“FLOATING PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL’’

A Seminar Submitted To

Shivaji University in partial fulfilment of

the requirements for the award of a degree of
Bachelor of Engineering
in
Mechanical Engineering

Submitted by
NAME: PRABHAKAR BHARAMU PATIL

PRN : 2021076849

SEMESTER : VIII

Department of Mechanical Engineering

SANT GAJANAN MAHARAJ
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

2023- 2024
 SANT GAJANAN MAHARAJ COLLEGE
OF ENGINEERING,MAHAGAON

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the Technical Seminar “Floating Photovoltaic Cell’’ is a Bonafide work
carried out by

Name: Prabhakar .B. Patil

In partial fulfilment for the award of Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering

of the Shivaji University, kolhapur during the year 2023–2024. It is certified that all

corrections/suggestions indicated for internal assessment have been incorporated in the

report deposited in the departmental library. The report has been approved as it satisfies the

academic requirement in respect of seminar report prescribed for the Degree.

Signature of Guide Signature of Coordinator Signature of HOD

(Prof. V. M. Patil) (Prof. S. I. Jabade) (Prof. V. R. Ghatage)

Signature Of Principal
(Dr. S. H. Sawant)

Date :
Place : Mahagaon

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 SANT GAJANAN MAHARAJ COLLEGE OF
ENGINEERING,MAHAGAON
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Declaration
I,

NAME: Prabhakar Patil

PRN: - 2021076849

The student of Eighth semester B.E, at the Department of Mechanical

Engineering, SGMCOE, Mahagaon declare that the Technical Seminar
entitled“Floating Photovoltaic Cell’’ he original work has been carried out by
me and submitted in partial fulfilment of the course requirements for the award
of a degree in Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering of
Shivaji University, Kolhapur during the academic year 2023 -2024.

Place: Mahagaon

Date:
 ABSTRACT
Osmotic power, or salinity gradient power, uses the natural process of osmosis to generate
electricity. Osmosis is a common biological process in which water moves from a dilute to
a concentrated solution, across a semipermeable membrane, to balance the concentrations.
This increases the pressure on one side of the membrane. The use of this pressure to
generate power was proposed in the 1970s, but a better membrane was needed to make it
cost-effective.

Osmotic power, salinity gradient power, or blue energy is the energy available from the
difference in the salt concentrations between two liquid streams. Two main methods can be
used to harvest this renewable energy source: pressure-retarded osmosis and reverse
electrodialysis. Both processes rely on osmosis with ion-specific membranes. The energy
source to be harvested is the salinity gradient between the two liquids, that is, their osmotic
pressure (OP) difference. OP can be defined as the chemical potential of concentrated and
dilute solutions of salt: the effluent with the higher concentration of salt has higher OP.
Since 2009, there is a pilot osmotic power plant operating in Norway driven by the salinity
gradient between the sea and a fiord. The technology chosen was pressure-retarded osmosis
in which seawater is pumped into a pressure chamber. The chamber contains two liquid
streams, separated by a semipermeable membrane.
The pressure of that chamber is lower than the difference between the pressure of the water
streams (seawater and freshwater). As the saltwater pulls fresh water through the membrane,
fresh water moves in the membrane and increases its volume in the chamber. Around 90%
of fresh water is transferred by osmosis across the membrane across the membrane into the
pressurized seawater. Pressure increases even more on the saltwater side and is enough to
power a turbine and generate electricity. The operating pressure for such a system is in the
range of 11–15 bars, which is the equivalent of a water head 100–145 m in a conventional
hydropower plant.

Keywords: Osmotic Power, Salinity gradient power, Osmotic, Electricity, Salt Concentration,
Semipermeable Membrane, Pressure.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Any achievement, be it scholastic or otherwise does not depend solely on the individual
efforts but the guidance, encouragement, and cooperation of intellectuals, elders, and
friends. Several personalities, in their capacities have helped me in carrying out this seminar
work. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all.
I also extend my sense of gratitude and sincere thanks to Dr. K.V.A. Balaji,
CEO, K.S. Group of Institutions Bangalore, for their constant encouragement and
support.
I would like to thank, Dr. Dilip Kumar. K, Principal/Director, K.S. Institute
of Technology, Bangalore for their timely advice on the academics and regular
assistance throughout our semester.
I am greatly indebted to Prof. Umashankar M., Head of Department,
Mechanical Engineering who is been inspiring and has guided me towards
becoming technically more competent, & also for taking the pains to provide us
with the necessary facility.
I am deeply appreciative of the valuable suggestions given me at various
stages during the course of the effects by the coordinator, Dr. Nagaprasad K S,
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, KSIT, Bangalore.
I am grateful for his help in the preparation of this manuscript. I also express our
thanks to the screening committee for their valuable suggestions.
I also extend my sense of gratitude and sincere thanks to all the teachers for their
constant encouragement and support.
Last but not the least I pay my respect and love to my beloved parents
and all other family members and friends for their love and encouragement
towards the completion of work.
 CONTENTS Pg. No

CERTIFICATE I
DECLARATION II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III
ABSTRACT IV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER 2: PRINCIPLE 2
CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE SURVEY 3
CHAPTER 4: METHODS 4
4.1 REVERSE ELECTRO DIALYSIS 4

4.2 PRESSURE RETARDED OSMOSIS 5

CHAPTER 5: THE OSMOTIC POWER CONCEPT

CHAPTER 6: OSMOTIC POWER PROTOTYPE

A) PRE-TREATMENT EQUIPMENTS

B) MEMBRANE MODULES

i) Cellulose Acetate Membrane

ii) TFC Membrane

C) Turbine for Power Generation

D) Pressure Exchangers and booster pumps to provide inlet seawater with

sufficient pressure.

CHAPTER 7: WORKING

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CHAPTER 8: INFLUENCING FACTORS

CHAPTER 9: MERITS & DEMERITS

CHAPTER 10: BACKGROUND

CHAPTER 11: CONCLUSION AND SCOPE

CHGAPTER 12: REFERENCES

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 2021-22

CHAPTER 1.0

INTRODUCTION

Energy consumption is an important aspect in our day-to-day life. The energy consumption
rate is increasing very rapidly every day.If this continues as such then the world will one
day face shortage of energy. So it’s time to look for more sources of energy rather than
non-renewable sources of energy and reduce the rate of consumption of non-renewable
energy. There are many forms of renewable energy sources in the world. The abundant
renewable energies include solar energy, tidal energy, wind energy, Geothermal energy
etc. One of the most recent power generation techniques is osmotic power generation.

Osmotic power or salinity gradient power is the energy available from the difference in the
salt concentration between seawater and river water. Salinity gradient power is a specific
renewable energy alternative that creates renewable and sustainable power by using
naturally occurring processes.

Both processes rely on osmosis with ion-specific membranes. The energy source to be
harvested is the salinity gradient between the two liquids, that is, their osmotic pressure
(OP) difference.

OP can be defined as the chemical potential of concentrated and dilute solutions of salt: the
effluent with the higher concentration of salt has higher OP.

Since 2009, there is a pilot osmotic power plant operating in Norway driven by the salinity
gradient between the sea and a fiord.

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 2021-22

CHAPTER 2.0

PRINCIPLE

The basic principle involved in osmotic power generation is OSMOSIS. Osmosis is the
movement of solvent molecules through a selectively permeable membrane into a region of
higher solute concentration, aiming to equalize the solute concentrations on the two sides. It
may also be used to describe a physical process in which any solvent moves, without input of
energy, across a semi permeable membrane (permeable to the solvent, but not the solute)
separating two solutions of different concentrations. Salinity gradient energy is based on using
the resources of ―osmotic pressure difference between fresh water and sea water. All energy
that is proposed to use salinity gradient technology relies on the evaporation to separate water
from salt. Osmotic pressure is the "chemical potential of concentrated and dilute solutions of
salt". When looking at relations between high osmotic pressure and low, solutions with higher
concentrations of salt have higher pressure.

Fig 1. Osmosis

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 OSMOTIC POWER GENERATION 2021-22

CHAPTER 3. 0

LITERATURE SURVEY

1.
A paper titled Osmotic Power with Pressure retarded Osmosis was published by School of
Engineering, Griffith University, Australia. The paper was published on 1 November, 2013.
The authors of the published paper are Fernanda Helfer, Charles Lemckert, and Yuri G.
Anissimov.
In this paper, it is concluded that, A great quantity of renewable energy can be potentially
generated when waters of different Salinities are mixed together. The harnessing of this
energy for conversion into power can be accomplished by means of the Pressure retarded
Osmosis (PRO).

2.
A paper titled Recent advances in Osmotic Power Generation via Pressure-Retarded
Osmosis(PRO) was published by School of Environmental Science and Engineering,
Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology(GIST), Korea. This paper was published on
20 october, 2015. The Authors of this published paper are Jihye Kim, Kwanho Jeong and
Myoung Jun Park.
In this context, the recent developments on the PRO process are reviewed in terms of
mathematical models, membrane modules, process designs, numerical works, and fouling
and cleaning.

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CHAPTER 4.0

METHODS

Two practical methods for osmotic power generation are reverse electro dialysis (RED) and
pressure-retarded osmosis. (PRO).

4.1 REVERSE ELECTRO DIALYSYS (RED).

A method being developed and studied is reversed electro dialysis or reverse dialysis, which is
essentially the creation of a salt battery. This method was described by Weinstein and Leitz as
―an array of alternating anion and cation exchange membranes can be used to generate electric
power from the free energy of river and sea water.

The technology related to this type of power is still in its infant stages, even though the principle
was discovered in the 1950s. Standards and a complete understanding of all the ways salinity
gradients can be utilized are important goals to strive for in order make this clean energy source
more viable in the future.

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4.2 Pressure Retarded osmosis (PRO).

 One method to utilize salinity gradient energy is called Pressure-retarded osmosis. In this
method, seawater is pumped into a pressure chamber that is at a pressure lower than the
differences between the pressures of saline water and fresh water.

 Fresh water is also pumped into the pressure chamber through a membrane, which
increases both the volume and pressure of the chamber. As the pressure differences are
compensated, a turbine is spun creating energy.

 This method is being specifically studied by the Norwegian utility Statkraft, which has
calculated that up to 25 TWh/yr would be available from the process in Norway.

 Statkraft has built the world’s first prototype osmotic power plant on the Oslo fiord which
was opened by Her Royal Highness Crown princess Mette-Marit of Norway.

 It aims to produce enough electricity to light and heat a small town within five years by
osmosis.

 At first it will produce a minuscule 4 kilowatts – enough to heat a large electric kettle, but
by 2015 the target is 25 megawatts – the same as a small wind farm.

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CHAPTER 5.0
THE OSMOTIC POWER CONCEPT

Fig 2. Osmotic Power Concept

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 OSMOTIC POWER GENERATION 2021-22

CHAPTER 6.0
OSMOTIC POWER PROTOTYPE

Fig 3 Osmotic Power Prototype

The components of Osmotic Power Prototype are

A) The pre-treatment Equipments

Fig 4a Sea water pre-treatment Fig 4b Fresh water pre-treatment

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 OSMOTIC POWER GENERATION 2021-22

The incoming fresh water and sea water are purified by using these equipments before
being fed into the plant.

B) Membrane Modules: Thin membranes rolled membranes for osmosis

Fig 5 Membrane Modules The

membranes employed are mainly of two types of:

(i) Cellulose acetate membrane

A cellulose acetate membrane was prepared as follows: the casting solution is cast on a glass
plate and immersed in ice-cold water after solvent evaporation. After solidification, the
membrane is annealed between 80° and 95°C. A typical casting solution, according to a GKSS
patent, consists of cellulose diacetate, cellulose triacetate, dioxane, acetone, acetic acid and
methanol. This composition was kept, but due to changing the casting parameters, both in the
lab and in the pilot-scale, the performance was improved. Casting parameters like casting
speed, changes in the temperature of the coagulation bath, and also the changes in the support
material led to improved performance. Starting with a membrane performance of
approximately 0.5 W/m2, this type of membrane was improved to a performance of close to
1.3 W/m2.

(ii) TFC membrane

TFC membranes are made by the interfacial polymerisation of trimesoylchloride and

mphenylene diamine. Starting with a membrane performance of approximately 0.1 W/m2, this
type of membrane was improved to a performance of close to 3.5 W/m2.

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OSMOTIC POWER GENERATION 2021-22

C) Turbine for Power Generation

Fig 6 Turbine

D) Pressure Exchangers and booster pumps to provide inlet seawater with sufficient
pressure

Fig 7 Pressure Exchanger

The PX energy recovery device uses the principle of positive displacement and isobaric
chambers to achieve extremely efficient transfer of energy from a high pressure waste stream
to low pressure incoming feed stream. Virtually no energy is lost in the transfer.

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OSMOTIC POWER GENERATION 2021-22

One particularly efficient type of pressure exchanger is a rotary pressure exchanger. This
device uses a cylindrical rotor with longitudinal ducts parallel to its rotational axis. The rotor
spins inside a sleeve between two end covers. Pressure energy is transferred directly from the
high pressure stream to the low pressure stream in the ducts of the rotor. Some fluid that
remains in the ducts serves as a barrier that inhibits mixing between the streams. This
rotational action is similar to that of an old fashioned machine gun firing high pressure bullets
and it is continuously refilled with new fluid cartridges. The ducts of the rotor charge and
discharge as the pressure transfer process repeats itself.

Fig 8 Schematics of Pressure Exchanger

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 OSMOTIC POWER GENERATION 2021-22

CHAPTER 7.0

WORKING

In the PRO process, water with no or low salt gradient is fed into the plant and filtered before entering
the membrane modules using the pre-treatment equipment. Membrane modules could contain spiral
wounds or hollow fibre membranes. In the module, 80–90% of the water with a low salt gradient is
transferred by osmosis across the membrane into the pressurized salty water. The osmotic process
increases the volumetric flow of high-pressure water and is the key energy transfer in the power
production process. This requires membranes with particularly high-water flux and excellent salt
retention properties.

Fig 9 Osmotic Power Process

The illustration in figure shows salty water pumped from the sea and filtered before it is
pressurised and fed into the membrane module. In the module it is diluted by the water received
from the less salty side of the membrane. The volumetric feed of salty water is about twice that
of the fresh water.

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 OSMOTIC POWER GENERATION 2021-22

The diluted and now brackish water from the membrane module is split in two flows. While 1/3
of the brackish water is fed though the turbine to generate power, 2/3 is returned and energy is
recycled in the pressure exchanger to add pressure to the feed of salty water. Optimal operating
pressures are in the range of 11–15 bars, equivalent to a water head of 100–145 metres in a
hydropower plant, enabling the generation of 1 MW per m3 s fresh water. The fresh water feed
operates at ambient pressure.

Pre-treatment of the water will be necessary depending on the water qualities. In Norwegian
water treatment plants, mechanical filtration down to 50 μm, in combination with a standard
cleaning and maintenance cycle has been enough to sustain the membrane performance for 7–
10 years.

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OSMOTIC POWER GENERATION 2021-22

CHAPTER 8.0

INFLUENCING FACTORS

The membrane system is the heart of the osmotic power generation process

Ideal FO membrane system

• High water flux

• Sufficient salt rejection

• Limited fouling

• Scalable for mass production

• To be fit in modules

• Reasonable cheap

The volume of water entering: The more water that enters the system, the more power can
be produced.

Salinity gradient: The higher the gradient between salinity in the fresh- and saltwater, the
more pressure will build up in the system.

Purity of water: It is important that the fresh water and sea water is as clean as possible.
Substances in the water may get captured within the membranes support structure or on the
membrane surfaces, which will reduce the flow through the membrane causing reduction
in power output. This phenomenon, which is called fouling, is linked to the design of the
system, to the characteristics of the membrane, and to the membrane element.

Flow losses: Flow losses should be minimum

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 OSMOTIC POWER GENERATION 2021-22

CHAPTER 9.0

MERITS AND DEMERITS

MERITS

+ Eco Friendly since there is no emission of harmful gases and no disposal of chemicals.

+ Can be built anywhere where freshwater flows to saline water.

+ High potential.

+ Abundant since water is used for power generation.

DEMERITS

- High cost of membrane

- Maintenance cost is higher

- Discharge of brackish water into the marine environment may alter the environment and result
in changes for animals and plants living in the local location

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OSMOTIC POWER GENERATION 2021-22

CHAPTER 10.0

BACKGROUND

o 1964- Hand Wrapped Membrane introduced

o 1970- Sidney Loeb develops membrane technology for the desalination of seawater, and
also discovers the possibility of generating osmotic power.

o 1970s- No membranes suitable for PRO, and hardly for desalination.

o 1980s- During the eighties. Desalination more cost effective due to better membranes and
systems.

o 1997- Statkraft together with SINTEF start a feasibility project on osmotic power in 1997
spurring the development of a new, renewable energy source.

o During the years since 1997 Statkraft together with several international partners have
made great improvement of the osmotic power membrane.

o 2003- In 2003, Statkraft is awarded its first patent for osmotic power membranes and opens
a test facility at Sunndalsora, Norway.

o 2009- In 2009, the world’s first complete osmotic power prototype is constructed at Tofte,
southwest of Oslo, Norway.

o In November 2009, the operation of the prototype starts and for the first time the feasibility
of the osmotic power concept is demonstrated.

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CHAPTER 11.0
CONCLUSION AND SCOPE

Osmotic power plants can be constructed anywhere freshwater flows out into the sea, provided
that the salt concentration is sufficiently high. Unlike solar power and wind power, osmotic power
plants are not affected by fluctuations in the weather and will produce continuous and predictable
electricity. Most river outlets around the world represent a potential location for a plant, even
though some rivers need more cleaning of the water than others.

Enormous potential

The global potential is estimated to be 1,600-1,700 TWh – equivalent to 50% of the EU’s total
annual power generation today. In Norway alone, it would be able to generate 12 TWh per year
–equivalent to around 10% of our total power consumption. Osmotic power can become an
important contributor to the generation of clean, renewable energy.

Environment-friendly energy

Around the world, rivers flow out into the sea in urban and industrial areas where it will be
possible to construct osmotic power plants. A power plant the size of a football stadium could
supply around 30,000 households with electricity. These power plants can be built underground,
e.g., in the basement of an industrial building or under a park, minimizing their visual impact.
Osmotic power plants produce renewable energy with no polluting discharges to the atmosphere
or water. In the coming years use of renewable energies and thus conserving energy has to be
promoted hugely. Osmotic power generation is indeed a promising technique with immense
potential worldwide.

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CHAPTER 12.0

REFERENCES

1. Osmotic power — power production based on the osmotic pressure difference between
waters with varying salt gradients Stein Erik Skilhagen*, Jon E. Dugstad, Rolf Jarle Aaberg
Statkraft Development AS, Lilleakerveien 6, No−0216 Oslo, Norway

2. Membrane processes in energy supply for an osmotic power plant Karen Gerstandta, K.−V.
Peinemanna*, Stein Erik Skilhagenb, Thor Thorsenc, Torleif Holtc

3. www.statkraft.com

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