Abstract
An Open-Cycle Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OC-OTEC) system has the potential of producing electricity and fresh water in comparison with a Closed-Cycle OTEC (CC-OTEC) system. In Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL), a test equipment simulating the heat and mass transfer phenomena on the OC-OTEC system was made and the fluctuations of the pressure and temperature in the system were measured. This study examines theoretically the power output characteristics of the OC-OTEC system producing fresh water and the CC-OTEC system. Therefore, the specifications of shell-and-tube condenser using smooth tubes were decided refering the size of the experimental equipment. And, as the type of the evaporator was adopted the flash method with the spout for the OC-OTEC system, the nucleate boiling method using smooth tubes for the CC-OTEC system. For both systems, the dependences of power output were investigated as a function of water temperature, water flow rate and concentration of noncondensable gas. In consequence, the desirable conditions of application were clarified for each system.
