Como trabaja el otec:

Carnot Efficiency : In transferring heat to do work, the

greater the spread in temperature between the heat
source and the heat sink, the greater the efficiency of the
energy conversion.
As long as the temperature between the warm surface
water and the cold deep water differs by about 20C
(36F), an OTEC system can produce a significant
amount of power with a maximum Carnot Efficiency of
about 6.7%
Hsitoria
In 1881 jackes arsene a french physicist has proposed
tapping thermal energy from ocean. His idea called for a
closed-cycle system, a design that has been adapted for
most present-day OTEC pilot plants. Such a system
employs a secondary working fluid (a refrigerant) such as
ammonia. Heat transferred from the warm surface
ocean water causes the working fluid to vaporize through
a heat exchanger. The vapour then expands under
moderate pressures, turning a turbineconnected to a
generator and thereby producing electricity.
Cold seawater pumped up from the ocean depths to a
second heat exchanger provides a surface cool enough
to cause the vapour to condense. The working fluid
remains within the closed system, vaporizing and
reliquefying continuously.

 In the year 1930 his student named George Claude

built otec plant in Matanzas, Cuba which generated
22kw of power.
1993: An open-cycle OTEC plant at Keahole Point,
Hawaii, produced 50,000 watts of electricity during a
net power-producing experiment.
This broke the record of 40,000 watts set by a
Japanese system in 1982.
Today, scientists are developing new, cost-effective,
state-of-the-art turbines for open-cycle OTEC systems,
experimenting with anti corroding Titanium and plastics
as rotor material.
The new designs for OTEC are still mostly
experimental. Only small-scale versions have been
made. The largest so far is near Japan, and it can
create 100 kilowatts of electricity.
Open cicle:
Open-cycle OTEC uses the tropical oceans' warm
surface water to make electricity. When warm
seawater is placed in a low-pressure container, it boils.
The expanding steam drives a low-pressure turbine
attached to an electrical generator. The steam, which
has left its salt behind in the low-pressure container, is
almost pure fresh water. It is condensed back into a
liquid by exposure to cold temperatures from deepocean water.
Closed-cycle systems use fluid with a low-boiling
point, such as ammonia, to rotate a turbine to generate
electricity. Here's how it works. Warm surface
seawater is pumped through a heat exchanger where
the low-boiling-point fluid is vaporized. The expanding
vapor turns the turbo-generator. Then, cold, deep
seawaterpumped through a second heat exchanger
condenses the vapor back into a liquid, which is
then recycled through the system.

 Hybrid sistem
Hybrid systems combine the features of both the closedcycle and open-cycle systems. In a hybrid system, warm
seawater enters a vacuum chamber where it is flashevaporated into steam, similar to the open-cycle
evaporation process. The steam vaporizes a low-boilingpoint fluid (in a closed-cycle loop) that drives a turbine to
produces electricity.
Advantages:
Low Environmental Impact
The distinctive feature of OTEC energy systems is that the
end products include not only energy in the form of
electricity, but several other synergistic products.
Fresh Water
The condensate of the open and hybrid cycle OTEC
systems is desalinated water, suitable for human
consumption and agricultural uses. Analyses have
suggested that Rrst-generation OTEC plants, in the
1-10MW range, would serve the utility power
needs of rural PaciRc island communities, with the
desalinated water by-product helping to offset the
high cost of electricity produced by the system.
A small 1 MW OTEC is capable of producing some 4,500
cubic meters of fresh water per day, enough to supply a
population of 20,000 with fresh water.
Food
A further by-product is nutrient rich cold water from the deep
ocean. The cold "waste" water from the OTEC is utilised in
two ways. Primarily the cold water is discharged into large
contained ponds, near shore or on land, where the water
can be used for multi-species mariculture (shellfish and
shrimp) producing harvest yields which far surpass naturally
occurring cold water upwelling zones, just like agriculture on
land.

 Refrigeration and Air Conditioning

The cold, deep sea water can be used to maintain
cold storage spaces, and to provide air conditioning.
Otec useS CLEAN , RENEWABLE , NATURAL
RESOURSES.
OTEC PLANTS WILL NOT PRODUCE CARBON DIOXIDE
OR OTHER POLLUTINGS CHEMICALS.
Desventajas:
One of the disadvantages of land-based OTEC plants is the
need for a 3 km long cold water
pipe to transport the large volumes of deep seawater
required from a depth of about 1000
m. The cost associated with the cold water pipe represents
75% of the costs of current plant
designs
Another disadvantage of a land-based plant would be the
discharging of the cold and warm
seawater. This may need to be carried out several hundred
metres offshore so as to reach
an appropriate depth before discharging the water to avoid
any up dwelling impact on coastal
fringes (i.e., fish, reef, etc). The arrangement also requires
additional expense in the
construction and maintenance.
PLANT DESIGN AND LOCATION
The location of a commercial OTEC plant has to be in an
environment that is stable enough
for an efficient system operation. The temperature
differential at the site has to be at least
200
C (680
F). Generally the natural ocean thermal gradient necessary
for OTEC operation is

found between latitudes 20 degrees north and 20 degrees

south.
Land-based OTEC plants do not require a sophisticated
mooring system, lengthy power
cables and more extensive maintenance as required with
open ocean environment. In
addition, the land-based sites allow OTEC to be associated
with industries such as
agriculture and those needing cooling and desalinated
water.
The offshore or floating OTEC plant is another option.
There are a number of difficulties
associated with such a facility as it is difficult to stabilise the
platform. The need for lengthy
cables to deliver power and extra transportation to access
the plant are added expenses.
The plant is also more susceptible to damage especially
during storms.
Descubrimiento reciente:
The discovery that dissolved gases exchange more
rapidly from seawater than from fresh water. This
allows for more efficiency and lower costs for opencycle OTEC and for fresh water production from
seawater in a hybrid Kalina Cycle configuration as well
as fresh water production in general.
The development of better heat exchangers and heat
exchanger operation with respect to bio-fouling control
(on the warm water side) and corrosion control.
Futuro;

Records available from experimental plants demonstrate technical viability and

provide invaluable data on the operation of OTEC plants. The economic
evaluation of OTEC plants indicates that their commercial future lies in floating
plants of approximately 100 MW capacity for industrialized nations and smaller
plants for small-island-developing-states
Small OC-OTEC plants can be sized to produce from 1 MW to 10 MW of
electricity, and at least 1700 m 3 to 3500 m3 of desalinated water per day.