Performance test of OTEC plant on heat source temperature

Abstract

The potential capacity of ocean thermal energy conversion is known to be 1.1 trillion kilowatts, 100 times bigger than the total energy demand of the world. The appropriate locations for a large-scale commercial plant are on the ocean surrounding the equator and in the subtropical regions within the 20° north and south latitudes, where a higher energy density can be obtained from the ocean temperature difference. If the application of various unused energy sources (such as solar, ground, wastewater thermal, and ocean thermal energy) in higher-latitude regions is diversified, the commercialization of such energy sources is considered possible, to cover small- and medium-sized demands for power. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology which is one of the new and renewable energy is to generate electricity from ocean thermal energy between warm surface water and the deep cold water. OTEC is regarded as a less variable and sustainable newenergy source, but its commercialization requires phased demonstrations and efforts to reduce the power generation cost through a business strategy. In this regard, countries such as the U.S. and Japan have been promoting various developments and researches in this field, and its feasibility has been presented in analytical studies on the initial investment required and the power generation cost. To experiment 20kW OTEC, the closed-cycle type of OTEC was designed and manufact