15-11-2012, 11:31 AM
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion
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What is OTEC?
OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) systems use the ocean's natural thermal gradient
—the fact that the ocean's
layers of water have different
temperatures —to drive a
power-producing cycle.
OTEC in INDIA
The India OTEC program started in 1980 to install a 20 MW plant off the Tami Nadu coast and in 1982, an OTEC cell was formed in India Institute of Technology (NIOT).
A preliminary design was also completed in 1984 for a 1 MW closed Rankine cycle floating plant with ammonia as working fluid. In 1997, Government of India proposed to establish a 1 MW gross OTEC plant.
To develop this project, India researchers have been exploring the participation of international expertise for a joint research and development.
Based on the temperature and bathymetric profiles, the optimization of the closed loop system was done with the help of Saga University in 1998.
Advantages:
Potential to produce massive amounts of electrical energy .
Produces desalinated water for industrial, agricultural, and residential uses
Provides air-conditioning for buildings.
Produces no liquid or solid pollution .
Has significant potential to provide clean, cost-effective electricity for the future.
Disadvantages:
OTEC plants are extremely expensive.
Its initial cost is very high.
Its efficiency is very low (up to 8% to 10%).
Limited geographic availability.
Electricity must also be transported to land.
Conclusion:
Though OTEC is clean and has great potential, we have to make it more efficient and cheap also.
Ocean has many other energy sources so we have to utilize them along with OTEC.
We need to consider the feedback, positive and negative, of use of ocean energy because our world is under the global warming.