OTEC platform configuration and integration study. Volume I. Systems engineering and integration. Final report

Technical Report · Sat Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6534820· OSTI ID:6534820

The economic success of an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) system is highly dependent on a platform which provides adequate support for the power system, accommodates reliably the cold water pipe, and is most cost effective. The results of a study conducted for the Department of Energy to assess six generic types of platforms to determine the most satisfactory platform for severl potential sites are presented. The six platform configurations are ship, circular barge, semi-submersible, Tuned Sphere, submersible, and spar. These represent directional and symmetric types of platforms which operate on the surface, at the interface, and submerged. The five sites for this study were primarily New Orleans, Keahole Point (Hawaii), Brazil, and secondarily Key West and Puerto Rico. Electrical transmission of energy by submarine cable is the planned form of energy transmission for all sites except Brazil, where chemical conversion is to be the method of transmission. This study is devoted to the platform (or ocean systems) of the OTEC plant which is chiefly comprised of the hull and structure, the seawater system, the position control system, and miscellaneous support/assembly systems. The principal elements in the work breakdown structure for the commercial plants are presented. The assessment of the six platform configurations was conducted utilizing a baseline plan (100-MW(e) (Net)) and site (New Orleans) with variations from the baseline to cover the range of interested platforms and sites.

• Research Organization: Ocean Systems, Inc., Reston, VA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 6534820
• Report Number(s): DOE/ET/4063-1(Vol.1); LMSC-D-623756(Vol.1)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140800* -- Solar Energy-- Ocean Energy Systems
42 ENGINEERING
423000 -- Engineering-- Marine Engineering-- (1980-)
ATLANTIC OCEAN
BRAZIL
CARIBBEAN SEA
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONVERSION
CURRENTS
DESIGN
ENERGY CONVERSION
FLORIDA
GULF OF MEXICO
GULF STREAM
HAWAII
LATIN AMERICA
LOUISIANA
NORTH AMERICA
OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION
OCEAN THERMAL POWER PLANTS
OFFSHORE PLATFORMS
POSITIONING
POWER PLANTS
PUERTO RICO
SEAS
SHIPS
SITE SELECTION
SOLAR ENERGY CONVERSION
SOLAR POWER PLANTS
SOUTH AMERICA
SOUTHEAST REGION
SOUTHWEST REGION
SUBMARINES
SURFACE WATERS
USA
WATER CURRENTS
WEST INDIES
WESTERN REGION