Design, fabrication and performance test of R32-OTEC pilot plant

Abstract

In this study, the results for the design, manufacture, installation, and operation of a 20kW OTEC(Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) pilot plant were introduced, which can be used as the basic data for the design of commercial plants with a capacity of more than 40MW. To experiment with 20kW OTEC, the closed cycle type of OTEC was designed and manufactured in the OWPRC(Ocean Water Plant Research Center) which has diverse sea water heat sources and the existing deep sea water intake systems. R32 (Difluoromethane, CH2F2) was used as the working fluid and the temperature of heat source and heat sink were 26°C and 5°C, respectively. The semi-welded type heat exchanger is applied for the evaporator and condenser, and the OTEC cycle was designed for the gross power of 20kW. The semi-welded type heat exchanger has strong points such as easy maintenance of the gasket type heat exchanger and rare leakage of welded type heat exchanger. In the plate arrangement of the semi-welded type heat exchanger, one channel for working fluid is welded, and another channel is composed of gasket. The gross power of the turbine was shown to be 20.49kW. At this time, the evaporating capacity was calculated at 1,020kW, so, the cycle efficiency was shown to be about 2.00% by the operation.capacity of more than 40MW. To experiment with 20kW OTEC, the closed cycle type of OTEC was designed and manufactured in the OWPRC(Ocean Water Plant Research Center) which has diverse sea water heat sources and the existing deep sea water intake systems. R32 (Difluoromethane, CH2F2) was used as the working fluid and the temperature of heat source and heat sink were 26°C and 5°C, respectively. The semi-welded type heat exchanger is applied for the evaporator and condenser, and the OTEC cycle was designed for the gross power of 20kW. The semi-welded type heat exchanger has strong points such as easy maintenance of the gasket type heat exchanger and rare leakage of welded type heat exchanger. In the plate arrangement of the semi-welded type heat exchanger, one channel for working fluid is welded, and another channel is composed of gasket. The gross power of the turbine was shown to be 20.49kW. At this time, the evaporating capacity was calculated at 1,020kW, so, the cycle efficiency was shown to be about 2.00% by the operation.