WANG Tong
The Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology, vol. 22, no. 10, pp.1977-1983, 2008

Abstract : Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a way to generate electricity by the temperature difference of seawater from the upper surface to different depths. Closed Cycle of OTEC (CC-OTEC) pumps the working fluid vapor to high pressure to propel the turbine-generator and produce electricity. However, low temperature difference of seawater is the largest constraint to the utilization compared to the conventional power plants. Solar energy reheated power cycle is proposed to improve the practicability. Instead of traditional efficiency, net cycle efficiency (NCE) is applied to assess the performance of CC-OTEC system. The factors that influence the performance, such as working fluid and corresponding evaporating pressure, superheating temperature and turbine outlet pressure, are discussed. Considered the engineering application, the appropriate net output power should be at least 50kw.

Keyword : CC-OTEC; Thermal efficiency; Performance; Solar energy