Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) uses the temperature difference of the ocean at various depths to create a heat engine, converting thermal energy into mechanical output. The first energy conversion ocean thermal plant was built in Cuba in 1930. There are three types of OTEC systems: closed, open, and hybrid. Closed-loop systems use a low boiling point liquid to drive a turbine, open-cycle systems use warm ocean water to create steam, and hybrid systems combine the first two methods.
Ocean thermal energy conversion, sometimes referred to as OTEC, is a form of renewable energy that uses the temperature difference of the ocean at various depths and converts it into a heat engine. The heat engine converts this thermal energy into mechanical output. Types of ocean thermal energy conversion systems include closed, open, and hybrid.
French physicist Jacques Arsene d’Arsonval was the first person to consider taking heat energy from ocean water in 1881. Only 49 years later Georges Claude, a student of d’Arsonval, built the first energy conversion ocean thermal plant in Cuba. His plant was capable of producing 22 kilowatts of electricity, but time destroyed the plant before it could become a generator of net current, meaning it could produce more energy than that needed to operate the system. The United States didn’t adopt this new renewable energy method until 1974, when the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority was created.
There are currently three types of ocean thermal energy conversion systems: closed, open and hybrid. The closed-loop system uses a liquid that has a very low boiling point to drive a turbine to create electricity. This is accomplished by sending warm water to the ocean surface through a heat exchanger where the fluid is vaporized. As the steam expands, it moves the generator. Cold ocean water, drawn in at a much deeper depth, is sent through a different heat exchanger, which then reduces the vapor to liquid form.
An open-cycle system uses ocean water that is closest to the equator, as it is typically the warmest. Warm ocean water that is placed inside a low pressure container will begin to boil. As the steam expands and leaves the low-pressure container, the salt remains. The steam powers a low-pressure engine connected to a device that creates electricity. It is returned to liquid form by exposing it to cold temperatures created by ocean water from a shallower depth.
The hybrid system combines the components of the first two methods. Warm ocean water is pulled into a container where it is turned into steam. The steam then turns a low-boiling liquid into steam, which powers a turbine to create electricity.
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