De La Salle University

Gokongwei College of Engineering

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion - Closed Loop

In Partial Fulfillment of
the Course Requirements in
Power Plant Engineering (POPLADE)
2nd Term, AY 2018-2019

Submitted by:

Submitted to:
Dr. Archie Maglaya

April 8, 2019
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction 2

II. Closed Cycle OTEC 3

III. Functions of OTEC

A. Aquaculture 5

B. Hydrogen Extraction 5

C. Chilled Soil Agriculture 6

D. Air-conditioning 7

IV. Environmental Impacts 8

V. Common problems encountered

A. Microbial Fouling 10

B. Parasitic Power Consumption 11

C. Sealing 12

VI. References 13
 I. Introduction

Simply put, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a process where we utilize the

heat coming from the ocean to generate electricity. However, the OTEC system does not rely on

the same system that is present in other renewable sources. As explained by the US Department

of Energy (2018), OTEC is done when the heat coming from the sun and the warm water, around

25°C or greater, would be pumped through an evaporator in order to vaporize the used working

fluid inside then passed to the turbine to generate electricity. The working fluid is then cooled

into its liquid state as it passes through the condenser. Wherein cool water pumped from the

deeper part of the ocean is used to exchange heat. It is said that the idea came from a french

physicist name ​Jacques Arsene d'Arsonval. Together with his student, Georges Claude, the first

Ocean Thermal Plant was built is in Matanzas, Cuba in 1930. Operating at around 22 kW with a

low-pressure turbine until it was destroyed by a storm. The technology flourished when an

OTEC plant was built in Nauru, Japan. This was the where the plant could produce 120 kW of

electricity with an ideal efficiency of 10%. This OTEC plant was the first of its kind to actually

supply electricity on the live grid. The plant became operational in October 198 .

OTEC plants are predicted to be likely more provident in tropical countries as the

temperature difference between near surface water and cold deep water would be greater. As it

would provide the base load supply in power generation which is way more reliable from other

renewable sources that rely on ocean for power production. Even though the system is reliable to

produce continuously the required minimum output, the technology itself is considered relatively
new. Due to the small temperature difference from the warm seawater from the cold seawater,

the theoretical efficiency of the plant would average around 6-7%.

There are numerous OTEC plants that are currently in use. One of the most recent OTEC

plants is the Makai OTEC. The plant itself is located in the ocean energy research center in

Kailau-Kona, Hawaii. The plant's capacity is around 100 kW annually. This OTEC plant is

proclaimed to be the largest facility that is operating to power around 120 households in Hawaii.

However, further research is also being conducted to further improve the energy production from

the plant. According to Power Technology (2018), the data collected within the OTEC plant will

be used to promote research on developing future plants that could power around

II. Closed Cycle OTEC

Closed-cycle systems use fluid with a low boiling point, such as ammonia (having a

boiling point around -33 °C at atmospheric pressure), to power a turbine to generate electricity.

Warm surface seawater is pumped through a heat exchanger to vaporize the fluid. The expanding

vapor turns the turbo-generator. Cold water, pumped through a second heat exchanger,

condenses the vapor into a liquid, which is then recycled through the system.

In 1979, the Natural Energy Laboratory and several private-sector partners developed the

"mini OTEC" experiment, which achieved the first successful at-sea production of net electrical

power from closed-cycle OTEC. The mini OTEC vessel was moored 1.5 miles (2.4 km) off the

Hawaiian coast and produced enough net electricity to illuminate the ship's light bulbs and run its

computers and television.

 Here's a summary of the key steps in a closed OTEC cycle

1. Ammonia (or another low-boiling,

heat-transport fluid) flows around a

closed loop at the heart of the system.

That's the white square in the center of

this illustration.

2. Hot water enters a completely separate

pipe near the surface of the ocean and

is piped toward the central loop

containing the ammonia.

3. The hot water and the ammonia flow past one another in a heat exchanger, so the hot

water gives up some of its energy to the ammonia, making it boil and vaporize.

4. The vaporized ammonia flows through a turbine, making it spin.

5. The turbine spins a generator, converting the energy to electricity.

6. The electricity is carried ashore by a cable.

7. Having left the turbine, the ammonia has given up much of its energy, but needs to be

cooled fully for reuse. If the ammonia weren't cooled in this way, it wouldn't be able to

pick up as much heat next time around.

8. How is the ammonia cooled? In a third pipe, cold water is pumped up from the ocean

depths.

9. The cold water and ammonia meet in a second heat exchanger, which cools the ammonia

back down to its original temperature ready to pass around the cycle again.
 10. The cold water from the ocean depths, now slightly warmed, escapes into the ocean (or it

can be used for refrigeration or air conditioning).

11. The hot water from the ocean surface, slightly cooled, drains back into the upper ocean.

III. Functions of OTEC

A. Aquaculture

As the best known byproduct of OTEC, it helps the plant to reduce costs for both

electricity and finance. This also helps relocate needed nutrients from the deep water to

resurface in the surface water. This "artificial upwelling" mimics the natural upwellings

that are responsible for fertilizing and supporting the world's largest marine ecosystems,

and the largest densities of life on the planet. OTEC aquaculture can also strengthen local

economies of small island developing states (SIDS), by creating job opportunities for

local island residents. As the global population edges towards nine billion by 2050, the

opportunity for jobs in the aquaculture industry will continue to grow. This economic

impact doesn’t stop with island communities. Aquaculture can also extend to ‘upstream’

industries including agriculture, hatcheries, feed manufacturers, equipment

manufacturers, and veterinary services. ‘Downstream’ industries such as processors,

wholesalers, retailers, transportation, and food services are also supported by the

aquaculture industry.

B. Hydrogen Extraction

Conversion of power produced from an OTEC system into hydrogen energy

through electrolysis process, could be the most suitable approach to commercial

realization of the hydrogen economy using only renewable energy sources. Hydrogen,

which possesses attractive characteristics such as being environmentally clean, storable,

transportable and inexhaustible, can play a key role in fulfilling part of the global energy

demand. Hydrogen production through electrolysis process, where water splits into

hydrogen and oxygen under certain temperature and pressure, is considered to be minor

in comparison to natural gas steam reformation. Nevertheless, many firms have been

intensively involved in the development of high efficiency, high security electrolysers

such as alkaline and polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolysers. For instance,

researchers from the Japanese international clean energy network using hydrogen

conversion (WE-NET) have been actively involved in the development of large-scale

hydrogen production technologies. They carried out extensive works on a solid high PEM

water electrolysis method, which offers higher efficiency and lower cost than

conventional methods of hydrogen production. Furthermore, they demonstrated the

superiority of PEM electrolysers over alkaline electrolysers with respect to cost of

hydrogen produced, operating temperatures and pressures, and membrane thickness.

C. Chilled Soil Agriculture

OTEC technology also supports chilled-soil agriculture. When cold seawater

flows through underground pipes, it chills the surrounding soil. The temperature

difference between plant roots in the cool soil and plant leaves in the warm air allows

many plants that evolved in temperate climates to be grown in the subtropics.

 D. Air-conditioning

The 41 °F (5 °C) cold seawater made available by an OTEC system creates an

opportunity to provide large amounts of cooling to industries and homes near the plant.

For large buildings and hotels, particularly in tropical climates, air conditioning (AC)

creates the biggest single demand for energy. According to research by the University of

Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO), conventional AC being used in

Hawaiian hotels makes up an averagell of 42% of the hotels’ energy consumption.

Moreover, companies regularly have expenses associated with replacing leaked coolants

and safely containing and recycling them.

AC’s environmental footprint isn’t light either. According to Emerson Climate

Technologies, energy consumed from refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps is

responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions. In comparison, Seawater Air

Conditioning has been proven to deliver huge energy savings (up to 90%), potentially

saving hundreds of millions of dollars in electricity costs over the lifespan of large

SWAC systems in global regions with high electricity prices. In addition to the lengthy

successful record of the Hawaii SWAC system at NELHA, there are numerous other

success stories for SWAC. Among them are Google’s data center in Finland, where the

SWAC system uses cold water from the Baltic Sea to cool Google’s critical servers, and

the InterContinental Hotel at French Polynesia Bora Bora, efficiently air-conditioned

with an SWAC system using cold water from the Pacific Ocean.
IV. Environmental Impacts

As mentioned, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion is a heat engine system with a heat

source and a heat sink. Based on recent findings and studies, OTEC-based plants are

advantageous for it does not involve burning fossil fuel. In the Philippines, burning of coal and

other natural gas are the top source of fuel for plants, which greatly contribute to air and water

pollution as well as waste production. OTEC mainly uses the temperature difference between the

hot surface of the ocean and the cooler. Specifically, in closed-loop OTEC, there is a long

Ammonia-filled pipeline utilized to produce very low boiling point. The ammonia acts as the

working fluid which is responsible for the circulation of heat cycle.

OTEC systems directly contribute in mitigating climate change by providing a

completely renewable energy source without emitting greenhouse gasses. Thus, the

environmental impacts are expected to be minimal compared to nuclear power plant or fossil fuel

- generated plants. Still, OTEC facilities have the potential for causing environmental changes.

Numerous documentations have addressed the environmental effects of a closed-loop OTEC

system. Plants under this system requires very large volume of water for the flow. About 5 cubic

meters per second of both warm surface water and cold deep water is required for each megawatt

of net power generated in closed loop OTEC, having a total flow of 10 cubic meters per second.

The used water will then have to be returned to the ocean. The combination of large difference in

temperature with the amount of water used will cause large-scale redistribution of ocean water

and its properties - physical, chemical and biological. These changes in properties of ocean

impose a risk and may cause environmental damage affecting nearby organisms. Marine life is

sensitive to this type of alterations, involving level of fluctuation in temperature and salinity of
their environment. Relatively huge changes can directly kill those organisms who are greatly

exposed in the area. Small changes could still pose a threat, less obvious yet, still impactful to

metabolic and physiological processes.

Although OTEC is known for chemical-free production, one overlooked impact of it is

the release of Carbon Dioxide from pumping cold water from the deep surfaces of the ocean.

Deep ocean is a major sink for carbon dioxide. It is a greenhouse gas most responsible for global

warming. The atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is continuously increasing because of

combustion of fossil fuels. Calculations on the upper bound on the possible release of carbon

dioxide from a closed cycle OTEC indicated that only a fraction, about 10%, of the amount

released is as much as that produced by a normal coal-fired power plant.

OTEC plants may come out as beneficial system capable of producing minimal

environmental impacts. However, the continuous underdevelopment in OTEC strategies together

with decreasing inefficiency would result to only short term contribution in mitigating

environmental impacts. The problem with OTEC is that it uses relatively small temperature

difference between their fluids making it the lowest efficiency type of plant. Because of that, the

processes and facilities involved are required to work hard in pumping huge amount of water just

to produce sufficient amount of electricity. In result, significant amount of electricity is used for

the system as well as large-volume of water involvement in the process. As discussed,

large-scale plants have considerable environmental impact threatening the ecosystem.

 V. Common problems encountered

A. Microbial Fouling

Membrane fouling is portrayed as a rule as a way to decrease of permeate flux through

the membrane, because of expanded flow resistance because of pore blocking, concentration

polarization, and cake formation. The impact of every one of these fouling components on flux

decline relies upon elements, for example, membrane pore size, solute loading and measuring,

membrane material and working conditions, and so on. While the quick impact of fouling is to

cause a decrease in permeate flux, the long-term effect may prompt irreversible fouling from

microbial activity on the layer material and the decrease of membrane lifetime. To keep up the

financial practicality of a membrane process, membrane fouling must be kept to a minimum.

Scientists have contrived different procedures to diminish membrane fouling and to improve

membrane cleaning effectiveness for flux recovery. These techniques incorporate improvement

of new film materials, new plan of layer module, alteration of feed stream example, and fuse of

in situ or ex situ cleaning routines in the layer unit. Some of the time, a mix of the different

systems might be utilized in a similar procedure.

B. Parasitic Power Consumption

Parasitic load (also referred to as the in-house load) can therefore simply be described as

the load consumed by the different categories of the power station’s processes, systems and

subsystems that are required to keep the power plant running. In CSP power stations, this

includes power usage by the main users like the Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) pumps, and basic

users like computers and lights etc. It has been determined that the total parasitic load

consumption of a Solar Tower Power plant is roughly 10% of the gross annual electricity (Jain,
2013), and it is also indicated that the Solar Collectors Assembly (SCA) tracking systems are

also important parasitic load consumers in Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plants

C. Sealing

The evaporator, turbine, and condenser work in halfway vacuum extending from 3% to

1% of barometrical weight. The framework must be painstakingly fixed to anticipate in-spillage

of atmospherically air that can debase or close down operations. In closed-cycle OTEC, the

particular volume of low-pressure steam is substantial contrasted with that of the pressurized

working fluid. Parts must have expansive steam velocities to guarantee steam speeds don't get

too much high values.

VI. References

Byrne, J. (1982). ​Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Environmental Effects Assessment

Program

Plan 1981-1985.​ Retrieved April 6, 2019 from

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CZIC-td195-e4-u55-1982/html/CZIC-td195-e4-u5

5-1982.htm

Lim, R. A. (2003, April 08). Membrane fouling and cleaning in microfiltration of activated

sludge wastewater. Retrieved April 7, 2019, from

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376738803000838

Ramorakane, R. (2015, November). Evaluation of Parasitic Load Consumption for a

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Plant. Retrieved April 7, 2019, from

https://www.crses.sun.ac.za/files/research/completed-research/eppei/RJRamorakane.pdf

Woodford, C. (2018). ​OTEC - Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion.​ Retrieved April 6, 2019 from

https://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-otec-works.html

Bruch, V. (1994). An Assessment of Research and Development Leadership in Ocean Energy

Technologies. Energy Policy and Planning Department.

Feakins, J. (2014). Ocean Thermal Energy’s Seawater Air Conditioning (SWAC) Creates Clean,

Efficient and Environmental Friendly Cooling. From Ocean Thermal Energy

Corporation:

http://otecorporation.com/2014/04/17/ocean-thermal-energys-seawater-air-conditioning/

Kazim, A. (2005). Hydrogen production through an ocean thermal energy. Applied Thermal
 Engineering. doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2005.01.003

Power Technology. (2016). Makai’s Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Power Plant,

Hawaii. From Power Technology:

https://www.power-technology.com/projects/makais-ocean-thermal-energy-conversion-ot

ec-power-plant-hawaii/

Websdale, E. (2014). The promise of OTEC Aquaculture. From Ocean Thermal Energy

Corporation: http://otecorporation.com/2014/02/24/otec-aquaculture/

Woodford, C. (2018). OTEC (ocean thermal energy conversion). From Explain that stuff:

https://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-otec-works.html

WordPress. (2009). Closed Cycle Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). From Renewable

Energy Sources:

https://newenergyportal.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/closed-cycle-ocean-thermal-energy-c

onversion-otec/