Alternative Energy from the Ocean
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) was conceived of by
the French engineer Jacques D'Arsonval in 1881. However, at the
time of this writing the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii is
home to the only operating experimental OTEC plant on the face
of the earth. OTEC is a potential alternative energy source
that needs to be funded and explored much more than it
presently is. The great hurdle to get over with OTEC
implementation on a wide and practically useful level is cost.
It is difficult to get the costs down to a reasonable level
because of the processes presently utilized to drive OTEC.
Ocean thermal energy would be very clean burning and not add
pollutants into the air. However, as it presently would need to
be set up with our current technologies, OTEC plants would have
the capacity for disrupting and perhaps damaging the local
environment.
There are three kinds of OTEC.
“Closed Cycle OTEC” uses a low-boiling point liquid such as,
for example, propane to act as an intermediate fluid. The OTEC
plant pumps the warm sea water into the reaction chamber and
boils the intermediate fluid. This results in the intermediate
fluid's vapor pushing the turbine of the engine, which thus
generates electricity. The vapor is then cooled down by
putting in cold sea water.
“Open Cycle OTEC” is not that different from closed cycling,
except in the Open Cycle there is no intermediate fluid. The
sea water itself is the driver of the turbine engine in this
OTEC format. Warm sea water found on the surface of the ocean
is turned into a low-pressure vapor under the constraint of a
vacuum. The low-pressure vapor is released in a focused area
and it has the power to drive the turbine. To cool down the
vapor and create desalinated water for human consumption, the
deeper ocean's cold waters are added to the vapor after it has
generated sufficient electricity.
“Hybrid Cycle OTEC” is really just a theory for the time
being. It seeks to describe the way that we could make maximum
usage of the thermal energy of the ocean's waters. There are
actually two sub-theories to the theory of Hybrid Cycling. The
first involves using a closed cycling to generate electricity.
This electricity is in turn used to create the vacuum
environment needed for open cycling. The second component is
the integration of two open cyclings such that twice the amount
of desalinated, potable water is created that with just one
open cycle.
In addition to being used for producing electricity, a
closed cycle OTEC plant can be utilized for treating chemicals.
OTEC plants, both open cycling and close cycling kinds, are
also able to be utilized for pumping up cold deep sea water
which can then be used for refrigeration and air conditioning.
Furthermore, during the moderation period when the sea water is
surrounding the plant, the enclosed are can be used for
mariculture and aquaculture projects such as fish farming.
There is clearly quite an array of products and services that
we could derive from this alternative energy source.
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