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U.S. Department of Energy
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Preliminary design of a cruising OTEC modular experiment

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6980123
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) uses the temperature difference (..delta..T) between warm surface water and cold deep water in a thermodynamic cycle with ammonia as the working fluid to drive a turbogenerator. This power source is available over vast areas of tropical and subtropical oceans. The Department of Energy development plan for OTEC calls for the acquisition of a modular experiment platform that can produce from 10 to 40 MW/sub e/ (net) power, using near full-scale power module components. A preliminary design of this platform has been completed and is available for use by Government and industry. The paper describes the systems design of the OTEC platform, which integrates all of the requirements of seawater delivery, heat exchangers, power system components, and shipboard outfitting and furnishing. The cold water pipe is the most difficult technical problem to be solved, and the analysis, design and deployment studies are discussed.
Research Organization:
Johns Hopkins Univ., Laurel, MD (USA). Applied Physics Lab.
DOE Contract Number:
AI01-77ET20342
OSTI ID:
6980123
Report Number(s):
CONF-790803-67; ON: DE84009396
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English