Alternative Energy from the Ocean
French engineer Jacques D’Arsonval was the first to conjure up the idea of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) in 1881. With the development of this piece comes forth the fact that the only operating experimental OTEC plant is sheltered in no other place in the planet but to the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii. Cost is the main stumbling block that OTEC has yet to face and therefore providing it a hard time implementing on an extensive and sensible level. The financial support needed to implement this should not be limited to how cheaply it can be done as the processes presently utilised to drive OTEC call for a realistic evaluation. Unintentionally, due to the disruptive effects that most of our current technologies give out to our environment and society, setting up OTEC plants can not avoid inflicting damages to any locality.
There are three types of OTEC:
The first of these is referred to as ‘closed cycle OTEC’ which requires the use of a gas that has a low boiling point like propane for example. The Ocean Thermal Energy Plant use water from the sea which is pumped into a chamber converting the gas to liquid. Electricity is generated when the gas starts to warm up and using this pressure. Once this process has been completed, the resultant liquid is converted back to it’s gas state by using cold sea water to cool it.
There is no quite big difference between the “Open Cycle Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion” and the closed cycling but there is no intermediate fluid used in the Open Cycle. All that is used with this system is the sea water itself. Warm surface water is converted into a low pressure vapor by in a vacuum. The power to drive the turbine is within the low-pressure vapor when released in a focused area. After the vapor has generated sufficient electricity, the deeper ocean’s cold waters are then added and used to produce desalinated water for human consumption and also to cool down the vapors.
Presently the third type of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion called ‘Hybrid Cycle’ cannot be used as it is still only a hypothetical process. It is a an overall way to use the entire energy created by the world’s oceans. Even in this theory form, Hybrid Cycling already has two separate methods. Of the theories involved, the first one discusses the use of a closed cycling which will then be the way to create the vacuum environment needed for open cycling to generate electricity. The incorporation of two open cyclings which can produce twice the amount of desalinated, potable water as compared to that of just one open cycle is the main concept of the second component.
To treat chemicals is another contributing feature of using a closed cycle OTEC plant aside from the fact that it can generate electricity. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion plants of both types can also be employed to pump cold deep ocean water which can be used to refrigerate and also for air conditioning systems. Furthermore, during the moderation period when the sea water is surrounding the plant, the enclosed area 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.
