OCEES International, Inc.
Ocean Engineering and Energy Systems
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the difference between the Kalina Cycle® power cycle technology and other power cycle technologies? What is the relevance of those differences?
The Kalina Cycle® uses an ammonia-water mixture as the working fluid and incorporates another internal heat exchanger. There design features allow for more efficient use of the available thermal resource and result in lower overall costs. There have been several installations of the Kalina Cycle® and these have proven to be very reliable, with a very low operational cost.
2. How does Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion work? Who invented it?
In it's basic form, OTEC is simply a miniaturization of the world's weather engine. The heat in the warm surface layer flows to the heat sink in the cold lower layer and some of this flowing energy is transformed into mechanical energy and then into electrical energy. The mechanism is the same as that used in conventional fossil fuel or nuclear plants - the difference is the source of heat. In the case of OTEC, the source is the solar energy stored as heat in the tropical ocean surface layer. OTEC was first thought of by the French Scientist Jaques-Arsène d'Arsonval in 1881, when he combined the ideas of Thermodynamics with those of Oceanography.
3. Is the proposed Ocean Energy Resource technology cost effective?
For tropical island communities which presently have high power costs and limited fresh water supplies, the multi-product OTEC systems approach will result in significantly lower costs - especially with today's low interest rates. For offshore production platforms, the OTEC/Hydrogen approach is competitive with conventional hydrogen production. This is especially true if liquid hydrogen is produced since synergistic system enhancements are possible.
4. How will this technology affect a primarily petroleum-based world economy?
The present Petroleum-based economy is subject to large fluctuations in the price of fuels. It is also dependent on politically unstable and tumultuous supply regions and (eventually) on limitations in supply. An OTEC/Hydrogen economy is expected to be steady and predictible, since it is primarily capital intensive with a well-defined repayment schedule. The OTEC supply is from the high seas - an area not easily disrupted.
5. How can the adoption and implementation of this technology revitalize the American, and further, a World Economy?
Any large-scale change in the energy base of the world economy takes time and involves technical and economic transitions. Small scale changes can be accomplished in a few years while large scale changes can take generations. This allows for changes in education, social adjustment, economic relationships, and international political relationships. There will be a shift from fossil fuel related economics to maritime industries. There will also be less economic disruption due to air pollution (health effects, acid rain, smog, global warming) and environmentally devastating and costly oil spills.
6. Will the adoption of this technology help the War on Terrorism? How?
By reducing the dependence on imported fuel from politically unstable areas, such as the Persian Gulf, and by developing an economy based on domestic supply, the United States would be less subject to terrorism or economic disruption. Also, by adopting a dispersed electrical and fuel distribution system ( hydrogen fuel cells in individual vehicles), there would be fewer central points subject to disruption.
7. Why has this technology not been further developed or implemented?
The last significant evaluation of OTEC was more than a decade ago when interest rates were high and the price of oil was low. Although the economic conditions have changed since then and technological improvements have occurred, there has been no new evaluation of OTEC that would attract investment, until now. However, it is expected that the development of this resource will be a major, and inevitable part of a global hydrogen economy.
8. How efficient is this technology?
Efficiency is a matter of definition. Carnot efficency, for example, is the ratio of the available temperature difference between the source and heat sink with what it would be if the heat sink were at absolute zero. Since this condition does not actually exist, it is more useful to measure efficiency relative to what is possible, and what does not violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics. A better to way to look at the efficency of a power cycle is to determine what fraction of the heat energy flowing through a system is turned into work. OTEC has an efficiency very similar to that of a hurricane. It should also be noted that the most important reason to have some measure of efficency is to get the most out of fuel you buy. Since the fuel of an OTEC plant is free, there is less importance to this measure. Also, the large volume of sea water an OTEC plant uses, constantly, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, contributes to it's base-load power plant status. Of more importance is the economic efficiency. This is best described by the favorable cost to benefit ratio evaluated over an OTEC plant project life.
This means that the capital invested in an OTEC system is more effectively used than the capital invested in an intermittant resource.
The tropical ocean thermal resource is the largest renewable resource in the world. In fact, several other renewable resources, such as hydroelectric, wind, and waves are secondary effects of energy and mass transfer from the tropical ocean energy resource. Transport of OTEC-derived energy in the form of hydrogen from the tropical ocean to the demand centers on the continents is shorter and easier than our present oil transport from the Middle East. All of this points to a future where OTEC/Hydrogen will serve as the mainstay for global energy supply which will be complemented locally by other renewable sources.
A special case are tropical oceanic island communities where multi-product OTEC systems (power, fresh water, ice, cold water air conditioning, aquaculture, agriculture, and hydrogen) would more than likely be competitive.
10. What other industries will this technology require for assistance in it's development?
No new, unproven technology is required for the development of OTEC systems. There are working examples of all of the components. The critical aspect of the development of this technology is that it is in the tropical ocean environment - a very large environment. The experience gained through the efforts by the offshore oil industry has been instrumental in the confident development of OTEC technology. The oil industry is likely to be the natural inheritor of OTEC/Hydrogen. As OTEC/Hydrogen gets developed, there will be an expansion of the maritime industries and a change in the energy storage and transport infrastructure as well as a switch from the internal combustion engine to the hydrogen fuel cell for the transportation sector.
11. How will Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion affect Global Warming?
Global Warming is a large-scale phenomenon which has a large inertia. This means that there are no quick fixes. However, as OTEC systems and other renewable energy sources replace fossil fuels-based systems, there will be a reduction in the emission of anthropogenic greenhouse effect gases and a corresponding reduction in the rate of increase in the concentrations of these gases in the atmosphere. If the use of fossil fuels can be reduced to pre-industrial revolution levels, then the atmosphere-ocean system will likely eventually equilibrate to pre-1800 carbon dioxide levels of about 280 parts per million. This will likely take several centuries. If, however, we increase our reliance on fossil fuel (especially if we increase our use of coal when oil and natural gas supplies diminish) then we may be faced with an acceleration of global warming. Of special concern is the melting of the arctic ice cap because it would replace a heat reflector with a heat absorber. The consequences of this are unknown but may be catastrophic because it may alter global thermo-haline circulation.
12. What is the timeframe for adoption of this technology?
The application of OTEC systems technology to tropical oceanic islands is ready now. As with any engineering project, the design process has to be adapted to the site and comply with all applicable requirements. Depending on the time it takes to obtain the various permits, a typical design and construction period for an island-based OTEC system is expected to be 18 to 24 months.
Large-scale switching from fossil fuels to OTEC/Hydrogen would take several decades since it would require a large amount of marine construction as well as social and political changes. Historically, switching major energy sources (for example wood to coal) has taken 50 to 80 years.
13. How can I as an individual or as part of an organization, support OCEES International, Inc. and OTEC technology?
The introduction of any new technology related to such fundamental requirements as energy, water and food is inevitably met with skepticism by general public and opposition by the established industry. This occurs even if the new technology constitutes a significant improvement. Because the new technology is generally unknown (even though the idea of OTEC is over 100 years old), there is usually some dis-information that needs to be countered through a fact-filled educational process. Individuals and organizations interested in OTEC systems can best be supportive by becoming familiar with the relevant facts so that when political and economic decisions are being made they can participate from a solid, informed base.
14. What other accurate information sources are available on the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Process and the Ocean Energy Resource?
The best source of information about OTEC up to about 1990 is the book by William Avery and Chih Wu, entitled, "Renewable Energy From the Ocean". Since that time, there have been several scientific and engineering conferences which have included sessions on OTEC. There have also been a number of M.S. and Ph.D. theses related to OTEC at American universities(notably the University of Hawaii) as well as at universities in Japan, India, Taiwan, Sweden, and elsewhere.