Salinity driven oceanographic upwelling
The salinity driven oceanographic upwelling is maintained in a mariculture device that includes a long main duct in the general shape of a cylinder having perforated cover plates at each end. The mariculture device is suspended vertically in the ocean such that one end of the main duct is in surface water and the other end in relatively deep water that is cold, nutrient rich and relatively fresh in comparison to the surface water which is relatively warm, relatively nutrient deficient and relatively saline. A plurality of elongated flow segregating tubes are disposed in the main duct and extend from the upper cover plate beyond the lower cover plate into a lower manifold plate. The lower manifold plate is spaced from the lower cover plate to define a deep water fluid flow path to the interior space of the main duct. Spacer tubes extend from the upper cover plate and communicate with the interior space of the main duct. The spacer tubes are received in an upper manifold plate spaced from the upper cover plate to define a surface water fluid flow path into the flow segregating tubes. A surface water-deep water counterflow is thus established with deep water flowing upwardly through the main duct interior for discharge beyond the upper manifold plate while surface water flows downwardly through the flow segregating tubes for discharge below the lower manifold plate. During such counterflow heat is transferred from the downflowing warm water to the upflowing cold water. The flow is maintained by the difference in density between the deep water and the surface water due to their differences in salinity. The upwelling of nutrient rich deep water is used for marifarming by fertilizing the nutrient deficient surface water. 1 fig.
- Research Organization:
- Solar Energy Research Inst. (SERI), Golden, CO (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-83CH10093
- Assignee:
- Dept. of Energy
- Application Number:
- ON: DE85011664
- OSTI ID:
- 5708178
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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