• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.2304-2308
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• 2003

Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) is an effective method of power generation, which has a small impact on the environment and can be utilized semi-permanently. This paper describes a dynamic model for a pilot OTEC plant built by the Institute of Ocean Energy, Saga University, Japan. This plant is based on Uehara cycle, in which binary mixtures of ammonia and water is used as the working fluid. Some simulation results attained by this model and the analysis of the results are presented. The developed computer simulation can be used to actual practice effectively, such as stable control in a steady operation, optimal determination of the plant specifications for a higher thermal efficiency and evaluation of the economic prospects and off-line training for the operators of OTEC plant.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.22-29
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• 2010

The concept of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is simple and various types of OTEC have been proposed and tried. However the location of OTEC is limited because OTEC requires $20^{\circ}C$ of temperature difference as a minimum, so most of OTEC plants were constructed and experimented in tropical oceans. To solve this we proposed the modified OTEC which uses condenser discharged thermal energy of existing fossil or nuclear power plants. We call this system CTEC (Condenser Thermal Energy Conversion) as this system directly uses $32^{\circ}C$ partially saturated steam in condenser instead of $20{\sim}25^{\circ}C$ surface sea water as heat source. Increased temperature difference can improve thermal efficiency of Rankine cycle, but CTEC should be located near existing plant condenser and the length of cold water pipe between CTEC and deep cold sea water also increase. So friction loss also increases. Calculated result shows the change of efficiency, pumping power, net power and other parameters of modeled 7.9 MW CTEC at given condition. The calculated efficiency of CTEC is little larger than that of typical OTEC as expected. By proper location and optimization, CTEC could be considered another competitive renewable energy system.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.215-222
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• 2019

This work is experimental study of 10 kW specialized Combined Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion. We propose a C-OTEC technology that directly uses exhaust thermal energy from power station condensers to heat the working fluid (R134a), and tests the feasibility of such power station by designing, manufacturing, installing, and operating a 10 kW-pilot facility. Power generation status was monitored by using exhaust thermal energy from an existing power plant located on the east coast of the Korean peninsula, heat exchange with 300 kW of heat capacity, and a turbine, which can exceed enthalpy efficiency of 45%. Output of 8.5 kW at efficiency of 3.5% was monitored when the condenser temperature and seawater temperature are $29^{\circ}C$ and $7.5^{\circ}C$, respectively. The evaluation of the impact of large-capacity C-OTEC technology on power station confirmed the increased value of the technology on existing power generating equipment by improving output value and reducing hot waste water. Through the research result, the technical possibility of C-OTEC has been confirmed, and it is being conducted at 200 kW-class to gain economic feasibility. Based on the results, authors present an empirical study result on the 200 kW C-OTEC design and review the impact on power plant.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.43-49
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• 2013

The use of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) to generate electricity is one of the methods proposed to utilize renewable energy and to protect the environment. In this study, simulations were performed to investigate the effect of weather conditions in the Ulsan region, Korea, on the efficiency of a solar-heating OTEC (SH-OTEC) system. This system utilizes solar thermal energy as the secondary heat source. Various working fluids were also simulated to select one that is suitable for this system. The results showed that R152A, R600, and R600A, in that order, were the most suitable working fluids. The effective area of the solar collector for a $20^{\circ}C$ increase in the collector outlet temperature fluctuated from 50 to $97m^2$ owing to the change in the monthly average solar gain. The annual average efficiency of the SH-OTEC increases to 6.23%, compared to that of a typical conventional OTEC, which is 2-4%.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.73-81
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• 2014

Ocean thermal energy conversion(OTEC) is a power generation method that utilizes temperature difference between the warm surface seawater and cold deep sea water of ocean. As potential sources of clean-energy supply, Ocean thermal energy conversion(OTEC) power plants' viability has been investigated. Therefore, this paper evaluated the thermodynamic performance of solar-OTEC convergence system for the production with electric power and desalinated water. The comparison analysis of solar-OTEC convergence system performance was carried out as the fluid temperature, saturated temperature difference and pressure of flash evaporator under equivalent conditions. As a results, maximum system efficiency, electric power and fresh water output show at 40, 10, 2.5 kPa of the flash evaporator pressure, respectively. And their respective enhancement ratios were approximately 6.1, 18, 8.6 times higher than that of the base open OTEC system. Also, performance of solar-OTEC system is the highest in the flash evaporator pressure of 10 kPa.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.81-90
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• 2017

The 1MW OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) platform was designed for application in equatorial seas. In this study, the OTEC platform was investigated using numerical and experimental methods. An octagon-shaped OTEC platform was investigated using the Ocean Engineering Basin of KRISO. These experiments included various tests of regular waves, irregular waves and irregular waves with current (wave+current). The responses of the platform in regular waves showed good agreement between the numerical and experimental results, including the motion RAO, wave run up, and mean drift force. The peak period of heave and pitch motions were observed around 0.5 rad/s, and the effect of the total reflection was found under short wave conditions. The standard deviation (STD) of the platform motion was checked in irregular waves of equatorial and Hawaiian seas. The STD of the pitch was less than $4^{\circ}$ different from the operability requirement under equatorial conditions and the surge STD of the wave frequency showed good agreement between the numerical and experimental results. The STD values of the surge and pitch were increased 66.6% and 92.8% by the current effects in irregular waves, but the pitch STD was less than $4^{\circ}$ under equatorial conditions. This study showed that the STD of the surge was affected by spring effects. Thus, the watch circle of the platform and tension of the mooring lines must be evaluated for a specific design in the future.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.80-84
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• 2011

The cycle performance of closed ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) system with 50 kW gross power was evaluated to obtain the basic data for the optimal design of OTEC using waste heat such as solar power, discharged heat from condenser of power plant. The basic thermodynamic model for OTEC is Rankine cycle, and the surface seawater and deep seawater were used for the heat source of evaporator and condenser, respectively. The cycle performance such as efficiency, heat exchanger capacity, etc. was analyzed on the variation of temperature increase by waste heat. The cycle efficiency increased and necessary capacity of evaporator and condenser decreased under 50kW gross power with respect to the temperature increase of working fluid. Also, when the temperature increase is about $13.5^{\circ}C$, the heat which can be used is generated. By generator with 0.9 effectiveness under the simulated condition, the cycle efficiency was improved approximately 3.0% comparing with the basic cycle.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.309-325
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• 2013

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) systems utilize the temperature difference between the surface water and deep ocean water to generate electrical energy. In addition to ocean surface waves, wind and current, in certain locations like the Andaman Sea, Sulu Sea and the South China Sea the presence of strong internal waves may become a concern in floating OTEC system design. The current paper focuses on studying the dependence of the CWP hydrodynamic drag on relative velocity of the flow around the pipe, the effect of drag amplification due to vortex induced vibrations and the influence of internal waves on the floating semi and the cold water pipe integrated OTEC system. Two CWP sizes are modeled; the 4m diameter pipe represents a small scale prototype and the 10m diameter pipe represents a full commercial size CWP. are considered in the study.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.9
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• pp.1101-1105
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• 2014

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion(OTEC) which uses the temperature difference between warm surface sea-water and cold deep sea-water to produce electric power is the promising technology. OTEC is able to be utilized as the $CO_2$ reducing technology by using the consistent temperature differential, while the system efficiency is very low. Thus, the design and development of a efficient turbine is essential to improve the system efficiency for OTEC. In this study, a 100kW-class radial inflow turbine using R32 was designed for OTEC and this turbine's performance was estimated by analysis of CFD. According as the simulation results, turbine's geometry was corrected. The radial inflow turbine satisfying the requirements is designed by the repeated attempts.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.470-476
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• 2010

The thermodynamic performance of closed ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) cycle with 1 MW gross power was evaluated to obtain the basic data for the optimal design of OTEC. The basic thermodynamic model for OTEC is Rankine cycle and the thermal effluent from power plant was used for the heat source of evaporator. The cycle performance such as efficiency, heat exchanger capacity, etc. was analyzed on the temperature variation of thermal effluent. The saturated pressure of evaporator increased with respect to the increase of thermal effluent temperature, so the cycle efficiency increased and necessary capacity of evaporator and condenser decreased under 1 MW gross power. As the thermal effluent temperature increases about $15^{\circ}C$, the cycle efficiency increased approximately 44%. So, it was revealed that thermal effluent from power plant is important heat source for OTEC plant. Also, if there is an available waste heat, it can be transferred heat to the working fluid form the evaporator through heat exchanger and cycle efficiency will be increased.