Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC),

 Principles of utilization,
 Setting of OTEC Plants,
 Thermodynamic cycles.
OTEC – Introduction
 The ocean can produce two types of energy
 Thermal energy from the sun's heat,
 Mechanical energy from the tides and waves.
 Oceans cover more than 70% of Earth's surface,
 Ocean is the world's largest solar collector.
 Principle:
The temperature gradient can be utilized in a heat engine to
generate power, this is called ocean thermal electric
conversion(OTEC)
 OTEC Power Plant or Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion is an
energy technology, which uses the ocean’s natural temperature
gradient to drive a turbine, which is connected to a generator.
 The temperature difference between the warm surface water and
the cold deep water in the sea should be at least 20°C (68°F).
Basic principle
 OTEC Power Plant systems rely on the basic relationship between the
pressure (P), temperature (T), and volume (V) of a fluid, which can be
expressed by the following equation:

 Where pressure, temperature, and the volume of a fluid can be closely

controlled by manipulating the other two variables.
 Hence the differential in temperature of the fluid can be used to
create an increase in pressure in another. The increase in pressure is
utilized to generate mechanical work.
 Most of the sun’s radiation is absorbed by seawater. Thus warm water
on the ocean’s surface flows from the tropics towards the poles.
 Cold water circulates at the ocean bottom from the poles to the
tropics.
 Hence, in the tropical regions the water temperature is around 5°C at
a depth of 1000 m, whereas at the surface, it remains almost constant
at 25°C.
 Thus, we can employ a Closed Rankine cycle (or) Thermodynamic cycle to generate
power between these two steady temperatures. Such plants are called Ocean Thermal
Energy Conversion Plants (OTEC).
 These systems would be located offshore on large floating platforms or inside floating
bulls.
 The warm surface water is used for supplying the heat input in the boiler, while the cold
water brought up from the ocean depths is used for extracting the heat in the condenser.

 OTEC Power Plant works on a closed cycle

Rankine cycle and uses lower boiling point
working fluid like propane, ammonia, R-12, etc.,
 This system can be located onshore i.e. on large
floating platforms. To supply heat input to the
boiler, warm surface water is used and for
extracting heat in the condenser, cold water is
brought up from depths of the ocean.
 The efficiency of the Rankine cycle will be low
due to the small temperature difference between
hot and cold streams. This system allows only a
small temperature drop of 4 to 5°C across the
boiler and condenser.
 The OTEC system is attractive because both the
collection and storage of energy are done
automatically by nature.
 Types of OTEC Power Plant:
 There are three types of OTEC systems developed that can utilize
seawater temperature differentials.
 Closed cycle (or) Anderson cycle
 Open cycle (or) Claude cycle
 Hybrid cycle
Closed-cycle OTEC System:
 The closed-cycle system uses a working fluid,
like ammonia, pumped around a closed loop,
which has three components: a pump, turbine,
and heat exchangers (evaporator and
condenser).
 Warm seawater passing through the evaporator
converts the ammonia liquid (4) into high-
pressure ammonia vapour at (5).
 The high-pressure vapour at (1) is then fed into
an expander where it passes through and
rotates a turbine connected to a generator.
Low-pressure ammonia vapour leaving the
turbine (2) is passed through a condenser,
where the cold seawater cools the ammonia,
returning the ammonia back into a liquid (3).
Closed-cycle OTEC ammonia System
Open-Cycle OTEC system:
 The open-cycle system is generally similar to the closed-cycle system and
uses the same basic components. The open-cycle system uses the warm
seawater as the working fluid.
 The warm seawater passing through the evaporator (2) is converted into
steam (3), which drives the turbine/generator.
 After leaving the turbine (5), the steam is cooled by the cold seawater to
form desalinated water. The desalinated water is pure fresh water for
domestic and commercial use.
Hybrid OTEC System:
 The hybrid system uses parts of both open-cycle and closed-cycle
systems to produce electricity and desalinated water.
 In this arrangement, electricity is generated in the closed-cycle
system, and the warm and cold seawater discharges are passed
through the flash evaporator and condenser of the open-cycle system
to produce fresh water.
Advantages of OTEC Power Plant:
 It is a clean form of energy conversion.
 It does not occupy land areas.
 No payment for the energy required.
 It can be a steady source of energy since the temperature is almost
steady.
Disadvantages:
 About 30% of the power produced will be used to pump water.
 The system should to withstand the strong harmful effects of seawater.
(hurricane, debris, fishes)
 The material used should withstand a corrosive atmosphere.
 Very high investment is required.
 Plant size is limited to 100 MW due to the large size of components.