Design and Performance Appraisal of Proposed OTEC Plant Used For Power Generation

Abstract

The design and performance appraisal of proposed OTEC plant used for power generation in the Niger Delta region of Burutu Offshore Deep-sea has been conducted. The approach adopted in this study encompasses the design and modeling together with performance appraisal of close cycle ocean thermal energy conversion plant for power generation. Practically, the design encompasses development of a dependable model via utilization of pertinent data such as surface sea water temperature, sea water temperature at a given depth, mass flow rate of the refrigerant, pressure of the refrigerant etc., and these data are obtained from the Burutu Offshore Deep-Sea and from standard tables and graphs. Also, appropriate thermodynamic principles were also applied in developing the model equations coupled with ASPEN HYSYS and Microsoft Excel software programs that was used to carry out the analysis. The study showed that there is potentiality of citing the proposed OTEC Plant because there is enough temperature difference to give rise to a workable cycle efficiency which also indicates normal operational performance and it was recommended that a solar booster should be incorporated in the heat exchanger so that it can increase the heat generated and thereby increasing the efficiency of the OTEC plant.