抄録
Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) is a renewable system, which convert the thermal energy in the ocean into the electricity. For design and development of heat exchangers to achieve substantial net power in the OTEC, the suitable performance evaluation method is required because, in general, the enhancement of heat transfer performance and the increment of the pressure drop is a trade-off. In this research, theoretical model of the maximum work by an ideal heat engine with finite heat transfer performance of the heat exchangers are organized and the performance evaluation method is proposed based on the optimum value of the heat capacity flow rate in the finite-time thermodynamics. The evaluation method is applied to evaluate a cross-flow type plate heat exchanger. As the result, the maximum power output over the heat transfer area and the optimum heat source mean velocity in the heat exchanger are revealed.
