Renewable Energy Systems

DIVYA V S
Assistant Professor
College of Engineering Trivandrum
Module 2
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)
• OTE is created by solar energy when ocean water absorbs solar radiation.

• Moderate temperature gradient is developed in water from the top surface to the bottom of ocean

• Temperature gradient can be utilized using a heat engine to generate power

• This process of conversion is called ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC)

• The surface water - heat source , deep water - heat sink

• A minimum temperature difference of 200C is required between source and sink so that
heat engine can effectively operate to generate power
• A large amount of solar energy as thermal energy is collected and stored in tropical oceans.

• The surface of water acts as the collector of solar heat.

• The upper water layer in the ocean acts as an infinite heat storage

• Deep water layer in ocean acts as a low temperature sink

• Solar heat absorption in the ocean water takes place according to Lambert's law of
absorption.

• According to this law, each layer of equal water thickness in ocean absorbs the same fraction
of solar heat when solar radiation passes through ocean water.

• The radiation intensity (I) in water falls with depth (y) according to the following relation:
• The radiation intensity falls exponentially with the depth

• Most of the solar radiation is absorbed very close to the upper surface

• The maximum temperature exists just below the upper surface due to solar heating

• The lowest temperature exists at deep water due to the absence of solar heating
• Due to absence of thermal convection, the warm water stays at the top and cold water sat the bottom

• Two infinite heat reservoirs of constant temperature formed

• A heat source at the top at about 270C and a heat sink at about 40C at some depth from the top

• A heat engine can work between this heat source and heat sink to convert heat into mechanical work

• The efficiency of heat engine is limited to Carnot engine efficiency, which is given by
• The ocean thermal energy can be converted into mechanical /electrical energy when
the temp. difference between the warm water and the cold water is about 20—250C

• generally exists in tropical oceans

• The warm surface water can also be used to heat some low boiling point refrigerant

• High pressure vapours obtained, can run a gas turbine to obtain mechanical work.
 OTEC systems
• OTEC plants can operate using open cycle or closed cycle.

• The open cycle is also known as the Claude cycle

• The close cycle is also known as Anderson cycle

• In the O.C. turbine system, water is the working fluid

• The warm surface water is caused to boil by lowering the pressure, without any additional heat

• Low pressure steam produced then drives a turbine

• The exhaust steam is condensed by the deep colder water and is discarded.

• A heat exchanger is not required

• Direct contact between the exhaust steam and a cold water spray makes a heat exchanger
as necessary in the condenser

• The other method, a. closed cycle known as the Rankine cycle, uses a working fluid with
higher vapour pressure (such as ammonia, hydrocarbon) at the temperature available.

• This cycle is favoured for the future development in expectation of higher efficiency.

• The first OTEC experiments by Claude in the 1920s utilized on open cycle where sea
water was evaporated under a partial vacuum
Open cycle

• Warm water from top surface is evaporated to obtain low pressure steam by using a
flash evaporator

• It is maintained at partial vacuum as water can evaporate at the lower temperature

when pressure is lower than atmospheric pressure

• The low pressure steam obtained from flash evaporator is expanded in a turbine to
extract mechanical energy
• The steam after energy removal in turbine is condensed into water

• Larger turbines are used/ several small units in parallel

• Condenser is cooled by cold water drawn from the depths in the ocean
Closed cycle
• In the closed cycle, warm surface water is used to evaporate a low boiling point refrigerant
(ammonia or freon)

• Refrigerant vapour is made to flow through the turbine to extract energy.

• The vapour coming out from the turbine after performing work is cooled and condensed
in a condenser cooled by cold water pumped from the ocean depths.

• The closed cycle is much compact in size and less costly compared to open cycle OTEC
plant.
• Working fluid accepts and rejects heat via heat exchangers

• Turbines used are smaller

Hybrid cycle

• There are several variations of the standard OTEC

open-cycle system

• One variation is the "hybrid cycle" which is an

attempt to combine the best features and avoid the
worst features

• sea water is flash evaporated to steam (like open

cycle)

• The heat in the resulting steam is then transferred

to ammonia (like closed Rankine cycle system)
Bio-fouling

• The deposition and growth of micro-organisms is called biological fouling (or bio-fouling)

• It usually happens on the cooling-water side of the condenser heat exchanger

• expected to arise in both the evaporator and condenser heat exchangers of an OTEC plant

• Bio-fouling is less with copper

• Copper heat exchangers because traces of dissolved copper act as a biocide

• Biofouling is problematic because it reduces the heat transfer efficiency and is usually
dealt with by chemical (chlorination) or mechanical (brushes or rubber balls) means.

• Increasing the flow rate of the water is advantageous because the organisms are less
likely to become attached to the heat-exchanger surfaces.

• Bio-fouling effects and ways of dealing with them are studied in connection with the
design and location of OTEC plants.

• Such effects are expected to be especially significant for the evaporator heat exchanger
where the warmer water would be conductive to the growth of marine organisms.
Selection of site for OTEC
• The primary consideration is a significant temperature difference (at least about 200C)
between surface and deep ocean

• Depth of ocean of the range 700-900 m or more will permit year round operation.

• The greater the temp. difference, the lower will be the cost of generating electricity.

• The best sites - tropical belt between about 200N and 200S latitude.

• In choosing a site, consideration should be given to the potential for bio-fouling effects

• OTEC plant would be located offshore in order to provide access to the deep colder water.
• However, an ideal situation might be one where the shoreline dropped steeply to a considerable
depth

• Then most of the installation could be more conveniently build on land

• If possible an OTEC plant should be less than about 30 km from shore

• The electricity generated could then be transmitted inexpensively to land by submarine cable

• If the plant is so far from shore that these costs become prohibitive
The advantages of OTEC are as follow:

• The plant supply steady power without any fluctuation in all the weather conditions

• Power output does not vary from season to season

• The plant needs usual thermodynamic devices & equipment (turbine, heat exchanger, condenser,
etc.)

• The useful by-products are desalinated water and nutrients from marine culture

• The plant can be constructed on shoreline or on floating platform

• The plant of any size or capacity can be constructed at a suitable site.

The demerits of OTEC plant are as follows:

• As low temperature difference exists, hence plant has a very low efficiency

• a large plant size at huge cost has to be constructed to meet the power requirement

• The design, operation and maintenance of flash evaporator in the open system are problematic.

• The design of steam turbine to operate at low pressure is problematic

• The large size of heat exchanger is problematic while designing the closed system

• The development of pumps for handling large amounts of water is problematic

• Long-distance cable to transmit power to shore is required.

• The plant has to withstand severe ocean conditions and storms

• The plant equipment has to resist the corrosive effects of ocean water

• The plant has to remove algae growth on a regular basis

• Equipment has to be installed at a great depth to reach the cold water level

• The plant at shoreline may require pipes of large diameter and length for handling water
• The OTEC plant may affect marine ecosystem and impact coral

• The carbon dioxide dissolved in warm water is released to the atmosphere, which cause
greenhouse effect
Tidal Energy conversion
Introduction
• Produced by gravitational attraction of the moon and the sun acting on the rotating earth

• Tides are periodic rise and fall of the water level in the oceans

• It happens due to various positions of rotating moon and sun

• Oceans cover nearly 71% of earth's surface

• The water level difference is caused in oceans due to the tides

• Tides contain a large amount of potential energy.

• The difference in the level between the high and the low tide is called the tidal range

• Tidal range of 5 -15 m can be easily used to drive turbine coupled with generator to
generate electric power

• As moon is nearer to the earth, the gravitational pull of moon is about 2.33 times stronger
than that of the sun

• Owing to the gravitational pull of the moon, surface water on the earth facing moon is
pulled and raised towards the moon

• Water moves from poles to equator where the moon pull is maximum.
• As moon takes 24 h and 50 min to complete a rotation on its axis

• High tide is formed about two times at a place in its one rotation

• High tide due to moon is formed after a period of 12 h and 25 min

• The effect of gravitational pull by the Sun is the same, but it is 2.2 times lesser than what is
exerted by the moon.

• Earth revolves around the Sun in 24 h

• Owing to this slight difference in periods of rotation, solar tides move in and out of phase
with lunar tides
Spring tides

• Occurs when earth, Sun and moon are aligned during rotation in a line

• The celestial bodies produce tides having maximum tidal heights as both solar and lunar tides
are in phase

• The spring tides are produced twice in a lunar month.

Neap tides

• Occurs when sun-earth and moon-earth directions are perpendicular

• Lunar and solar tides are completely out of phase.

• The celestial bodies produce tides having minimum tidal heights, which are called neap tides.

• Neap tides are produced twice in a lunar month.

• In open oceans, tidal ranges are commonly of the order of 0.6 m to 0.9 m.

• However, when the ocean tidal waves impinge on continental shelves and coastlines, their
ranges can amplify substantially through (i) run up, (ii) funneling and (iii) resonance,
depending on the nature of the coastline.

• Thus tidal range varies from place to place.

• In some places such as shallow bays and estuaries, the amplification is considerable.
 Modes of operation
The modes of the operation of tidal power plant are as follow:

(i) Ebb generation

The reservoir or basin is filled up during high tides.

The stored water is made to flow out of the reservoir to ocean through turbines during low tides

The power generation is possible during ebb tides.

(ii) Flood generation.

The sea water is made to flow through the turbines into the reservoir or basin during high tides.

This process is just reverse Of ebb generation.

The power generation is possible during high tides.

(iii) Two-way generation

• Water is made to flow through turbines for power generation during high tides from sea to
basin and during low tides from basin to sea

• The power generation is possible during both low and high tides

(iv) Pumping and turbining

• The reservoir is filled using (i) rise of sea water during high tides and (ii) pumps to
pump sea water into the reservoir

• The turbine acts as a pump to pump water into reservoir during high tides and as a prime
mover to the generator during low tides.
Components of a tidal power plant

The components of a tidal power plant are as follow:

(i) Dam or dyke

• The function is to form a barrier between the sea and the reservoir/basin.

• Dam is also built between basins in case the plant has more than one basin.

(ii) Sluiceways

• Provided in the dam so that water can enter into basin during high tides.

• Provided also to empty the basin during low tides.

• Sluiceways are controlled through gates.

(iii) Powerhouse

• Consists of turbines, electric generators and other auxillary equipment

• The water with high potential energy is made to run through turbines to run generators

• a special bulb type power turbine-generator set

• steel shell containing an alternator and special kaplan turbine with variable pitch blades
Feasibility of a tidal power plant

The feasibility of a tidal power plant depends on the following factors:

Tidal range:

The minimum tidal range for economical power production from tidal energy is 5 m.

Cost:

• The site should be such that it needs a minimum cost to construct a dam to create a
basin of a required storage capacity

Shipping traffic:

• Tidal plant should not cause any interruption to the shipping traffic
Safety:

• The site of the tidal plant should be well protected, especially from high wave action
during storms.

Silt:

• The silt content in water in estuary should be small to avoid excessive silt deposition
in the basin.

• The silt removal from basin is a costly preposition.

Merits
The merits of tidal energy are as follows:

• Free from pollution

• Inexhaustible

• The site of the plant and its construction does not uproot the villages or disturb the ecology
of the place

• No submerging of land occurs while constructing basins

• Operation is not affected by variations of weather, such as the failure of monsoon. Tide
cycle is always definite

• Basins can be used for fish farming.

Limitations
• Harnessed only if natural sites are available.

• Suitable sites are far away from load centres. Therefore, the transmission cost of power is high.

• Operation is uneven as turbines have to work with varying water heads.

• The power output is variable

• The construction period of a dam for basin is long.

• The basin and plant construction is costly.

• Sedimentation and silt deposition in the basin take place in regular manner

• Power output varies with lunar cycle.

 Tidal Range Power
• Consider water trapped at high tide in a basin of area A, and allowed to run out through a
turbine at low tide

• Potential energy in the mass of water stored in incremental head dh above head h
• Time between consecutive high and low tides is 6 hrs 12.5 min (= 22,350 s)

• Power is to be utilized within this period.

• For an average sea water density of 1025 kg/m3, the average theoretical power
generated in one filling or emptying

• Thus tidal power developed is directly proportional to (i) area of basin and (ii)
square of the tidal range.
Environmental impacts
• Renewable source of energy, which does not result in emission of gases responsible for
global warming or acid rain

• Changing tidal flows by damming a bay or estuary could result in negative impacts on
aquatic and shoreline ecosystem, navigation and recreation

• The barrage destroys homes to many birds, fish and other animals

• impact at each site is different and depends greatly upon local geography

• Little understanding about how altering the tides can affect incredibly complex aquatic and
shoreline ecosystem.
 Ocean Tidal Energy Conversion Schemes

Main tidal energy conversion schemes are:

(i) single basin: single effect

(ii) single basin: double effect
(iii) two basin: linked basin
(iv) two basin: paired basin
(v) tidal flow (or tidal current) schemes
Single Basin- Single Effect Scheme:
• Single basin system is the simplest system

• The turbines and generators are mounted within the ducts inside the dam

• Single basin scheme has only one basin to store water

• In single effect scheme, power is generated during either filling or emptying the basin.

• Two types of operation cycles are possible.

• In ebb generation cycle operation, the sluice way is opened to fill the basin during high tide.
• Once filled, stored water is held till the receding
cycle creates a suitable head

• Water is allowed to flow through the turbine

coupled to generator till the rising tide reduces the
head to the minimum operating point

• This cycle is repeated and power is generated

intermittently

• In flood generation cycle operation, the sequences

are altered to generate power during filling
operation of the basin.

• Ebb generation is the more productive method

Single Basin- Double Effect Scheme:
• power is generated on both flood and ebb.

• Two-way (reversible) hydraulic turbines are used.

• Pumping may also be used to increase the output.

• The routine is as follows:

1. inward sluicing to fill the basin
2. holding period
3. ebb generation
4. outward sluicing to empty the basin
5. holding period
6. flood generation
Two Basin: Linked Basin Scheme
• To maintain continuity of power supply linked and paired basins schemes are used

• Linked basin scheme consists of two basins, one toped up at high tide and the other
emptied at low tide

• Thus a permanent head is created between the two basins

• Water flows through turbine from high basin to low basin

Two Basin- Paired Basin Scheme:

• A paired basin consists essentially of two single basin schemes

• One scheme generates on flood and the other on ebb cycle

• The output is almost, but not quite continuous

• Two basin schemes are generally found to be economically inferior

Tidal Current Schemes:

• Possibility of dispensing with the dam, its associated cost and environmental impacts

• extraction of energy from tidal currents have been considered.

• Strong tidal currents (as high as about 5 m/s) are found in shallow seas, particularly where
natural constrictions exist

• The theory of tidal flow power is similar to wind power with the advantage of predictable
velocities of high-density fluid.

Disadvantages:

• fluid velocities are much less as compared to wind and the operation is carried out in marine
environment.

• The generation will be intermittent and total power available may not be very large.

• The capital cost per unit of power produced appears to be high.