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OTEC and Geothermal Energy Insights

Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) and geothermal energy both use temperature differences to generate energy. OTEC uses the temperature difference between warm surface ocean water and cold deep sea water, while geothermal uses the difference between cool surface temperatures and hot temperatures deep underground. Both rely on the Carnot efficiency principle to convert heat into mechanical work. OTEC has low temperature differences of around 10°C, limiting its efficiency to around 3-8%, while geothermal has much higher underground temperatures allowing for higher efficiencies. Both sources provide large amounts of renewable energy but OTEC remains experimental while geothermal is already used commercially at utility scale.

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Wanambwa Silagi
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4 views6 pages

OTEC and Geothermal Energy Insights

Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) and geothermal energy both use temperature differences to generate energy. OTEC uses the temperature difference between warm surface ocean water and cold deep sea water, while geothermal uses the difference between cool surface temperatures and hot temperatures deep underground. Both rely on the Carnot efficiency principle to convert heat into mechanical work. OTEC has low temperature differences of around 10°C, limiting its efficiency to around 3-8%, while geothermal has much higher underground temperatures allowing for higher efficiencies. Both sources provide large amounts of renewable energy but OTEC remains experimental while geothermal is already used commercially at utility scale.

Uploaded by

Wanambwa Silagi
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC)

and
Geothermal energy

Renewable sources III 1


Principle
! In both cases we use the fact that there is a natural temperature
difference
! OTEC: difference of temperature between surface (hot) and deep sea (cold)
! Geothermal: difference of temperature between surface (cold) and deep in
the Earths crust (hot)
! Both will use Carnots engine principle

During an energy process heat work, an ideal Carnot engine (reversible process)
will have an efficiency equal to

T Th Tc This is the maximum (ideal) efficiency.


= =
Th Th In reality it will be lower

Renewable sources III 2


OTEC
Sun radiation warming up water of ocean
surface is creating a temperature difference
This difference T is fairly low
! About 10K
! 25K at best in tropical seas (surf 0.5km/1km)
Needs a low boiling point fluid:
! To be vaporised at T=15C
! Ammonia close circuit
! Expansion will then be transformed in
mechanical and electrical energy
10 25
= = 3.4% generally = = 8.6% at best
288 288

In a perfect heat exchanger, the power from a volume flow Vf is P0 = CV f T


C: water heat capacity
2
Taking into account Carnots principle " CV f ( #T )
(everything perfect) P=
Th
Ex: assuming T=20C, in order to get P=1MW, we would need Vf=650 m3 of water per hour
Fairly substantial flow require large and expensive pumps
Renewable sources III 3
Geothermal power
1000C The inner part of the Earth is at about 4000C
Due to conduction and convection (Mantle is liquid) there
is a temperature gradient across the Earth
4000C
This gradient varies according to regions:
! Hyperthermal: > 80C/km tectonic plate boundaries
! Semithermal: 40-80C/km away from tec. plate bound.
! Normal: <40C/km
Main ways for heat to be obtained:
! Hydrothermal circulation: existing underground water is heated and transformed into
vapour (Geyser)
! Hot igneous systems: heat from magma Experimental in Hawaii (3MW electricity)
! Dry rock: Poorly conductive dry rock heats up over millions of year Injection of water
to extract the heat
Temperature difference between Th and Tc will be high enough to get a good efficiency

Typical thermal power extracted:


! Hydrothermal circulation: 10 50MW/km2
! Dry rock: 200 300MW/km2

Renewable sources III 4


Conclusion
! OTEC
! Many ideas but still at the experimental level (100s of paper studies)
! Advantage
Large amount of renewable clean energy available (oceans cover 70% of the Earths surface)
! Disadvantages
Technically not mature
Needs very high efficiency (heat exchangers, pumps.)
High cost/power unit according to studies
Cost could be decreased if could be used for other purposes (building cooling, desalination)
Unknown impact on ecosystem
! Geothermal
! It has been used at large scale from the 60s-70s
Between 1970 and now the world production has been multiplied by about 15, reaching an
electricity production of about 15 GW
! Typical power plant is producing an electric power of 100-150 MW
! Advantages
Large quantity of clean energy available
Competitive price
! Disadvantages
Drilling in hot rocks / direct access to hot water not fully renewable
Location dependant
Need to go deep to get high temperature (above 150C) for electricity production
Renewable sources III 5
References

! Most of the material of this lecture is coming from

! Ref4: Renewable energy resources, J. Twidell and T. Weir,


second edition, 2006

Renewable sources III 6

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