ALTERNATIVE ENERGY - OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY – THE FACTS –
A process called Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) uses the heat energy stored in the Earth’s oceans to generate electricity.
OTEC works best when the temperature difference between the warmer, top layer of the ocean and the colder, deep ocean water is about 20°C (36°F). These conditions exist in tropical coastal areas, roughly between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. To bring the cold water to the surface, OTEC plants require an expensive, large diameter intake pipe, which is submerged a mile or more into the ocean’s depths.
Oceans cover more than 70% of Earth’s surface, making them the world’s largest solar collectors. The sun’s heat warms the surface water a lot more than the deep ocean water, and this temperature difference creates thermal energy.
Ocean thermal energy can be used for many applications, including electricity generation and energy experts believe that if it could become cost-competitive with conventional power technologies, OTEC could produce billions of watts of electrical power.
ADVANTAGES:
• Ocean thermal is also relatively clean and will not produce more pollutants that contribute to global warming.
• Helps produce fuels such as hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol
• Produces base load electrical energy
• Produces desalinated water for industrial, agricultural, and residential uses
• Is a resource for on-shore and near-shore mariculture operations
• Has potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions resulting from burning fossil fuels.
DISADVANTAGES:
• OTEC plants can alter and maybe damage the surrounding ecosystem
• Pollution can be caused by closed cycle OTEC if intermediate chemicals leak into the ocean.
• OTEC power plants require substantial capital investment upfront.
• OTEC researchers believe private sector firms probably will be unwilling to make the enormous initial investment required to build large-scale plants.
• There are only a few hundred land-based sites in the tropics where deep-ocean water is close enough to shore to make OTEC plants feasible.
MAIN COMPONENTS of an OCEAN THERMAL SYSTEM
• Axial flow turbines with vertical rotatable shaft
• Annular steam inlet structure - through which motive steam is supplied to said turbine blades
• Steam outlet structure through which motive steam is exhausted after expansion through said blades
• Flash evaporator – which is disposed about the turbine’s shaft
• Annular condenser – which is disposed axially adjacent to the
• Outer tube sheets
• Generator – which is driven by the turbine for producing electrical energy
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