Abstract
The Mexican Caribbean Sea has potential zones for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) implementation. Universidad del Caribe and Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia, with the support of the Mexican Centre of Innovation in Ocean Energy, designed and constructed a prototype OTEC plant (OTEC-CC-MX-1 kWe), which is the first initiative in Mexico for exploitation of this type of renewable energy. This paper presents a sensitivity analysis whose objective was to know, before carrying out the experimental tests, the behavior of OTEC-CC-MX-1 kWe regarding temperature differences, as well as the non-possible operating conditions, which allows us to assess possible modifications in the prototype installation. An algorithm was developed to obtain the inlet and outlet temperatures of the water and working fluid in the heat exchangers using the monthly surface and deep-water temperature data from the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model and Geographically Weighted Regression Temperature Model for the Mexican Caribbean Sea. With these temperatures, the following were analyzed: fluctuation of thermal efficiency, mass flows of R-152a and water and power production. By analyzing the results, we verified maximum and minimum mass flows of water and R-152a to produce 1 kWe during a typical year in the Mexican Caribbean Sea and the conditions when the production of electricity is not possible for OTEC-CC-MX-1 kWe.
Highlights
This paper presents a sensitivity analysis whose objective was to know the behavior of the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)-CC-MX-1 kWe prototype in design and real conditions of superficial and subsuperficial water sea temperatures to determine the non-possible operating conditions and assess the possible modifications in the prototype installation
The main objective of this sensitivity analysis is to know, before carrying out the experimental tests, the behavior of the OTEC-CC-MX-1 kWe prototype in design conditions of superficial (27 ◦ C) and subsuperficial (7 ◦ C) water sea temperature and for the surface and subsurface water temperatures of the Mexican Caribbean Sea averaged monthly over 5 years to determine the non-possible operating conditions to assess the possible modifications in the prototype installation
Limits of turbine operation regarding temperature difference are presented, which will be verified during OTEC-CC-MX-1 kWe experimental tests
Summary
Examples of converting low-grade thermal energy into electricity are semiconductor thermocouples, thermionic, and thermoelectric devices that can directly convert thermal energy into electrical energy based on the Seebeck effect [2]. These devices have been applied in different areas such as photovoltaic (PV) solar cells [3], air–ground heat transfer systems [4], the transport sector, and industrial and human waste heat [2], their performance is based on conversion materials. Its power density remains significantly lower compared to other low-grade thermal energy conversion techniques [5]
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