sh (e.g., salmon) and invertebrates (e.g.,
lobsters) that are normally native to temperate regions.

• In some ways, OTEC may be considered as a viable

resource for reasons other than energy production, with
any generated electricity a bonus.

Implementation of OteC
Systems
• Predictions for the utilization of OTEC have often been far
from accurate.

• A forecast made in 1980 illustrates the optimism with which

this resource was viewed.

• The actual cumulative capacity at a point close to the right-

hand side of the graph is identically zero. Overall OTEC is an
interesting, low-environmental-impact energy technology
that unfortunately su ers from low e ciency. It is unclear
whether the complex technological challenges facing OTEC
can be overcome to make this resource economically viable.

Ocean Salinity Gradient

energy: Basic principles
• In 1784, the French physicist Jean-Antoine Nollet placed a
pig’s bladder lled with wine in a barrel of water. Over time,
the bladder swelled and eventually burst.

• This behavior is the result of the osmotic pressures of

freshwater and saltwater separated by a suitable
membrane.

• In the gure, freshwater is placed in one side of a container

and saltwater is placed in the other side of a container. The
two sides are separated by a semipermeable membrane
that allows water molecules to pass but not Na or Cl ions.
fi
fi
fi
ff
ffi
 Ocean Salinity Gradient
energy: Basic principles
• A driving force tries to equalize the salt concentration on
the two sides of the membrane, causing water to move
from the fresh side to the salt side to dilute the saltwater,
thereby increasing the height and pressure on the salt
side of the membrane. The osmotic pressure is
approximated by the Morse equation:

• p = iRMT,

• where i is a constant (the dimensionless van ‘t Ho

factor) that depends on the solute (i = 2.0 for NaCl), R is
the universal gas constant, M is the molarity of the
solution, and T is the absolute temperature. For
seawater at, say, 10°C (i.e., 283 K) with a molarity of 600
mol/m3 (about average for the oceans), the osmotic
pressure is

• p = 2.0 x (8.315 J ∙ K-1 mol-1) x (600 mol/m3) x (283 K) =

2.82 x 106 N/m2 or about 28 atm.

Ocean Salinity Gradient

energy: Basic principles
• Thus, the pressure di erence pushes the level of the
seawater above the freshwater by a distance (d in the gure),
so that the pressure in the seawater at a height level with the
top of the freshwater is 2.82 x 106 N/m2.

• That means that the osmotic pressure is equal to the mass

per unit area of the saltwater above the freshwater times the
gravitational acceleration (g = 9.8 m/s2), or

• where is the density of water on the right side of the

membrane.

Ocean Salinity Gradient

energy: Basic principles
• In practice, only a small fraction of this energy could
actually be extracted, because the membrane, which
allows water (but not salt) to pass, will not withstand the
osmotic pressure caused by the head.

• (This is why the pig’s bladder burst.) A customary

approach is to utilize the increased pressure on the
saltwater side of the membrane to push water through a
turbine to generate electricity.

• This approach to the production of useful energy is

referred to as pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO).
𝜌
ff
ff
 Ocean Salinity Gradient
energy: Basic principles

• Another method of producing electricity from the energy

associated with salt concentration di erences between
freshwater and saltwater is reverse electrodialysis (RED).

• This method produces electricity directly, without rst

producing mechanical energy, by utilizing the charges
associated with the dissolved ions in the water.

Ocean Salinity Gradient

energy: Basic principles
• A schematic diagram of an electrochemical
cell that can be used for this purpose is
illustrated in Figure.

• Pairs of membranes (1 and 2 in the gure)

separate the negative (Cl-) and positive (Na+)
ions, respectively, in a salt solution.
Freshwater and saltwater are circulated
through the device. Cl- ions di use in one
direction (from the saltwater to the
freshwater), and this ow of charged ions
gives rise to a current in an external circuit
as shown. To increase the voltage produced,
several RED cells can be connected in
series, or the cell can have several layers of
alternating salt and freshwater channels.

Applications of Ocean
Salinity Gradient energy
• The utilization of salinity gradient energy, sometimes
referred to as osmotic energy, is possible at locations
where both saltwater and freshwater are available in large
quantities and in close proximity.

• This situation occurs most commonly at the out ow of

rivers into the ocean, where an estimated 1 MWe per m3/s
of river ow is available (assuming a typical 40%
conversion e ciency). The world potential for viable
power from salinity gradients at river out ows is
estimated at about 150 GWe.
fl
ffi
fl
ff
fi
ff
fl
 Applications of Ocean
Salinity Gradient energy

• About half of this capacity is from the world’s 50 largest

rivers. Inland salt lakes are also a resource that could be
utilized.

• These are highly saline and have a large osmotic pressure

relative to freshwater.

• For example, the Dead Sea has a salinity that

corresponds to a head of over 5000 m.

Applications of Ocean
Salinity Gradient energy
• Although it is in the early stages of development, salinity
gradient research is active in several places.

• The Netherlands has a research program to investigate

electricity generation by RED.

• Freshwater that collects behind dykes is normally

pumped to the sea, and this proximity of freshwater and
saltwater (rather than at river out ows) makes salinity
gradient power of interest.

Applications of Ocean
Salinity Gradient energy
• In Russia, a prototype RED plant at Vladivostok has been
operational for several years.

• Norway has the capacity for about 3 GWe of salinity gradient

power from rivers owing into the ocean and has the most
advanced program to utilize this resource. Since 2009, a
fully functional PRO facility has been operating outside of
Oslo, Norway.

• Until fairly recently, the cost of osmotic membranes has

been prohibitive. These membranes have a nite lifetime and
must be replaced. Recent developments in membrane
production have done much to alleviate this problem.
fl
fl
 Applications of Ocean
Salinity Gradient energy
• Generally, power produced from salinity gradients is
environmentally friendly.

• However, there are some environmental concerns. The

mixing of saltwater and freshwater produces brackish water.

• This happens naturally at the out ow of rivers, but if this

process is altered by the utilization of salinity gradient power,
then the environmental consequences of these changes
must be considered.

• In PRO methods, the membranes tend to get clogged with

impurities and particulate matter from the water.

Applications of Ocean
Salinity Gradient energy
• To optimize the lifetime of these membranes and to make
salinity gradient power as economical as possible, the
membranes must be cleaned.

• The chemicals used to clean membranes are potentially

toxic and can have environmental consequences.

• Polyethylene (the material commonly used for plastic

grocery bags and the standard material used for
membranes) is derived from petroleum and is a by-
product of the oil re ning process.

Applications of Ocean
Salinity Gradient energy
• Thus, at present, salinity gradient energy seems to be
dependent on the existence of fossil fuels, and the
disposal of used polyethylene will contribute (although in
a small way) to the production of greenhouse gases.

• On the positive side, both OTEC and salinity gradient

power do not su er from a major drawback that a ects
most other sources of renewable ocean energy.

• That is, variations in time, either periodic, as for tidal

energy, or somewhat less predictable, as for wave energy.
ff
fi
fl